My grandfather, Daddy Jack, published a book before he died, a collection of his columns about the history of his small agricultural town in central Florida.

 

The "Historical Tidbits" column appeared in The Apopka Chief, a weekly newspaper that prints a "Mema says" and "God's Word" section side by side under the editorial.

 

Writing was a late-formed passion for my grandfather, but it took root. Thankfully, I found mine a few decades earlier in my life, thanks to his stories – those in print and those told on the porch over a couple sweltering glasses of sweet tea. 

 

The way he and I tell stories may be different, but the drive to tell them is the same. 

 

Unlike him, I graduated in 2015 from the University of Florida with a degree in journalism and sustainablity studies. With it, I plan to write about the environment and maybe even dig into some investigative stories. 

 

I don't have a set plan for the kind of journalist I want to become, because the media world is constantly changing and so am I.