NATHAN BLACKBURN Contributing Writer

As we grow up and mature into adults, we attain different “titles” or labels that people use to identify us. Or, on a more personal level, we use labels to identify ourselves.

For me, personally, I am a son, a friend, a student, a writer, a bit of a bookworm and a “professional” connoisseur of pizza. My love for writing, journalistic or otherwise, started at a very young age. I had, and still have, a vivid imagination, and would love to come up with different stories, all with wild plot lines and characters. Sometimes, I wish that I still had physical copies of these childhood stories, though I seriously doubt I would be able to make out any of the atrocious handwriting I had at the time.

I have grown up in a single parent household all of my life. From the moment I started talking to now, my mother has always been so supportive of me, especially in regards to my future career decisions. When I told her as a toddler that I wanted to be a veterinarian because of my love for animals, she had no objections. When I told her I wanted to be a real estate agent because I just loved the idea of being one, she raised no questions and poked no holes in my logic. Likewise, when I told her that I had a strong passion for journalism and reporting, she congratulated me on my self discovery. I owe a lot of my self confidence to her, as she has always stood right by my side, no matter what the circumstance.

When I made it to high school, I had no earthly idea what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be something in mass communications, which, at the time, I had no idea existed as a field or college major. I did some writing for my school’s newspaper in my spare time, although the newspaper didn’t catch many students attention. With the school’s news broadcast basically defunct and the yearbook almost completely run by the ‘popular’ clique, I found myself at a loss.

How can I make this passion for not only writing, but reporting and interviewing a career? Is it even an attainable career? Should I just give it a rest? With these questions flooding my mind, I chose to come to college as a nursing major. I chose this because I was told by counselors and family members alike that nursing was one of the only definite career paths in this world. After spending a few weeks in college, I quickly came to the realization that being a nurse was not a good fit for me in any regard. But what was I to do now? After talking with one of my closest friends in college, I discovered the mass communications major, and it seemed as if angels were singing in my head.

All of the things that I’m passionate about, in one major! I quickly made the change, along with a minor in creative writing, and now I couldn’t be happier. While I’m not entirely sure what I want to specifically do in the field of mass communications, I’m very excited for the journey ahead of me. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this life I’m living, it’s that its all about the journey and not the destination.