During an ordinary fall semester at San Diego State, I made one of the best decisions in my junior year of college. I joined The Daily Aztec.
Within just over a year, the paper has given me the opportunity to author over twenty articles about art, culture and news in both English and Spanish. All of this, in addition to promoting me from staff writer to engagement editor, and finally, to my current position of marketing and public relations director.
A byline and promotions weren’t the only things that made my time at the newspaper memorable. Meeting inspiring people from my community, sharing their stories, making life-long friendships and seeing my words in print are also at the top of my list.
It is because of The Daily Aztec that I’m most proud of being an Aztec.
Sharing your work — creative or not — with the entire student population at State sounded nerve-wracking during my first three years at State. Thanks to the supportive and involved community at The Daily Aztec, the fear of publishing my work was abandoned and my confidence as a young journalist was boosted.
Once I finally reached out to the student newspaper, everything changed. I joined the paper during Hispanic Heritage Month and the first story I ever pitched focused on mine and my classmates’ experiences as Latinas. I was terrified.
Nervous and unsure of what I was doing, I made calls, had multiple interviews and ended up with 11 pages of notes to be exact. I thought about what being Mexican meant to me, condensed my thoughts to 500 words or so, put them on a Google document and shared it with my editor.
A few days later, I headed to campus and picked up the latest issue of the paper.
An illustration of a ballet folklorico dancer painted the cover of the Hispanic Heritage Month issue with colors of blue, yellow and pink accompanied by blocks of text. Right above them, a byline with my name on it.
My story had made the front page.
It was because of The Daily Aztec that I finally started to believe in myself, my craft and my potential. There is still room for improvement, there will always be. Nonetheless, The Daily Aztec provided me with a platform to communicate the messages most important to me and my community. It also brought me to a lot of dedicated and passionate people who I get to call friends.
Like most good things, my time at the paper must come to an end. The good news is, every ending is just a new beginning. While I will no longer be a writer, editor or director for The Daily Aztec, I’ll always be an Aztec. From the bottom of my heart, gracias.
