Graduation Pt. 2 (Free Agency Starts Now)

(I hinted at this with a blog last week using the theme of watching Up In The Air to describe this. Time to give ya'll a bit more clarity)

For those who don't know, I'm a journalist by day. I've spent 3 1/2 years with the Los Angeles Sentinel, one of the oldest Black newspapers on the West Coast. I mainly covered sports but also news when needed. I use past tense because as of Thursday, I parted ways on my free will.

After the shock fades, the next question most have is do I have anything lined up. To that, I say...stay tuned.

Those who ask why I left. It's about renewing passion and looking for the next challenge. I'm a person driven by success and moving up in life. I felt as if I had gained all I could from my job and it was time to take what I knew to the next level.

Journalism in 2010 has taken a drastic change from what it was in 2006. That's another blog for another day but it was time to take what I knew at the Sentinel and move on.

Leaving felt like graduation. I've called the Sentinel my graduate school - my chance to get on the job training in journalism and having to learn on the fly instead of in a book. I got this job 6 months after I got my undergrad degree (after a rough experience selling stuff door to door) and I felt like it was my hands on training in journalism.

I had to learn a lot of things on the fly and by watching others and learning, something I've done a lot. I had to ask myself at one point what writers inspired me after the death of the brilliant David Halberstam. I rediscovered reading for pleasure to study sportswriting books and understanding how different columnists used words to tell stories.

Each article felt like a paper to get better at my craft and I felt like I was mostly working independently to prove myself against the LA Times, Daily Breeze, LA Daily News and my own high standards.

So yes, pardon me if I have flashbacks to how I felt four years ago. I left my last undergraduate class feeling a sense of accomplishment and peace. With a drink in my hand and a blue sky before me, I took the first steps of my new future. That's how I feel now. New start, new career, same dreams.

I've accomplished all I could at the paper. I've been blessed to receive national awards for my work in sports and news from the African-American Press. I've covered events such as the Jena 6 rally, the LA reaction to Barack Obama's campaign and election, Rock the Bells 2008, USC vs. Ohio State, legendary basketball coach Willie West's final game and seen some talented players in person.

I have no regrets about my decision. It's time for a change and I feel renewed/hungry to find out what's next. I've left grad school, it's a new beginning and I'm ready to follow where God leads me. I left my comfort zone by deciding to leave my job. Now it's time to expand into something new.