In 2003, Robert Rizzuto was working at his family’s small-town Italian deli in western New York while also delivering pizza and bartending on the side. Nine years later, Rizzuto found himself on a plane, wearing his nicest suit, preparing to cover the 2012 presidential debates on national television.

The tragic fire that later destroyed the Rizzuto’s family deli actually opened up many opportunities for the now assistant managing editor at The Republican.

It was after that fire that Rizzuto decided to leave the family business behind and pursue a college degree, and eventually his career in journalism.

“I always liked to write and was outraged by injustice,” said Rizzuto.

Rizzuto came to American International College Thursday morning to speak to his colleague Patrick Johnson’s Writing for Media class.

Johnson is an adjunct professor at AIC and longtime reporter for The Republican.

“I hope students get a sense of what the industry is like now,” said Johnson.

According to Johnson, Rizzuto is a high-energy guy and is passionate about his work. He is at the center of a changing face of journalism.

This made for a riveting conversation between Rizzuto and students.

George Lee, one of Johnson’s students, is a senior new media major at AIC who enjoyed Rizzuto’s visit to the class.

“Rizzuto is a real intelligent guy,” said Lee. “I learned a lot about not quitting.”

Much of Rizzuto’s talk was about his hard work and dedication that led him to his current position. He worked many unpaid jobs during strange hours in order to make a name for himself.

After receiving an education from West Virginia University, Rizzuto spent more than three months in Southeast Asia, working undercover to combat human trafficking.

He later went back to his hometown, just south of Buffalo, and worked for the local newspaper under a terrible boss.

Aside from that, the pay was terrible too. Rizzuto often had to steal toilet paper from his job because his paycheck was still a week away.

But looking back, Rizzuto does not regret any of his decisions and presents himself with pride.

“I took every opportunity and I didn’t turn anything down. That is how I made connections,” he said.

Those connections led Rizzuto to his job as a politics reporter with The Springfield Republican. It was The Republican that sent him across the nation to cover the 2012 election debates. He also spent time with Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and her opponent Scott Brown.

“I spent more time with senators than I did with my family,” he said. “I knew what they liked to eat, what time they woke up in the morning and I even knew what angered them.”

Another well-known story Rizzuto covered was the infamous Blarney Blowout that takes place every St. Patrick’s Day at Umass Amherst.

Rizzuto was one of only two journalists to cover the riots between students and police officers at the 2014 Blarney event.

His ability to turn traditional journalism into multimedia journalism is what led to his videos and photographs of the riots being published in The New York Times.

“If you want to get hired and you want to do well, you’ll have to have all the skills,” said Rizzuto speaking of multimedia journalism as a “one man band.”

He spent that Saturday morning covering the Blarney riots by taking photographs and videos, all while interviewing participants. At the same time, he needed to get all the footage back to the Springfield office and published.

According to Rizzuto, “Journalism is a hustle. A very important hustle.”

His hard work inspired the students, some future journalists, in Johnson’s media class.

Lee was engaged throughout the talk and connected with Rizzuto’s message.

“Whether the work is free or not, don’t give up,” he said.

Robert Rizzuto’s stories can be found at www.masslive.com.