All it took was five minutes. That was all I needed to convince me I might be pursuing the wrong career path. I discovered how enjoyable being a sports broadcaster can be.
For the past few years, I have been hiding behind my words by writing a myriad of articles.
Now that I am entering my fifth year of journalistic writing, I am beginning to yearn for something different. I want change in my life.
That change could just be sports broadcasting.
It was love at first sight once I stepped into the News @ Nine studio last week. While seated underneath all of the bright lights as the camera staring right into my eyes, I knew I had found my true calling. I enjoy giving a human element to sports by speaking about it on television. When I write a column regarding sports, it’s difficult to show my true emotion towards the subject. I would rather talk about the subject and show how I truly feel about it.
I relish being in front of the camera, a terrifying thought to most people.
During the newscast this past week, I was able to give my opinion on how the spring sports teams would fare. It felt incredible to have nearly no boundaries when talking about a subject. I loved being able to talk about Michael Sam, who could possibly be the first openly gay NFL player if he gets drafted this May, and how scouts should be concerned about his play-making ability and disregard his sexuality.
For me, broadcasting sports is the perfect balance between writing and conversing. I develop my own script, and then I tell the PLU community what’s going on in the sports world — this process really can’t get much better. I feel like many of the skills I learned as a youngster in multiple acting classes have translated over to the world of broadcasting.
That, in a nutshell, is why I have fallen in love with this possible career.
Even before I became involved in journalism, I watched SportsCenter — probably too much if you ask my mom. I dreamt of sitting behind a desk in Bristol, Conn. talking about the vast and interesting world of sports, just like so many others.
Back then, it was only a dream. Now, it is becoming a reality, at least to an extent.
While I am not a lead anchor on SportsCenter, I have the exciting opportunity to report on the world of sports every Thursday night on News @ Nine.
I realize that I still have much to learn in the world of broadcasting and the road to success is barred with obstacles, but I am taking a step in the right direction.
After all, Chris Berman, Bob Costas and Stuart Scott had to start somewhere.
