I stumbled into journalism as a community college student. I was a neophyte who loved news and sports but never believed I could interpret it in a way that would resonate with readers.
A decade later, I've received collegiate awards, interviewed everyone from mixed martial artists to Republican lawmakers, and found myself in a lion's den of sorts - inside a media pen at a Donald Trump rally as one of the few Latino journalists given media credentials.
I'm a freelancer, sure, but I've never given my work anything less that the subject - and my readers - deserve.