From my very first week at Texas State, I knew I wanted to learn how to write stories (hence the journalism major choice), but I didn’t quite know where to start.
When scrolling through the application openings for The Star, sitting in my freshman dorm, I felt a little out of place to click on a writing position with my writing experience at that point basically consisting of high school essays. At the time, my idea of how to be a journalist felt pretty conspicuous, but I knew one way or another I wanted to get there.
So that’s when I hit the “apply” button for the social media section. It felt like a good way to get my foot in the door of a world I didn’t know much about but wanted to learn about. Thus began my first two years at The Star as a member of the social media team.
I gained experience I never would’ve expected and even earned my way up to editor of the engagement section. First-semester me never would have imagined that, though it felt exactly how my journey was meant to be.
By the time I became an editor, I started to get a taste of writing through my classes and wanted more of it. I realized it was time to pass the baton and dive deep into writing and reporting. Though it felt a bit odd to step away from a leadership position, it was one of the best decisions I made during my whole college experience, apart from joining in the first place!
I was grateful to have made connections with the editors who were willing to give me a shot in a writing section. As someone who grew up as an athlete my whole life, I always hoped I would find a new door to get back to that world, and well, here it was: sports reporting.
From the summer entering my junior year, I dove into all kinds of reporting I had never done before. While my journalism classes set the foundation for my writing and knowledge as a reporter, nothing grew my experience and strengths more than writing for sports.
It was exciting to try new things and get a variety of stories from game recaps to in-depth features where I really got to learn about the people who make up Texas State Athletics. With each interview and each click on “submit,” I was transforming into the writer my freshman self always wanted to be.
While so many hours went into this process, as they all say, I blinked and somehow all that time has passed like nothing. I owe so much of who I’ve become today to my time with The Star, more than just an accomplishment to put on a resume. It taught me life lessons, brought me some of my closest friends and connected me to my university in a way nothing else could.
Many of us college students can be like chameleons throughout school, constantly “changing colors” and adapting to our changing environment and surroundings. One thing that was always there for me was The Star, and for that, I will always be grateful.
