I've been using a camera to communicate for more than two decades now. It took quite some time to figure out what it was I wanted to say, only to realize I didn't really want to say anything.

I wanted to help others tell their own stories.

My mantra has become "inform, educate, entertain." My images are designed to show readers what has happened, show them why it has happened and, lastly, to do so in a manner that brings them back for more information.

After returning to school in 2003, amember of the faculty, early in my tenure as a teaching assistant, commented that it's one thing to know how to do something, but being able to teach it raises the level at which you need to understand that same thing. The acuity of that statement resonates with me every time I step in front of students.

After more than a decade of story telling, I have found another calling. The time I've spent with students has been some of the most rewarding I have ever experienced. Helping them to become better communicators, better visual journalists, has given me a satisfaction greater than almost anything I have done before. Seeing in their images the ideas and issues we've discussed is an amazing thing, only surpassed by the look on their faces when they suddeny get it, when they understand the power of their own images.

Do I miss shooting? Every day. Every single day. But I go back to why I started in journalism - I believe in communities, I believe journalism is a calling. I believe you take on a high level of civic responsibility when you become a member of the Fourth Estate. By preparing the next generation of journalists, I'm still participating in the process.