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Funding your college career may be difficult, but Cristobal Reyes-Rios took a chance that won himself a scholarship.<\/p>\n
With a double major in journalism and political science, Reyes has a lot on his plate. He became interested in journalism in ninth grade when he took a journalism class and showed promise in news writing. He initially got interested in politics and investigative journalism when he read \u201cNickle and Dimed\u201d and \u201cFast Food Nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose books initially got me into politics and investigative journalism and showed me the power reporters have with their words,\u201d Reyes said. \u201cAt that point I figured, \u2018Hey why can\u2019t that be me?\u2019 Ultimately, I decided that this profession can be a vehicle to meaningfully contribute to society.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) posted a scholarship, Reyes decided to take a chance and apply. He says his experience at UCF has been rocky. With 60,000 students it was hard for him to find his niche.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked with the College Democrats for a while before joining Knight News,\u201d Reyes said. \u201cThen I spent a semester abroad studying in England, which exposed me to a whole other culture and made me even more committed to journalism.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Now that he\u2019s found his niche, Reyes has flourished, despite being placed on disciplinary probation with UCF. It\u2019s something he has to mention when applying for scholarships and thought NAHJ wouldn\u2019t select him because of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe NAHJ scholarship had an essay component, I decided to take the long shot and write about it,\u201d Reyes said. \u201cI guess that only worked in my favor since I won the scholarship.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reyes was presented with $5,000 for his academic achievements. He will use it for his tuition and books. Reyes is now an editor for Knight News and is pursuing a career as an investigative journalist or a political correspondent after he graduates in Spring 2018. He believes in being his harshest critic. As a journalist, the work can be quite meticulous and the harder a person strives to get the facts, the better. Reyes also believes students need to take risks.<\/p>\n
\u201cGet out of your comfort zone,\u201d he said. \u201cTake the long shots. Fly across the ocean. Be passionate in what you\u2019re covering or what you\u2019re writing. Otherwise, what\u2019s the point?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Funding your college career may be difficult, but Cristobal Reyes-Rios took a chance that won himself a scholarship. With a double major in journalism and political science, Reyes has a lot on his plate. He became interested in journalism in ninth grade when he took a journalism class and showed promise in news writing. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":22172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[38,13,37,16,28,29,30],"tags":[4903,4915,1871,1958,4913,4914,2479,2711],"class_list":["post-22171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-news","category-communication","category-political-science-departments","category-top-news","category-ucf-news","category-undergraduate-student-news","tag-cosmic-knight","tag-cristobal-reyes-rios","tag-journalism","tag-knight-news","tag-nahj","tag-national-association-of-hispanic-journalists","tag-nicholson-school-of-communication","tag-political-science"],"yoast_head":"\n