Think back to your childhood. What did you want to be when you grew up? Though my answer varied through the years, the one constant theme was animals; I wanted to work with animals. Jack Hanna and Steve Irwin were my heroes, but I did not have the courage to deal with the animals they interacted with. Around third grade I settled on wanting to be a veterinarian.

Nine year old me would be disappointed.

To be honest, there are moments when I am huddled over my computer on Monday mornings, trying to lay out the paper to make deadline, that I actually consider dropping out and pursuing my lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian.

I quickly snap back into reality once I remember that would have to switch majors and then spend four more years in Veterinary School.

Thanks, but no thanks. Nine-year-old Amy is just going to have to deal with it.

My relationship with journalism goes back to 2008. I am not really sure what inspired me to join the field. I decided my high school freshman year elective would be Journalism. By default I became a member of the school newspaper. I gained knowledge and rose through the ranks until I eventually became Editor-in-Chief.

Starting at square one, my first semester here was not easy for me. At the first Vector meeting I attended, I pointed out all the wrong the paper had done. Not the best way to make friends, but it worked. Since then I have made friends, become more involved, and have gained experience.

Over the past three years, I have seen this organization grow. I could not any happier to see new faces every Friday at our meetings. Fresh faces bring fresh perspectives and with fresh perspectives come diverse and quality content. With a focus on campus life, we are pulling away from being an entertainment-centered newspaper. Hopefully, we succeed in fulfilling our duty of being the voice for the students.

I am proud of this publication and look forward to the years I have left serving the NJIT community.

I often think about what my life would be like had my parents been more willing and Syracuse financial aid been more forgiving. Would I be the person I am today? No doubt, my future job search will be hard. Yes, other job candidates may have attended prestigious journalism schools while I have not. I will be at a disadvantage. Knowing that makes me want to fight event harder; fight hard to prove hard work and determination yield quality work; fight hard to prove you can rise above your circumstance; fight hard to prove NJIT can produce experts in ALL fields.