A couple of years ago, I attended classes in the summer at my church, going into my senior year, and my youth minister asked me what my plans were after high school.

I wasn’t the best student in high school, so college wasn’t on my mind unless I was going for the sports I played. So, my answer to my youth minister was “I don’t know.” It wasn’t the greatest feeling telling her had no plans after high school.

Grades were never high, but were never failing, so attending school wasn’t on my mind. I could only think about working after high school, but my love for sports is crazy.

Eventually, I chose to attend college instead of working. I wasn’t sure if it was the right call, but thoughts about becoming either a sports broadcaster, commentator, or journalist were endless. I knew if I wanted to attend school, it was for one of those careers.

First year, I just focused on school, I had no job, so all my time was going into school, which was pretty much a breeze, except for my history class always had problems with history.

I got my first job while attending HCC. It was my second year, and this was my first test to see if I could handle having a job and attending school at the same time.

Working in retail during the holiday season isn’t for the weak. At first, it was a bit rocky. I would often forget to turn in assessments, miss a couple of classes, would even perform poorly at work at times.

I wanted to keep my Job, and quitting school wasn’t an option, so I had to cut back on the extra free time and either put into school or catch up on some sleep.

After starting a bit rocky, my second year, I found a balance between work and school, and eventually, days were going by smoothly. I would attend school two days a week and work 5 days a week.

The days I would work were when I decided to do my schoolwork, and that seemed to help get back on top of things, so I kept it that way ever since.

Now I’m getting my associate’s degree in a couple of weeks. Transferring to a university is in my plans, and I’ve kept the same dream of finding a career in sports media.