As the days until graduation tick down, I can’t help but think about one rainy day during the first week of classes my freshman year.

I sat in my Good Counsel dorm after class, debating whether I was going to attend the Involvement Fair with my orientation group. I was tired from a long first week and was feeling overwhelmingly homesick. 

Little did I know, the decision to get out of bed and make the walk from South Campus to the Oreo would lead me to an organization that would forever impact my Villanova experience.

As a Mechanical Engineering student, writing for the school newspaper was never on my radar. But, as I walked around the circle of tables, I was instantly drawn to The Villanovan. 

I’m not sure if it was the energy amongst the editors at the table or the talk of the sports section, but something told me that I needed to write my name on the sign-up sheet.

I attended every Monday night sports meeting, but it took me months to speak. Despite everyone being nothing but welcoming and encouraging, I sat quietly in the back corner of the Corr basement office, never volunteering for an article until the Basketball Magazine came along, when all I had to do was sign up on a spreadsheet.

Even though it was just four small blurbs on Marquette and Creighton basketball, that first writing experience had me hooked. After that, I slowly noticed my confidence growing. I began to raise my hand for articles, any sport that was available. I just wanted to write.

For the first two and a half years of my time at Villanova, writing was just a hobby of mine that I fit into my grueling engineering schedule. I found myself rushing through homework assignments just so I could have time to write.

In the fall of my junior year, I started to realize that this may not just be a hobby. With low expectations, I applied for the Co-Sports Editor position, hoping to become even more involved with The Villanovan.

One Friday afternoon in December, I was sitting in St. Mary’s Hall when I saw an email with the subject line “Congratulations!” The pride and joy that I felt in that moment is all I will ever need to remind myself that I am making the right decision to pursue journalism.

Now, as I wrap up my time here at Villanova, I can confidently say that I found my passion.

For a long time, I thought that I knew what I wanted to do. I had always loved math and science, hence why I applied to engineering school. But once I felt that love for journalism, I knew that what I felt for engineering would never compare.

Finding this passion has brought joy and fulfillment to my life like I never imagined. It is a feeling that I hope everyone gets to experience at some point.

Today, there is an immense amount of pressure to know what you want to do with the rest of your life when you’re just 17 years old and applying to colleges. That pressure is the reason that I failed to accept and admit how much I loved journalism until my senior year.

It may feel like it’s too late to change your mind. I know I felt like that. But I truly believe that is never the case.

It may sound cliché, and I’m sure you’ve been told this a million times, but get involved. Try out different clubs. Put yourself out there. Even if it’s something that you never imagined liking, you never know what is going to stick and open doors that you didn’t even know existed.

Don’t get me wrong, it won’t be easy. 

There will be people with opinions, plenty of them judgmental, but it’s your path. Only you can decide what that will look like.

I’ve had my fair share of people tell me I’m crazy for leaving engineering behind after graduation to pursue journalism, but I choose to hold on to that feeling I had when I first got that “Congratulations” email.

The Villanovan has been a safe space for me over the last four years. It gave me an outlet to chase my passion, taking me to places like the men’s basketball Final Four game in New Orleans and the women’s basketball Sweet 16 game in Greenville. 

It brought me some of my favorite people at Villanova and allowed me to meet others in the sports journalism field who I admire. And it grew my confidence more than I knew possible.

Whether you are finishing up your freshman year or graduating in two weeks, I encourage you to search for your passion. You will know when you’ve found it.

I will forever be grateful that I found mine at The Villanovan.