Dominique Williams knew she didn’t want to still be pouring shots and mixing drinks at 40 years old — so she turned her cocktails in for a keyboard and began her journey toward becoming a reporter.

Williams spent much of her time after high school unsure about what her next step would be. After bartending for a few years, she decided to enroll in classes at San Joaquin Delta Community College in Stockton, where she took a photojournalism course — and the professor just happened to help run The Collegian, , the school’s newspaper.

“I took the photojournalism class,” Williams said. “The professor talked to me after the course was over and said, ‘I really think you should join The Collegian, it would be really good for you.’ And I said absolutely not, I hate writing, I am not doing that.”

But Williams, who was very fond of her photojournalism professor, eventually caved.

“She was probably the best professor I’ve ever had in my life,” Williams said. “I ended up saying yes just so I could take another course with her.”

Williams started off her career at The Collegian simply as a photographer. Photography was comfortable for her, as she had been taking photos since the age of 10. Williams worked her way up and over the next two years and left The Collegian as the editor.

“I got a lot of my writing experience there,” Williams said. “I learned how to talk to people, how to report, which is something I never imagined myself doing growing up.”

Making strides in Sacramento

After her stint at community college in Stockton, Williams transferred to Sacramento State. After some quick Google searches, she found the State Hornet., Sac State’s student newspaper. Williams joined the publication staff and, after two semesters of being a news staffer and then a visuals editor, she decided she needed to stop being comfortable with where she was.

“I applied to be managing editor, got it, and now I’ve been managing editor for two semesters,” Williams said.

Being managing editor at the State Hornet isn’t all that Williams has on her plate. She also interns at the Sacramento Bee., writing breaking news. Williams says she has the State Hornet to thank for the internship.

“I got that internship solely based off my portfolio that I built at the State Hornet,” Williams said. “I do not think I would have gotten that internship if I did not have all the work that I’ve done at the State Hornet.”

In addition to her ongoing pursuits, Williams already has something lined up for after graduation.

“Most recently, I was just hired full-time at the Modesto Bee as a service journalism reporter,” said Williams, who began her role at the Modesto publication as a part-timer in late March. “I will go to full-time when I graduate.”

Williams believes “Journalism Matters”

On the day she spoke to a newswriting class at Sac State, Wiilliams donned a sweatshirt that read “Journalism Matters.” She believes that, now more than ever, journalism is an imperative aspect of our world.

“As a journalist, you have a job to be the median between the public and Sac State admin or government officials or the police,” Williams said. “It’s more important now than ever to be a good journalist because there are (fewer and fewer) good journalists.”

It seems that the State Hornet is doing just that —  good journalism. Williams has helped carry the State Hornet atop the ranks of all college newspapers in the country. Last fall, the State Hornet was one of just 17 collegiate online publications in the United States to receive an online Pacemaker Award, and earlier this spring, the publication received several individual awards at the spring convention of the Associated Collegiate Press in San Francisco.

“If you don’t know what a Pacemaker Award is,” Williams said, “It is essentially the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism. It is the most prestigious award that you can get in college media.”

“Stinger-Lickin’ Good” wins first place nationally

Williams is also making great strides nationally for her very own column that she has created at the State Hornet.

“I can officially say that I have the best blog-style column in the nation,” said Williams, whose “Stinger-Lickin’ Good” food column was named the top blog at the spring national collegiate journalism convention.

Williams said she was looking for a way to present easy, budget-friendly recipes that were straight to the point. She was at a spot in her career where she felt like she had done nearly everything and wanted to try something new.

“I was like, someone needs to create a recipe column where you have like three paragraphs of words … and the rest is just explaining how to make the meal,” said Williams. “Because no one cares (otherwise). So that’s what I did.”

It’s safe to say Williams has come a long way since she decided to quit bartending and pursue a career in journalism. Today, the same person who just a few years ago was shy and introverted and was convinced she hated writing now seems to be singing a different tune.

“People are approachable whether you think so or not,” Williams said. “Almost everyone is willing to talk to you because people have things to say. And this is a platform where you can get them to say it.”