I’m no Rory Gilmore, but being a journalism major is one of my best personality traits. 

In my early high school years, I struggled with finding my niche in this world. I had friends that played in the band or orchestra, while others were gifted artists or talented actors on stage. I felt like I had nothing interesting going for me.

That is until I randomly decided to take a journalism class in my junior year. It was then that I found my calling, and as cliché, as it sounds, that decision has led up to my college career and soon, my graduation. 

Growing up, I snatched up every newspaper I could find. Some could say that it was foreshadowing my future, but in reality, I just loved the comic section and the Dear Abby column. Still, I was influenced by newspapers growing up as my mom worked for Times Record in Fort Smith for several years. 

She wasn’t a reporter. I’m pretty sure she just took phone calls. But when she would take me to work with her, I was always fascinated with the work environment. 

After she stopped working there, I still saw journalism at play in some of my favorite TV shows. There was Marvin “Mouth” McFadden from “One Tree Hill” who had an interest in radio and broadcast journalism. Then there was April Carver from “Chasing Life” who had to put her career as a reporter on hold to fight cancer. In both cases, I watched these characters love very different versions of journalism, and I knew I wanted a piece of it, too. 

One of my favorite pastimes is watching “Gilmore Girls” for the -nth time. While I believe Rory Gilmore is far from being the greatest journalist, she was still another fiction journalist I grew up watching. 

Journalism in the media is represented inaccurately in most cases, but watching these shows was relatable to me in a way. 

Despite this, my college experience has been entirely different compared to that of Rory Gilmore. To start, she attended Yale and I go to the University of Central Arkansas. That’s not to say that we don’t have a wonderful journalism program, because we do. I’m sure fictional Yale journalism and real Yale journalism differ as well. 

Here at UCA, I’ve grown out of my shell and learned to take on challenges that would’ve scared high school me. Spending time on The Echo for four semesters and interning with The Log Cabin Democrat for one has helped me build confidence in myself. 

Talking to strangers while simultaneously being a severely anxious human is tough, but the people I’ve met and the stories I’ve told make it all worthwhile. 

I’ve also met some of the most inspiring people through my journalism courses at UCA (looking at you two, Addi and Courtney). These classes have taught me valuable skills to carry with me forever, and hey, now I know how to use Adobe Photoshop and InDesign! 

The best class I ever took at UCA was with the retired Michael Haddigan. It was a blogging class, which is something I’ve stayed interested in for many years now. We were able to create a blog about whatever we wanted and had to consistently post on it. In class, we’d share our blogs and give each other constructive feedback. This course taught me discipline and time management skills, but it was also so exciting that it didn’t even feel like a class. 

So while I’m no Rory Gilmore, I am Andraea Aguilera and I’m thankful for my friends, my college and everything I’ve learned about being a strong and honest journalist along the way.