ORLANDO, Fla. -- Michelle Burdo from FOX35 spoke to a class of Valencia Community College students on Friday, July 22 about the joys and hardships of being in the business of journalism.

"What are you willing to give up," said Burdo to the gathered students as she spoke of her own rise to the business, which wasn't easy.

Detailing instances where she'd once lived in a renovated garage, lost a fiance and made a yearly income of only $17,500 when she first started in the business, Burdo didn't sugarcoat the life of an individual who was just coming up in the business of journalism.

When the recount of her rise to success started to sound like a large clump of hardships, Burdo launched into her favorite side of the business - the emotional side.

The best interviews are the ones down with a family who has just gone through something tramatic, said Burdo as she recounted two of her favorites.

"You feel such intense responsibility to tell this story well," said Burdo of the emotionally pressing stories which she said at times are hard to hear. How families are able to survive in the midst of chaos is the news that she is most interested in telling.

"You have a few minutes to weave a small story into something with an impact," said Burdo of broadcast journalism, which is her niche. She added that broadcast journalism is her favorite over print because visually presenting a story is easier for her than writing one.

The main idea of Burdo's lesson was for one to know that journalism is what they want to do when they decide to join it because it can be a very difficult business to rise into, though there are rewarding benefits to finding one's place in the business as well.