Writing is something that never really came naturally for me. But I see those areas of my life as opportunities to grow and develop as a person. It’s such a great skill to have so I’ve been continually working toward gaining a better understanding of how to write and the journalistic side of things. Because of this, I stopped by Bonnier Corporation in Winter Park, Florida, for a few days to learn about life as a writer. The Bonnier Corporation is one of the largest consumer-publishing groups in America, and with over 30 special-interest magazines and related multimedia projects and events, it is the leading media company serving passionate, highly engaged audiences. Two of these special-interest magazines are Sport Diver and Scuba Diving. Sport Diver is the official magazine of the PADI diving society and Scuba Diving covers the latest in scuba diving gear, dive travel and scuba diving news.

Patricia Wuest, Editor-in-Chief of Scuba Diving magazine, gave me a tour of the place and talked to me about the transitions that the company has made over the years with the advent of the internet. They now have a large online presence and you can find daily tips and stories on their site as well as on Facebook. She told me that anyone who wants to become a better writer has to do just that, write! As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. She also let me sit in on the planning session with some of Sport Diver’s finest including David Espinosa, the Brand Director and Editor-in-Chief for Bonnier Corporation. It was a brainstorming session to come up with ideas for all of Sport Diver’s 2014 issues. It was a full day but at the end, it was pretty incredible to have an outline and general idea of a complete years worth of magazine publications!

After racking our brains, Patricia took the 2013 OWUSS Bonnier intern Sarah Barchus and I for a dive at the Devil’s Den in Williston, Florida. Sarah, by the way, is an incredible writer and you can check out her blog here. Devil’s Den is an underground spring inside a dry cave in central Florida that stays a constant 72 degrees F all year round. It’s a really beautiful little sinkhole that many instructors take new students to train. It was an awesome finale to my visit to Bonnier. They also let me prepare something for their online e-newsletter which is a day in my life as a Rolex Scholar! Subscribe to the blog and follow along on my year-long adventure!