Your beginning
So how did you get your start?
By start, I mean how'd you end up discovering journalism. Although working journalists may be considered professionals, I agree with Sonya that we will always be lifetime students, so I'm wondering when all of you became students of our craft.
Mine happened when my mother decided I should get a job. She rudely awoke me one morning and said she set me up for a job interview, even though I didn't even know about it until two hours prior.
I got dressed up and went in for my interview, which was for an internship at the Pacific Daily News. I didn't know anything, nor did I even care, but for some reason that was interpreted as potential and I was hired.
As I towed the line on my internship, I realized it was not only nice earning a few bucks, but I also didn't suck. I'm not going to toot my own horn and say I was good, but I got a lot of words of encouragement from my parents, my peers and my teachers. Everything snowballed afterward and here I am.
So I just want to know how you guys started. Some people go back as early as middle school.