MY STORIES:

• Ensuring small business survival by learning from failure
• The Women’s Business Center: A support in the entrepreneurial journey 
• Unstructured past creates stable future

MY BLOG:

When I was little I thought I was going to be a mathematician.

The numbers produced an insatiable curiosity and expanded my mind to all the endless possibilities — the numerical mysteries held within our own world.

While in high school I thought of possible careers I could pursue in the math field until one fateful day I took a political science class. I immediately and unknowingly fell in love with politics, news and storytelling. That same insatiable curiosity to understand the world around me shifted toward journalism.

Throughout the years I’d experienced writing a variety of different stories, most of which were political or of social awareness.

At the start of the semester. I had no idea what reporting on small business was about. My young, world-devouring 19-year-old mind just wanted to report on what I knew and felt comfortable doing. When the semester’s beat was initially announced I was disappointed and confused. Reporting on  business was going to be a roadblock to what I cared about most.

Shouldn’t business reporting be more for finance or business majors?

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

In previous classes I had developed a strong interest in learning about human communication and firmly believed those communication principles were solely constrained to humanities-related courses.

After these past months I have learned a valuable lesson and a personally saddening one on industry stereotyping.

Business isn’t constrained by finances or money. Every aspect of business affects you and me and most importantly, there are stories in the business industry that need to be shared. Stories that shouldn’t be confined to the walls of a business/finance classroom.

It was saddening to realize this because it’s a lesson I thought I already knew, but somehow seemed to have forgotten; it was valuable because I always want to strive for improvement even if it means tearing down current ideologies and building new ones.

Learning to report on a topic I wasn’t familiar with taught me to always pay attention and never underestimate. There’s a story within every industry, every business, every person. As a gatekeeper and storyteller it’s my responsibility to find those stories.

Being a journalist demands a lot. The road is a long one, and a low-paying one at that. However, after that day in my political science class it was evident to me why I wanted to pursue journalism.

My goal is to help people. Give the public factual information and they’ll have the power to make the best decisions for themselves. As Sir Francis stated,  knowledge is power.

ABOUT ME:

Liz Rojas is a journalism and international studies student at the University of Utah.

She attended the Utah County Academy of Sciences (UCAS), an early college STEM high school in Orem, Utah.

The UVU Review (Utah Valley University’s Independent Newspaper) published her first article at the age of 16. Throughout high school, she wrote for both college and high school newspapers.

In May 2014, Liz graduated from high school (UCAS) with an associate’s degree in University Studies.

Even though her secondary education was based around STEM she developed a passion for writing, politics and human rights issues.

Liz believes in the power of education. An educated/informed public is strong and intellectually free.

Her passion for politics and government prompted her to pursue a second major in International Studies with an emphasis in foreign relations and security.

She’s interned with Utah’s abc4utah and currently works as a finance manager for a Lending Company in Sandy, Utah.

When she’s not reading the news or working, she enjoys Latin dancing and watching Academy Award-winning films. Utah’s Real Salt Lake Club team and any Ute-related sport will always have a piece of her heart.

Filed under: Blogs & Bios, Student-Journalists |