I’ve always loved reading, and that is where my dream of wanting to be a writer began. When I was 7 years old, I wanted to be both an illustrator and a children’s author. At 12, I wanted to write the fantasy stories I found myself getting scolded for reading in class. Later, my goal shifted to working in publishing at 16. A government class my senior year of high school changed all of this.

I fell in love with the subject, while my peers hated it. I participated in every class discussion, while my friends fell asleep. I had been privy to one view of politics as I grew up and, in this class, I was exposed to other opinions and different topics from what I was previously exposed to.

Being a teenager at the time encouraged my infatuation with the subject; learning what you believe and how you identify is such an integral part of being 17. As someone who falls in a lot of minority groups, the lessons I was learning could affect my life and I realized how important it was to educate myself on the people who govern my nation.

This new discovery led me to a lot of questions, but one in particular stood out: What do you do, exactly, when you’re interested in political science? Though there are a lot of options:  being a teacher, which I did consider due my interest stemming from my high school class; a political figure of some sort, though, I did not necessarily want to lead those around me; or a campaign organizer, but that seemed to stray away from my intrigue, to name a few.

In the end, I chose to educate others. I had never realized the lack of information available to those who may not have the ability, time or simply the awareness to research every political movement, bill, law and election that is happening.

The only way I knew I could help others learn about the political environment they reside in was through articles. I had always been a good English student, so this seemed like the obvious choice. I wanted to use the ability I had been nurturing my entire academic career to write news articles that were digestible for every person, not just the ones well-versed in the subject.

My first day as a journalist began not long ago when I first sat at a Kyle City Council meeting and took notes over every topic discussed. After, I was asked if I fell asleep due to its duration and lengthy subjects, to which I gleamed that I absolutely did not. I was so excited and knew from that moment, six hours after my first day started, that I had found what I loved. I’m not sure what stood out this night. I think it was just the idea that I had the possibility to finally publish something that would inform people; after all, that was my goal.

Writing my first article brought out the true nerd in me when I realized that I would basically be writing a research essay every time I covered the news. The background that a research essay has to have on a subject, combined with the factual evidence provided to back up every statement said was something I had loved about essays. There was no, “Maybe this” or “Maybe that,” it just simply was. A world filled with such uncertainty means that I find peace in text that is simply matter of fact.

I have never felt such joy coming into work and I truly cannot think of anything else I would do with my life. I never understood what others meant when they said, “Something will click,” until it did.

Growing up, my parents were divided on the news and their opinions of it; despite this, I was lucky that they have always supported the evolution of my goals, whether that was writing my own novel, helping others or publishing nonfiction pieces. Now, they buy their own copy of the paper each week and read the news from their daughter. I have no words to explain the immense happiness that brings me. There is a different type of pride I let myself have from coming home and seeing my parents reading a story I have written. It cements that what is happening is truly real, which is an important reminder for someone who constantly escapes to fantasies.

I still have dreams and other goals. Maybe one day I will be in courtrooms documenting historical cases or on The Hill covering national news, but for now, I am happy where I’m at. The ability to combine my two favorite subjects, English and government, opened the door to the dream I wouldn’t have predicted as a child — journalism. These are definitely not the stories I thought I’d write when I was younger — the ones containing dragons, princesses and castles. But I like to think that those elements are still there in my writing today, except now the characters and settings are real, so little me would still me proud.

Brittany Kelley is a reporter for the Hays Free Press/News-Dispatch. She can be reached at brittanyk@haysfreepress.com.