When I first went to college I wanted to be a doctor, but the universe had other plans for me.

As a second semester freshman at Adelphi University, I was approached by the managing editor of the Odyssey Online. He wanted to create a chapter of the (at the time) online news platform at my school and needed an Editor in Chief. He told me I had one week to recruit 30 writers, collect articles from each student and edit them.

Having absolutely zero experience in journalism, I said I'd do it.

Since then I have developed a passion for local news and have interned for various newspapers, online publications and television networks.

I can now be found working as the Editorial Assistant for the San Diego Community News Network (SDCNN) and studying journalism at San Diego State University (SDSU).

Follow me on Instagram @jess_winans and Twitter @jwinans19.