When I was in elementary school, I would often write stories. Some of them were for school assignments, and others were just stories I would type up on my computer. I often made "family newspapers" where I documented the current happenings of everyone in my family. That was when my love for writing first was sparked.

 

In high school, I always loved writing essays. All of my friends thought I was crazy, but I looked forward to the classes where we could write in-depth analyses on topics of our choice.

 

When I went to college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I went through five or six different majors, feeling totally lost. I wanted to graduate, but I felt like nothing was the right fit. I did horrible on every multiple choice test I took, but excelled when there were free responses. I continued to do well in my essays, and I kept a personal blog where people would compliment my writing.

 

One day, when I was trying to decide what major to try out next, I thought to myself, "Katie, you are a good writer. Try the journalism program out again." It was actually the major I started with, but after a bad experience with one of my professors, I backed out. However, this time, I went to talk to the head of the department, and he inspired me to try again. I realized that I should be doing something that I've always loved and excelled at, even if it was something that others looked down on and claimed to be a dead field.

 

To make a long story short, after taking a few pre-requisites, I was accepted into the print journalism program. It was there that I flourished. I wrote articles on every topic, and loved my in-depth reporting courses. I won awards for my writing, and I realized where my passion was. Writing.

 

Right before I graduated, I started my blog, Clarks Condensed. It became a place for me to continue writing, even though I had decided to be a stay-at-home mom. It's been a place for me to express my thoughts, share them with others, and make a difference. As a journalist, I became dedicated to making sure I didn't fit in with the current trend in journalism to be extremely biased and ignore the facts. It makes me so sad to see the lack of ethics in journalism that is practiced today, and I have made it a goal to always write the truth, and seek out both sides of every story.

 

Even though I'm not working as a journalist for a newspaper or magazine, I do my part to be informed, and write posts that others find helpful. I will always be a writer, and even though it took me a few years to decide that's what I wanted to be, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Katie Clark is a recent graduate from Brigham Young University and a stay-at-home mom to her 18-month-old, Jack. She enjoys writing for her blog, Clarks Condensed, doing freelance social media and blog management, cooking, and spending time with her husband and son.