I come from a very inquisitive kind of culture. The family and friends I grew up with were always curious about what I wanted to be when I grew up, what aspirations and dreams I had for myself and why. Why, why, why. I learned early on that by having a well-rehearsed answer that required little thought, I would be able to breeze through the questions that were nothing short of an interrogation.

When I reached an age at which the people around me thought it would be appropriate to pester me with questions about my future, I would politely inform them that I was going to become the next Christiane Amanpour so they better start asking for my autograph now. I was confident in my answer, and stuck with it for several years.

However, as time went on and I got older, I was informed that journalism was “a dying field” and that I should pursue something realistic and achievable. All the while, the idea of becoming an influential figure through some medium remained buried in the back of my mind as I trekked my way through high school.

During the spring, I was approached with an opportunity: job shadow with the Redmond Reporter. The Amany that had well-rehearsed answers prepared for any kind of question jumped at the opportunity. I did everything possible to become the one to job shadow the editor and reporter at the esteemed paper.

When I began this experience, I went in with an open mind and tried to embrace all that was thrown at me, including the task of covering an event at my local mosque, as well as the duty of photographing key moments during the annual Derby Days event for five-plus hours.

The occasionally fast-paced and sometimes slow-paced world of journalism is something that I truly enjoyed. I learned how to create something from nothing, and how to adapt to the sometimes minor, sometimes major obstacles that may come my way.

I was never certain about why I chose to respond to any inquiries about my future with “journalist,” but after my eye-opening experience with the Redmond Reporter, I know that little Amany knew what she was talking about.