Entering this world of media and journalism is something that’s still kind of new to me, but in the two years that I’ve being doing this, I think I can confidently say that deciding I want to take my photography seriously and pursue a career in media is the best thing that I could have done for myself.
When I was younger, every time someone would ask me “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and “What are you passionate about?”, I would freeze up and feel like a deer caught in headlights because I truly felt like nothing was for me.
For the longest time, I was so set on pursuing a career in the medical field because that was my safe space. I was in different STEM programs, my endorsement was Biomedical Sciences and I even completed two different clinical certification programs to get my foot in the door to get a job.
To put it dramatically, deep down inside, I knew that I hated where I was and knew I would be miserable for the rest of my life if I was stuck working in the medical field.
I don’t remember much from elementary school. One thing I remember so vividly is around third grade being in yearbook and walking around events with my little camera, taking photos and, seeing the outcome and loving the fact that I got to say, “I took this photo.”
I didn’t realize it until recently, as corny as it sounds, that’s something that always lived in the back of my head, it was a defining moment.
Fast forward to my junior year, I got thrown into a graphic design class and the teacher, just so happened to also be the yearbook adviser, and was trying to get people to join his team.
I remember being in such a bad spot at the time and hearing the adviser talk about me joining, and I thought something along the lines of “YOLO I’ve got nothing to lose,” so that’s what I did.
I slowly started to get involved and started to fall in love with it. Each day that I would leave my medical classes and come down to the yearbook room to work, I felt happy and I loved it so deeply. I loved the stress, the people, the environment and this new world of media that I was entering.
At the end of my senior year, I remember being so crushed and torn when it was time to say goodbye to not only the people I met in yearbook, but to leave something I finally found myself enjoying doing. My adviser, Justin Stene, pushed me to keep going and apply to The Prospector because he believed in me and the potential I had, which I am so grateful for.
My first semester of college I ended up joining both The Prospector and Minero Magazine as a photo contributor with so much fear, feeling like a scared little mouse scurrying into the office.
Now I am the photo editor of both publications still creating content that I love, and as many times as I want to curl up and sob trying to manage myself, I love every second of it.
These two publications have truly shown me so many new things both in and outside of media in the year and a half that I’ve been here.
Although I am still finding myself in this journey, I am so very grateful for the experiences and people that it has brought along the way. I hope to help create these same experiences for people starting off feeling like how I once did.
Iziah Moreno is photo editor and may be reached at [email protected].
