Compromises, dedication and time management: The keys to improving your life

For those of you who are new to college, I have a story to tell you.

I graduated from high school at 18 like most of you probably did, and then I waited a year to go to college. I attended Austin Community College.

I was lucky because I had the luxury of goofing off and taking any and all classes I thought were interesting without yet having picked a major. My mom was paying my rent while I was in school, and student loans were paying for just about everything else.

By the time I was 22 I earned my associate of arts degree in English. I think I made a very good choice.

Shortly after this time, I moved away from Austin to a smaller town where there were no jobs specifically looking for a freshly graduated English major.

I made the best of things for a few years until my family moved to Galveston. That’s when everything changed.

Looking back, I don’t think I was in Galveston a whole year, during which time I was working retail before I found my dream job as a copy editor.

I applied at, interviewed for and finally became The Galveston County Daily News copy editor. I always knew I wanted to start my career as a copy editor, but as an English major, I thought it would be in literature. I never knew I was so interested in journalism but, as it turns out, I have a real knack for local community news.

Part of my duties was to read every story in the next day’s paper and tweak everything into the local style, as well as fix spelling, punctuation and grammar.

I was absorbing anything anyone would teach me until I hit some stumbling blocks and decided to go back to school to further my knowledge and ultimately my journalism career.

Flash forward to senior year at the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL) — it’s a beautiful day at the start of my summer internship. I interned at The Facts for 20 hours a week while also working full-time, and some overtime, let’s be honest, at The Daily News. I had never before been so overwhelmed.

I kept it together and, not counting a very complex school district story, I met every deadline at work and in the internship.

For those of you who read my column a few weeks ago, you know the details of what happened but just to sum up, right around the time I felt, as a copy editor, I had learned all there was to learn and advanced all there was to advance, The Facts offered me a better job, moving me up another rung on the career ladder.

So, to sum up, I am now living in Galveston, commuting to UHCL as a full-time student who’s also doing an in-house internship at The Signal, while also commuting to The Facts full-time, while planning and packing to move to Brazoria. And I try to get some sleep in there sometimes, but it’s not guaranteed.

And now here is the point to this whole story:

Improving your life means making compromises, being dedicated to bettering yourself and mastering time management.

Obviously, I wouldn’t recommend this schedule to everyone going through the same thing if he or she can avoid it, but I urge you, if you are presented with the chances I’ve had, I know it’s a lot of work but please, take that chance.

I was never fulfilled until I found journalism, and I think I will continue to grow in this field and continue to rise up in the ranks. I really hope all my fellow students can have a similar experience of pursuing their dreams.

I advocate for taking the chance. It is worth the extra work and loss of sleep to achieve your dream.