Everyone has a story, filled with events in their life that makes them who they are. When I look around a room full of people, no two stories are exactly alike.
My story starts out when I was four and I started taking ballet classes. It was an instant love for the classical music, tutus made out of pink tulle and the lights beaming on stage. I was always the youngest and smallest in my dance classes. The older girls were beautiful dancers on stage and being surrounded by all the talent made me want to one day have my own principal roles in shows such as the Nutcracker and Swan Lake. Years went by, and my passion for dancing only evolved. The dance studio became my second home. After school I would go straight to ballet and stay there until about nine at night. Before I knew it, I was auditioning for performances and landing major roles such as the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Black Swan. Being able to watch the other girls in class and on stage, I was inspired to be just as good as they were. Through dancing I learned that with hard work and dedication, I could reach my goals and shine on and off the stage.
One area where I know I want to shine is in journalism. It has been my goal to pursue a career in journalism and transfer my artistic strengths onto paper. I currently attend The University of California, Irvine and will be a junior in the fall. I’m a literary journalism major and a part of the UCI Cheer Squad, Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, and I work as a cashier at the UCI Bookstore. I still believe I should surround myself with people who love what they do and are good at their work. I found this through being a staff writer for UCI’s Her Campus magazine, which is an online publication geared toward college women. One of my very first articles was a travel abroad piece based on a college student’s yearlong journey studying in Spain. As she told me about her adventures in a new country, I became inspired with what someone can teach you just by listening to their stories. She described how visiting a new place lets you stop to appreciate beautiful scenery around you. Although it was merely an interview, I wanted to capture her challenges and emotions so everyone can understand how inspiring her adventures were. Once this article was published onto the website I immediately got feedback from readers saying they thought my article was very meaningful and I received comments such as “Wonderful writing! Keep up the good work”. From there, journalism instantly became something I wanted to do in my future. Being able to share what is happening in the world and reach out to others through my writing has always been a dream of mine.
My love for writing has inspired my dream to one day become a professional journalist for a newspaper or magazine. After college, I hope to attend the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. As far as careers go, I would love to one day be a feature writer for a magazine such as Vanity Fair or a news reporter at The New York Daily News. Being inspired by the busy streets of New York and being in a big city where magazines and newspapers thrive will give me more to write about and new stories to tell.
Magracia is a Star-News news assistant who attends U.C. Irvine during the school year.
