My bags are checked, my seatbelt is buckled, the pilot’s voice crackles on the public address system letting us know that we are taking off.

Seconds later, we are speeding down the airport runway. Next stop, New York.

It’s the first time in my 28 years that I am leaving the West Coast and the first time since I was 11 that I am on a plane. I am on a school trip with my journalism adviser and classmates, on our way to the College Media Association national conference hosted this year in the “Big Apple.” I cannot believe it.

I returned to school after a seven-year break, learning a profession that I have a strong passion for and it is due to the worldwide pandemic.

I first left college in 2013, where I was a broadcasting major at East Los Angeles College. I have always enjoyed school and I found myself falling in love with college life, excited for what’s to come.

Then life happened.

My family was hit with a two-punch emergency. My parents, who were already elderly and not in the best of health got sick. Really sick.

In the span of two years from 2013 to 2014 my father had open-heart surgery to replace a heart valve and my mother underwent a liver transplant.

Both immigrants from Mexico, my parents never had too much money growing up, but they were good and loving people. Realizing the dire situation we were in and not wanting my sister to leave school herself, I decided to enter the workforce to care for my family.

I thought I would only leave school for a couple of years and that I would be back before I knew it. A couple of years turned into seven years.

Although time flew by, I had fond memories of those seven years away from college life. My parents recovered enough to live comfortably and I met the woman who would eventually become my wife. But I was unhappy. I disliked my job and I felt unfulfilled and I was stuck in a financial rut.

In those seven years, my family had grown accustomed to the money I provided and as a unit, we couldn’t afford to lose the steady income, so I kept working.

Then life happened.

Everything happened so fast. Before March 2020, I was working 10 hour days at an aeronautical fastener manufacturing plant in Torrance. When the pandemic hit the manufacturing plant never shut down, but they steadily began reducing the workforce.

The COVID-19 virus wreaked havoc. Unemployment in California rose from 3.4% to 7.7% between January 2020 to June 2021, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Traditionally blue-collar manufacturing jobs were especially hit hard, the manufacturing sector employment rates fell from 13.2% to 4.2% between Jan. 2020 to June 2021.

After surviving three rounds of layoffs, I was eventually let go in the fourth. I didn’t know what to do, I hated my job but I had been doing it for so long that I fell into the trap of thinking it was all I could do.

I felt scared and unsure about what was next for me, like many other people who lost their jobs in 2020. Luckily for me, my wife and family were there to support me.

My family knew that I always enjoyed school, and with my unemployment keeping us afloat for the moment they insisted I go back. But I was afraid.

I was older and part of me wrongfully thought it was too late. My wife took me by the hand and did the work to get me back. When I was hesitant, she was the one who registered me for classes and played a big part in helping me get my past transcripts from my former school.

By 2021 I was enrolled at El Camino College and attending my first college class (online) in years. I decided I would double major in communications and journalism and I soon heard about the amazing opportunities offered by the student-run publication The Union.

Joining The Union and becoming a journalist became my new goal and I decided I would not waste this opportunity. I completed my general education first and when I felt ready, began to take journalism classes in earnest.

COVID-19 has been the cause of countless tragedies, despair and death. I can’t help but feel guilty when I admit to myself that I would have never come back to school had I not been laid off due to the pandemic, but it’s the truth.

According to California’s Community College Chancellor’s Office Datamart between fall 2019 to fall 2020 the number of returning students who enrolled at El Camino College decreased from 38.20% to 10.08%.

From fall 2020 to fall 2021, returning student enrollment experienced a slight bump from 10.08% to 10.92%. From the previous 2020 returning student count of 2,074, only an additional 93 students came back to El Camino in the fall of 2021 for a total of 2,167. I was one of those students.

It was admittedly difficult returning to school. It’s hard to concentrate when a deadly virus is raging, but for the first time in a while, I felt determined.

Two years ago I was spending 10 hour days running loud and oily machines and coming home tired each day. The pandemic slowed my life down enough to make me realize that I wanted more.

El Camino College, the journalism department and the community college system as a whole gave me back my passion. As of spring 2022, in-person classes have become more prominent and I am discovering many more amazing opportunities.

When my journalism professor offered me the chance to attend the College Media Association Conference in New York I decided I could not pass up the chance to learn from professional journalists and meet my student peers from across the country.

Attending workshops, learning my chosen craft and meeting new people both young and old who share the same passions as I do, reignited my interest in journalism and education in general.

Exploring New York City while simultaneously taking the next step in my education and career is something that seemed unbelievable just a few years ago. It almost feels like a different life.

As I write this story, I am sitting in my Marriott Marquis hotel room in New York, where the College Media Association conference is taking place.

I get to work and hang out with my classmate and temporary roommate as the lights of Times Square shine through our window. The never-ending honks and yells from far below are a reminder that we are on an amazing trip far from home.

I write, he edits and tomorrow we have another full day of workshops and exploring to do.

Going back to college is one of the best decisions I have ever made, and it was a bright spot during the horrible and frightful period that was the early days of the pandemic.

What I have learned is that it is never too late. For anyone who has constantly thought about returning to school but has not due to fear, my advice is to get out of your own way. Grasp the opportunity when and wherever you can find it.

This theme was reiterated at the workshops in New York City. Various speakers encouraged tentative students to really work hard and take chances.

Returning to college has already given me the experience of a lifetime, and I cannot wait to see what life may have in store for me next. I hear the next conference is in Washington, D.C.

Editor’s Note: Fixed grammar errors and updated photo placement/captions on March 17 at 12:34 p.m.