It had become the worst year of my life.

In 2014, a massive earthquake struck my house back home in August. In July, I lost a family friend who my mom knew for over 30 years. Two of my cousins passed away, one in May and the other in October.

In February, I lost my grandmother, “Nonnie,” who I would visit every Saturday to bring her breadsticks from work. Five months later, I lost my other grandmother who made the best chicken soup a grandchild could ask for.

I wasn’t sure how to cope with all the stress so I started to eat. A lot.

My days were spent worrying about if I ordered enough food, and nights trying my best to hide my horrible eating habits from my roommates.

I felt lost.

During one of my journalism classes I heard my first sports editor, Jose Olivar, give a recruiting talk for the sports section of The Orion. Having the dream of being a sports broadcaster, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have some experience in writing as well so I signed up.

As I packed up to head back a week early from my winter break for “Orion-tation,” I almost didn’t go. With a name like “Orion-tation,” I knew that I would be thrown into cheesy ice breaker games with a bunch of people I hadn’t met. Being in a mild state of depression, that was simply something I did not want to do.

But for some reason, I got the courage to go, and it turned out to be the best decision I made while at Chico State.

I found something I loved. It pushed me out of my comfort zone and provided me with something to focus on that wasn’t a Carl’s Jr. Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger with a cherry coke.

The Orion honestly changed my life.

Now I’m not going to sit here and tell you that The Orion will change your life, because there’s a good chance it won’t. But you know what will?

Finding something you’re passionate about.

Something that you want to improve on every single day. Something that you go above and beyond for not because you have to, but because you want to.

When you find something you’re passionate about, you’re never satisfied with your work and you’re obsessed to get better.

My passion was The Orion. I loved the sports, the writing and the opportunity to tell people’s stories.

The key is to stay hungry for that passion. Find it and never let go.

Because even though I was going through my worst, it gave me the best year and a half of my life.

Nick Martinez-Esquibel can be reached at [email protected] or @THENickMartinez on Twitter.