2008 Woodie Awards
Former El Vaquero Staffer Achieving Her Literary Dreams
Arpee Markarian
Issue date: 3/12/08 Section: Features
For three semesters she wrote profiles, news stories, columns, and more for El Vaquero.
"I have never had more fun in my life," said Del Torro. "From the minute we sat down until the time we put the paper out, we were laughing and joking. We were surrounded by wonderful, creative, and smart people. It was the best school experience I ever had and one that I haven't yet equaled.
"Going to a community college. . . does open a lot of doors. I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't taken those first steps at GCC," she said.
Eberts was the adviser to the El Vaquero staff at that time, and he remembers Del Torro.
"Pretty early on it was apparent that her talents were in the more creative type of writing," said Eberts. "And for a journalist that meant feature stories and essays. Being on El Vaquero was a good experience for her. She became more outgoing, and we all came to realize just how screamingly funny she could be. Everyone just adored her."
Completing a column on sisterhood for El Vaquero, Del Torro noticed a change in her writing: It was the first time she blended her beliefs, family experiences and outlook on relationships. This article was the "embryo" of her career, material she would present later in her work.
With her newfound writer's voice, she pursued higher education at San Francisco State University after graduating from GCC in 1993 with an associate degree in humanities.
During the next four years, she studied journalism, concentrating on magazine writing. This style appealed to her so strongly that for her last two semesters before graduation in 1997, she wrote for Prism Magazine, the university's publication.
Within a year of earning her bachelor's degree in journalism, Del Torro was working in San Francisco, earning $40,000 writing columns, news and feature stories for various websites, including BayInsider.com, despite what she had been told in college about the salary of a beginning writer being half that.
"I have never had more fun in my life," said Del Torro. "From the minute we sat down until the time we put the paper out, we were laughing and joking. We were surrounded by wonderful, creative, and smart people. It was the best school experience I ever had and one that I haven't yet equaled.
"Going to a community college. . . does open a lot of doors. I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't taken those first steps at GCC," she said.
Eberts was the adviser to the El Vaquero staff at that time, and he remembers Del Torro.
"Pretty early on it was apparent that her talents were in the more creative type of writing," said Eberts. "And for a journalist that meant feature stories and essays. Being on El Vaquero was a good experience for her. She became more outgoing, and we all came to realize just how screamingly funny she could be. Everyone just adored her."
Completing a column on sisterhood for El Vaquero, Del Torro noticed a change in her writing: It was the first time she blended her beliefs, family experiences and outlook on relationships. This article was the "embryo" of her career, material she would present later in her work.
With her newfound writer's voice, she pursued higher education at San Francisco State University after graduating from GCC in 1993 with an associate degree in humanities.
During the next four years, she studied journalism, concentrating on magazine writing. This style appealed to her so strongly that for her last two semesters before graduation in 1997, she wrote for Prism Magazine, the university's publication.
Within a year of earning her bachelor's degree in journalism, Del Torro was working in San Francisco, earning $40,000 writing columns, news and feature stories for various websites, including BayInsider.com, despite what she had been told in college about the salary of a beginning writer being half that.
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