The winding road to "journalist"

Writing is my passion; I have always loved words - both reading and writing. But I never considered it as a career until my sophomore year in college.

A driven teen-ager, I loved airplanes - military airplanes, specifically. My dream was to be a fighter pilot, a dream I pursued until my eyesight fell below pilot standards. Following my love of aviation, I entered college determined to become an aeronautical engineer, but I quickly discovered that I had no talent for calculus and differential equations.

After some soul-searching, a professor suggested I use my writing talent to pursue journalism. I entered my first journalism class and found that it was much more difficult than I expected. My journalism professors throughout college were tough, but I loved it. I enjoyed the variety; no two days are alike as a journalist.

I have worked for small, local papers, covering small-town politics and interviewing local characters. I have written for nationally-distributed publications, and I received reader feedback from across the country. In what other profession can you listen to the President of the United States in person one day, and then write a definitive series on methamphetamines the next?

After my son was born, I chose to become a stay-at-home mom. But my love of journalism has stayed with me, and I am a freelance journalist now.