By Brandi Kidd Jamerson

Twenty years. Oh, how things can change in 20 years.

Twenty years ago I was about to begin my senior year in high school when I reluctantly accepted a FlipSide assignment from my English teacher.

"Just write one story," she said, "and if you don't like it, you can quit."

I had it all figured out. I wanted a career in health care; I was leaning toward physical therapy, maybe nursing. All my classes -- anatomy, biology, chemistry -- were geared toward that goal.

But Flipside changed everything. I learned something about myself I never knew, but my English teacher did. I loved to write, and I wasn't too bad at it. I loved digging up facts, and I learned that every person had a story to tell.

My high school didn't have a school newspaper, so FlipSide gave me my first glimpse at the world of journalism -- and I was hooked. After my one-story assignment, I accepted the position as a FlipSide correspondent for my high school and the stories flowed for the next year.

FlipSide Editor Marina Hendricks became my mentor and treated my rough, unpolished "masterpieces" kindly, encouraging me all the way.

After doing a lot of soul searching (well, as much as one can at 17) and realizing my weak stomach probably would have sabotaged my medical career anyway, I abandoned my health care major and enrolled in journalism school at Marshall University.

Four of the best years of my life followed. The control freak in me thrived in the grammar and copy editing classes and the nerd in me relished the thought of curling up with my AP Stylebook for a little light reading.

I joined the staff of The Parthenon, Marshall's student newspaper, and became the editor my junior year. I learned how to create a newspaper, every day, from start to finish, and how make the day's news fit exactly on the page.

I also became a contributing writer for The Daily Independent in Ashland, Ky., writing one feature story each week. I had arrived -- at $40 a week, I was a paid journalist. And for a college kid in 1995, having an extra $40 a week was like hitting the lottery.

After graduating from journalism school, I began my 15-year career at The State Journal as an assistant editor and later as managing editor.

Although I have put my first love on hold to raise my three children, I'm still, technically, a paid journalist at The State Journal as a part-time copy editor.

I still love the feeling of a newspaper in my hands. Not a computer screen, not some fancy electronic reader, but real, ink-covered paper.

Twenty years later, I have FlipSide to thank for all of it. The magazine opened up a career path I never would have discovered on my own.

Keep up the good work, FlipSide. I hope you inspire another 20 years' worth of young journalists.

Brandi Kidd Jamerson graduated from South Charleston High School in 1992. She is a copy editor at The State Journal.