Growing up, I knew I loved to be the center of attention. Not in a condescending way but more so that I felt I always had something important to say and wanted my voice to be heard.

I played many sports growing up, but volleyball ended up being the one I stuck with. As I entered my freshman year of high school, I knew I didn’t want to play at the next level; I wanted to prioritize my education even if I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to be growing up.

That year, I took a journalism and photojournalism class and loved its concept. Something about writing a piece to move someone made me feel powerful. After that year, I knew I wanted to do something with a microphone. Whether it was hosting award shows, being a motivational speaker, or a news anchor. I wanted to have a platform to share my story and inspire others.

As my sophomore year rolled around, I was randomly enrolled in Advanced Broadcast Journalism, which I had no clue what it was about. This had been an upperclassmen course, and somehow, I had snuck in. This was the best thing that could have happened to me. My teacher at the time encouraged me to find my passion and chase it, and it was sports.

As I was thrown into being in front of the camera, it gave me the confidence to be able to speak my mind. It’s when it clicked: this is what I want to do: talk sports for a living. Looking back at those tapes, they sucked, but it gave me a rush. Being able to interview coaches and players and talk about my peers and their accomplishments in sports.

Shortly after, I began to take photos of our high school baseball team as a hobby. And soon, everyone was texting me to come to their sporting events. And I agreed.

Once my junior year rolled around, our broadcast journalism program had been pulled from the school due to funding, which left me on my own. I felt so taken aback. I had just found out what I wanted to do career-wise to be back to square one. I began to take photos for our other sports but missed the feeling of being in front of the camera.

Then COVID hit and shut everything down.

As my senior year resumed, I wanted to put my best foot forward as I wanted to go to a good college. I still did photos for all of our sporting events but wanted to do something journalism-related, so I joined VYPE U, a Houston sports magazine.

As a lost kid entering high school, by a miraculous happy accident, I came out knowing what exactly I wanted to do. If it weren’t for that class and getting hands-on experience anchoring sports or doing stand-ups, I wouldn’t be where I am today. A senior in college pursuing a journalism degree with a sports media minor and covering events at Texas I thought of dreaming of. Being part of the Texas baseball team as a team photographer is an opportunity I would never have had if it wasn’t for that one class in high school that altered my life and gave me a clear vision of what I wanted to do.

I am a sports broadcaster and will continue to be better every step of my journey.