College was a side quest for me.
I took a gap year to get my pilot’s license and went back to get a bachelor’s degree in something unrelated to aviation. I originally transferred to San Diego State University from Grossmont college as a linguistics major. It wasn’t until my second semester here that I met the Daily Aztec Editor-in-Chief Gabriel Schneider and staff writer Huy Huynh that I discovered my love for writing, connecting with people, photography, travel and storytelling: ingredients perfect for becoming a journalist.
I remember when I started at the Daily Aztec – I was super shy and doubtful of my abilities because I hadn’t taken any JMS coursework yet. But Brittany, the photo editor at the time, really encouraged me. Getting to cover events like the Mira Mesa Vietnamese-Chinese New Year, attending concerts and sitting courtside at basketball games opened up a world of opportunities to me that made my college experience so incredibly rich and fulfilling.
This is where my love for photojournalism specifically took off as I got to tell stories without words and instead capture moments and expressions of people living life. Writing for the Arts and Culture section offered an outlet for me to explore my creative interests and voice through writing about local coffee shops and attractions while the News section allowed me to test out the skills I was learning in class on a practical, public platform.
It wasn’t until after I joined the Asian American Journalists Association and began publishing more work that I realised how much more there was to this field than what you commonly think of, like print newspapers or anchoring a newscast. Travelling to Lahaina, Maui with AAJA in order to provide coverage of the Lahaina fires really transformed the way I saw journalism and how much of an impact it could have. The Daily Aztec gave me the opportunity to meet and work with so many incredible, talented, passionate and hard-working journalists that have changed the way I look at storytelling forever.
As I transition back into flight school and continue on in my aviation career, I know that there will always be a place in my heart for journalism that I hope to revisit one day. I knew I wanted my degree in something completely different, and I feel like the interviewing, writing, synthesis and analytical skills have shifted my perspective on how I approach life and even flying. Like an inverted pyramid, I look at the big picture first with the most important issues before focusing on the nitty gritty of solving a problem. Like a good edit, I pay attention to details and am meticulous with my pre-flight procedures. Like a good interview, I think on the fly to work with the responses that I’m getting from the aircraft but also come in with research and planning information.
In my two years as a staff writer and photographer for the Daily Aztec as well as Social Media Outreach and Co-President of AAJA, I’ve had countless lessons that I will take on with me for the rest of my life. I could not be more grateful for the Daily Aztec family and SDSU community as a whole and hope to one-day marry the two passions I have as a career.
