If you would’ve asked me a few years ago what I thought of journalism, I would’ve told you I knew the bare minimum. I had heard of the field, but I had never looked far enough into it to even think about pursuing it. However, when my freshman year came around, my perspective on journalism drastically changed. 

I started UIL Journalism in ninth grade, competing in Feature Writing. It wasn’t really something I had thought hard about participating in, just joining when adviser Lindsey Fruge talked to me about it. Sophomore year, I added in the rest of the five journalism UIL events into my schedule and joined the Bear Facts staff. Throughout that year, I learned I had found a new passion in journalism, and the field continuously became more of my favorite thing at every meet I competed at.  

This year, I continued with all five events all throughout the season, and my season is still going. All three years of competition and my years on staff have helped me to find something I enjoy doing no matter what. It’s helped me to find a future career path I cannot wait to pursue. Even though a few years ago I had never thought about journalism, I now plan on majoring in mass communications in college and can consider a vast amount of job opportunities that fall under that category. Alongside this, I now have the opportunity to write for a local online news site, titled Orange County Stories, all the while continuing on with the Bear Facts and UIL. 

All of this goes to say that things that we know the least about can sometimes go to be the things we enjoy the most. Trying new activities can lead us to find new fields of interest and completely impact our future in so many different ways.  

Finally, extracurriculars don’t have to just matter in high school. Although journalism is just competitions right now, it can lead to a future public relations specialist. The debate program can create future lawyers. The computer science program can influence students to become programmers. The smallest activity can lead to students finding careers that don’t get talked about as much, and the smallest activity can create a future of more educated and prepared workers in an endless number of fields.