“Jack of all trades, master of none.”

Since I was a kid I’ve had a bad habit of taking on more hobbies than I could handle. The ironic thing about my overachieving tendencies was the second that I found myself not immediately achieving success, I’d drop the interest. This led to my room being a museum of discarded art supplies, unfinished paintings and LEGO victim to my unfortunate impatience. 

What remained constant throughout these years is my love for writing. 

In my junior year of high school, I joined The Sidekick. I had taken creative writing sophomore year and I was determined to find another course that would give me the same creative outlet. Ironically, journalistic writing absolutely terrified me, as I was not given the disclaimer that interviewing is one of its main components. 

Later on in my junior year, I received an email confirming my lottery acceptance to the senior-only EMT class organized by Dallas College. To say that I was excited was an understatement. Following orientation later that same month, I made the difficult decision to not apply for an editor position for The Sidekick in fear that I wouldn’t have been able to fulfill my responsibilities.

Walking into my senior year of high school, I found myself having a rude awakening to the rigor of the coursework that Dallas College required. 

 Due to my lack of time management and the added stress of my past self wanting to stand out (meaning i attempted to challenge myself by picking up four assignments at once), I almost failed out of EMT in my first semester. 

At this moment I found myself questioning if what I was doing was worth it. 

Following the stress of attempting to fix my grades and publish all my stories on deadline, I realized that I desperately needed to find a middle ground between the two courses. 

The beginning of my second semester brought me a new experience: 12-hour clinical internships scattered around hospitals and fire stations throughout the city. Although the weekend shifts left me exhausted, I found myself looking forward to them even more the more I worked at the stations.

Progressing into my second semester I discovered that what truly kept me going is that throughout the chaos, I still found some joy, that was my middle ground.

Twenty years from now I’m not going to remember the constant studying or the late nights writing a news story. I’m going to remember the irreplaceable feeling of excitement when a freshly printed issue comes to D115. And then having the privilege the very next morning and getting to prepare for my first intern shift at the fire station getting to assist in care for a stroke patient on my first lights and siren call. 

Find joy in what you do, and find your love for the chaos that fuels you to continue.

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