Hey you,
It’s me again. A small-town girl with big dreams. Actually, I’m from a small place in Central Florida called Ocala. Its population is 56,315 and it is known as the Horse Capital of the World. We have equestrian, horse races, and Paso Fino. You will also find lots of horse statues painted in different themes around Ocala as an ode to its fame as the Horse Capital of the World. My family is originally from Latin America and moved to Florida way back in 1990. Dad’s side of the family is from Puerto Rico— almost everyone is well educated with their BA in something like Political Science, Engineering, or the health field. Mom’s side of the family comes from Colombia and mom too was very smart with a BA in the health field and she was studying Medical Transcription. We all were very smart and loved the Hispanic culture. Yes, salsa, bachata, merengue, and cumbia run in our blood. Spanish is my second language and we all loved to share our food. Rice and beans, please!
Even though I grew up in the horse capital of the world, I was never a country girl at heart. I grew up in the city in a small ghetto. I went to the best magnet school from 3rd to 5th grade. Had to honor roll all throughout high school and was an A, B student all throughout college. I had few friends and surrounded myself with books. I wrote for hours and hours journaling my life, events, and poetry. Then I took an introduction to a journalism class at the College of Central Florida and decided from there that I wanted to be a storyteller.
I earned my BA in Mass Communications and Journalism from the University of Arizona Global Campus, formerly known as Ashford University. They had lots of great courses to give me the structure I needed to become a disciplined writer. I know all about AP style, English grammar, spelling, and punctuation (Yes, I know super boring. Yuck). Interviewing people, editing stories, using InDesign and much more.
However, I felt inspired to tell stories through a different medium. I always loved finding new angles to stories with photographs and felt inspired to take pictures on my Instagram. I actually prayed and asked God to bless me with a DSLR camera because I wanted to take better quality pictures and one day I unexpectedly received the opportunity. I got my first beginner to the immediate camera, a Nikon D5600. It is reviewed as one of the best beginner to intermediate cameras and takes stunning pictures. You can see those on my Instagram account @rsadsrnc.phto.
Moreover, dad always encouraged me to keep studying and keep writing. No matter how tired I was— because I suffer from PTSD, anxiety, and headaches— he always encouraged me to keep writing. So I do. After graduation from my BA between May 2020 and September 2021, I began to find stories in the community, take pictures and share them on my Facebook. I’m proud of how far I’ve come and am looking forward to seeing how far I can go with my master’s degree.
My goal is to become a freelance photographer using photojournalism and travel photography to document worthwhile stories. I’d find companies, brands, and publishers who support photographers to tell these stories. So far, the tourism board of Ocala Marion has contacted me for permission to use one of my photos for their marketing. This one right here:
To some people, it might be something small but we all have to start small from somewhere.
So tell me, if you’ve gotten this far maybe you or someone you know is interested in being a COMM major too. Do you write stories or take pictures? What inspires you? How did you get started? Are you as anal as I am about proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation? Haha, I cringe when people write to me and don’t know how to use the language. Where do you or your loved one want to take your art or photography?
Please, don’t be shy and let me know in the comments. I like dialogue and learning from other creatives.
Yours truly,
Rosa de Saron C.