‘I gained self-confidence to pursue writing full-time’

When I was in college, one of our professors said that the best experience was to first work for a newspaper for a year.

I was the only one who did it and my interview was hilarious. I was 19 and the interview was with four veteran newsmen. I was sure I wasn’t going to get in because they kept making fun of my “Atenean-ness” and the fact that I was a student of a former Inquirer editor they didn’t like.

Everyone else being interviewed knew each other because they were all from the same schools and were Inquirer scholars. It was a huge surprise when HR called me to say I got accepted.

I learned to drive because of Inquirer.

Editor Ruey de Vera was such an inspiration to me. He gave me my first break for SIM (Sunday Inquirer Magazine) in college, and I was having a lot of self-doubt about my skills during graduation that I thought I wasn’t supposed to be a writer.

It was when Stef Cabal gave me so many opportunities that I gained self confidence to pursue writing full-time. The biggest gratification was when longtime Lifestyle editor Thelma San Juan read my article and said, “This is the way to write.”