People say that college is about finding out who you really are. Coming into UCLA, I didn’t really buy into this idea. I knew who I was, I was very content, and I certainly was not about to change my routine.

For my first two years of school, I did what I’ve always done – participate in the extra-curricular activities I was comfortable with (band and sports) and put school and grades before everything else.

When I joined the Daily Bruin toward the end of my sophomore year, it appeared to fit right in with my plan. I was a decent writer and I loved sports, so why not write about sports? It seemed like a pretty safe move.

It didn’t take me long to realize that the job of a sports reporter is not what I thought it was. For my entire first year as a reporter, I struggled more than I ever have in anything I have ever done. I had trouble asking the questions I needed to ask and even more trouble narrowing my ideas and coming up with proper angles for my stories.

The long days I spent in the office were often frustrating and took away from my study time, and I thought about quitting all the time.

When last summer came around, I began to realize that I was at a crossroads. The Daily Bruin had conflicted with the whole passive, safe stigma I had attached to myself. I could either make the rest of my experience miserable by settling for mediocrity or quitting, or I could go against my better instincts and devote all of my energy to something I wasn’t yet good at.

I chose to do the latter, and as a result, I can honestly say that it has been the most rewarding experience of my life.

First off, I got to go to so many amazing places this year. From downtown Atlanta, to the beautiful Maui beaches, to the humble home of Eunice and Reuben on a farm in Murdock, Nebraska. Covering sports for the Daily Bruin has allowed me to see how different people live in different places all across the United States.

Secondly, I’ve come to appreciate the entire spectrum of human emotions that the passion of sports brings out in people.

I’ll always remember the moment when the UCLA women’s volleyball team stormed the court after beating an undefeated Washington team to give coach Andy Banachowski his 1,000th victory.

I’ll always be able to recall the look in the eyes of Arron Afflalo after the Bruin basketball team gave up its first loss of the season at Oregon.

And I’ll never forget the emotional ups and downs that the UCLA softball team went through this season.

I feel extremely privileged not only to have witnessed these things happen, but to be able to tell the stories to others through my writing.

Most importantly for myself, I have found a sense of purpose in life. I’ve learned how to avoid going through the motions and to engage to the fullest of my abilities in something that I’m passionate about. Even if I don’t end up becoming a sports reporter, I now know that the possibilities for life are endless and I know what it takes to be successful.

Working at the Daily Bruin has given me life skills that I could never have learned from studying textbooks. All of the mistakes I’ve made in my stories, all of the frustrating ordeals in working with others, and all of the controversy (a word that was barely in my vocabulary before my Daily Bruin days) that working at The Bruin has created have allowed me to “find myself.”

As a result, even though an uncertain future looms ahead as I leave campus, I have the confidence, resolve and determination to take on life’s challenges because working at the Daily Bruin has showed me how beautiful life can be.

Azar was a member of the Sports staff from 2005 to 2007.