As you may have read in our news section, some of my fellow student journalists and I attended a convention this past weekend organized by the Journalism Association of Community Colleges. We won a few awards (as you also may have read) and gained some valuable experience.

My purpose in this “View from Here” is not to brag about my staff (even though it’s hard because they kick ass), or to rave about the workshops I attended (which were just amazing). My purpose now is to use my experience to give you all a bit of advice.

I’ve been involved in the journalism program here at Skyline (in some form or another) since 2009. Our resident journalism expert, Nancy Kaplan-Biegel, has tried every semester to get me and all of her journalism students to go to this convention, probably because she knows it’s a great experience for aspiring writers, reporters, producers, etc. But every semester I had a schedule conflict, usually with work.

This semester, probably my last at Skyline, I felt that it was really time for me to go. I requested some time off from work, made travel arrangements and went down to Burbank for the weekend. My experience was beyond incredible. Not only did I learn more than I thought was possible, I also surrounded myself with more than 500 students who shared my dreams and ambitions. There is no substitute for immersing yourself in an environment like that.

My only regret is that I didn’t go to this convention in the past. I’ve missed five out of the six that have taken place since I started here at Skyline, and I really wish I could go back and change that.

My advice to you is to seize opportunities that present themselves. Many times they won’t be convenient or easy (I got about 10 hours of sleep the entire weekend), but they’re almost always worth it. This is especially true when you have the chance to progress in your field of study or to have a completely unique experience, and you should take advantage of it. We journalists are trained to never use clichés, but I’m going to end this by reminding you that at the end of the day, you almost always end up regret- ting the things you didn’t do more than things you did do.