By Gardenia Zuniga-Haro
I had come a long way from my first journalism days when I graduated high school to my mid twenties living in the big city. I have tried multiple career paths such as police officer, film producer, but becoming a journalist was always a passion that to this day burns a fire in my heart.
I am still a work in progress. I can say I am proud I have accomplished a few articles for various publications such as Grabr, El Tecolote, and The Guardsman newspaper but my ultimate goal is to have my own publication.
I can see myself having my own online publication where many other journalist who had many doors closed on their face like myself can use my platform to share their columns, news, or even photojournalism stories.
I still have to get the piece of paper that says my name, university, and have the signature of the dean who I will probably never meet however one thing I do not need is the EXPERIENCE in journalism.
Last year I was fortunate to attend a journalism conference in Sacramento,CA. It was my very first JACC which stands for Journalism Association of Community Colleges. I must say, it was an unforgettable one. I honestly I did not know what to expect other than to network and perhaps pick up a few more skills to my journalistic curriculum but I walked out as the State President.
Yes, State President of JACC!
I was running on 2 hours of sleep from editing all night long the night before the elections when my department dean Professor Juan Gonzalez from CCSF encouraged me to attend a mandatory meeting. I was more exhausted than excited to attend to be honest.
I got up and gave a short intro of myself while my baggy eyes were closing but somehow my speech touched those students who believed in me and I felt I had to make a difference.
Winning was something I never thought I would accomplish but the real job started when I had to step in as president.
It wasn't am easy job but it sure was rewarding.
I became disciplined, firm with decisions, and more involved to make sure all the journalism colleges who are members of JACC where secured from hate crimes, united, and maintained high enrollment in the program.
I had to balance full time college, weekly meetings, and plan our state conference which was a flight away from home. I was dedicated to enforce a great conference with workshops, special speakers, and from the sound of the crowd; we had a successful student mixer party.
It was a lot of stress but seeing all the students participate and smile made my term worth it.
I must admit my last day as president was bittersweet. I did not want to give away my position but my term was done. Having other students run for state president made me sad yet I felt a sense of accomplishment for the full year I dedicated.
I diffidently miss being on stage in front of 300+ people and speaking to everyone. I will greatly cherish being greeted with respect for my title. Lastly, I will miss speaking to my superiors of JACC who guided me to be a successful president.
Even though the end of Señorita President is over, this was just an opening for what I can achieve in the future. I have the confidence to be a president or director of something great in my journalistic career.
I am off to a new adventure moving to a new state and transferring universities but one thing I will never forget was becoming Señorita President for JACC.
I had come a long way from my first journalism days when I graduated high school to my mid twenties living in the big city. I have tried multiple career paths such as police officer, film producer, but becoming a journalist was always a passion that to this day burns a fire in my heart.
I am still a work in progress. I can say I am proud I have accomplished a few articles for various publications such as Grabr, El Tecolote, and The Guardsman newspaper but my ultimate goal is to have my own publication.
I can see myself having my own online publication where many other journalist who had many doors closed on their face like myself can use my platform to share their columns, news, or even photojournalism stories.
I still have to get the piece of paper that says my name, university, and have the signature of the dean who I will probably never meet however one thing I do not need is the EXPERIENCE in journalism.
Last year I was fortunate to attend a journalism conference in Sacramento,CA. It was my very first JACC which stands for Journalism Association of Community Colleges. I must say, it was an unforgettable one. I honestly I did not know what to expect other than to network and perhaps pick up a few more skills to my journalistic curriculum but I walked out as the State President.
Yes, State President of JACC!
I was running on 2 hours of sleep from editing all night long the night before the elections when my department dean Professor Juan Gonzalez from CCSF encouraged me to attend a mandatory meeting. I was more exhausted than excited to attend to be honest.
I got up and gave a short intro of myself while my baggy eyes were closing but somehow my speech touched those students who believed in me and I felt I had to make a difference.
Winning was something I never thought I would accomplish but the real job started when I had to step in as president.
It wasn't am easy job but it sure was rewarding.
I became disciplined, firm with decisions, and more involved to make sure all the journalism colleges who are members of JACC where secured from hate crimes, united, and maintained high enrollment in the program.
I had to balance full time college, weekly meetings, and plan our state conference which was a flight away from home. I was dedicated to enforce a great conference with workshops, special speakers, and from the sound of the crowd; we had a successful student mixer party.
It was a lot of stress but seeing all the students participate and smile made my term worth it.
I must admit my last day as president was bittersweet. I did not want to give away my position but my term was done. Having other students run for state president made me sad yet I felt a sense of accomplishment for the full year I dedicated.
I diffidently miss being on stage in front of 300+ people and speaking to everyone. I will greatly cherish being greeted with respect for my title. Lastly, I will miss speaking to my superiors of JACC who guided me to be a successful president.
Even though the end of Señorita President is over, this was just an opening for what I can achieve in the future. I have the confidence to be a president or director of something great in my journalistic career.
I am off to a new adventure moving to a new state and transferring universities but one thing I will never forget was becoming Señorita President for JACC.
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