I got my first real taste of internet marketing during my sophomore year in college. It didn’t take long till I realized I had a real knack and passion for social media. Twitter quickly became an addiction for me.

While my classmates spent their time writing papers and studying for tests, I was immersed in Social Media Club meetings, tweet chats like #JournChat, #GNO, and #CustServ. When my friends were at Homecoming, I was at the Blogworld Expo.

I’ve made many friends on Twitter. Initially, many of these people didn’t realize how young I was. I’d show up to networking meetings having come straight from classes wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and a backpack. I’d get a lot of sideways glances until people saw my name tag. “BigBags! I didn’t know you were so young!”

And thus the evening (and the friendships) would begin.

In 2009, my Senior year of college, I was one of 225 nominees for a social media award. Surprisingly, I won one of 3 “Best Use of Twitter” awards, alongside The Salt Lake Tribune, and Mozy. I was the only non-corporate entity to win the award, and the only college student to be nominated.

It was awesome to be recognized for something that I was so passionate about, and that (I felt) set me apart from so many of my peers.

During my last few semesters of school, I was privileged to mentor some of my peers on social media, and even guest lectured for Marketing, Business, and Communication’s professors across campus.