The Ups and Down of Sports Writing (Final Copy)

I was miserable. I was starting to realize maybe this job just is not for me. After coming close to quitting multiple times I stuck it out hoping that in three years maybe it will get better.

My dream is to become a sports journalist and my first step toward that goal was to write for the UMBC student newspaper. I wrote on my high school newspaper but it was more of a quarterly flier than anything. Weekly dead lines, 700 word counts, interviews, it was all so new to me. But I wanted to at least give it a shot.

When I went to my first meeting there was already an issue out, meaning I was just there to take what ever assignment was left. I wanted to write men’s soccer because I’ve known the coach my entire life, but that wasn’t an option. Women’s soccer was all that was left. While I almost walked out, I took it anyway. That is where I was second guessing my dream. They were not fun to watch, I had to write about a game that nothing happened in, and had to talk to people who just did not want to talk.

But after sticking it out things took a turn up. I covered two championship teams, and a team that had their best season in 10 years. I was promoted to head sports writer, received a significant pay raise, and got a lot of experience writing.

It turned out the sports writing gig isn’t so bad and it may work out.

The point: Your dreams aren’t just achieved, you have to work toward them.

It' always darkest before the dawn

The moment I stepped on the campus as UMBC I knew that my main goal was to write for the campus newspaper. My dream was to be a professional sports writer and this was my chance to practice it. I always loved sports. I always liked talking about them. This was my chance to take a big step during my dream. But I knew there would be challenges. I’ve never writen for a newspaper before. I wrote for my high school paper just one year and it was more of a quartely flier than a newspaper. Weekly deadlines, interviewing, word counts, it was all so new to me, but I was determined to at least give it a shot.

When I went to my first meeting there was already one issue of the paper out, meaning assignments had already been given out and I was there to just take what ever was left. I went in wanting to write men’s soccer. I’ve known the coach my whole life and wanted to write for his team, but that wasn’t an option. My choices were to leave or cover a women’s soccer team who did not even win a game the season before. Though I was very tempted to just walk away bcause at that point the sport of soccer was still new to me, I took the assignment just to get on the paper and figured that maybe by my senior year I could move up.

I was miserable. The team just did not play well, I was forced to sit and watch a team get shut out twice a week, and I had to write 700 words on a game that nothing happened in. Was this what I was going to have to do every day after I graduated? I started to think this sports writing gig is not all it’s cracked up to be. I came close to quitting a few times but every time I did something prevented me from speaking, possibly my brain telling me I’m going to have to work my way up before I cover anything big.

Well, it turned out that things went a lot faster for me after I stuck it out. My next three teams to cover were the men’s basketball team, who nobody wanted because they had a bad losing tradition, baseball, who nobody wanted for the same reason, and men’s lacrosse, who nobody else wanted because they lost a lot of talent and were expected to do poorly. But as it turned out the basketball and lacrosse teams each won a conference tournament and the baseball team had their best season in 10 years. I was promoted to head sports writer, received a significant pay raise, and I was well known by everybody in the athletic department because not only want I working hard to cover the sports (during march I wrote eight articles a wek because the seasons were overlapping and I had to cover basketball, men’s lacrosse, baseball, track and field, and several features that went with those articles) but I was getting great experience in writing and then was granted men’s soccer the following year.

Now, I’m thrilled, having fun, writing what I enjoy.

The Point: You have to work your way up and do things you do not enjoy before you you dreams can come true.

Talking the Talk

Word Count: 225

If anybody has met either me or my brother they will know that we are both very outgoing people and not afraid to speak up. While that does not seem like it is uncommon, when looking at our cousins who are all shy it is quite interesting. But it did not happen by accident.

When I was growing up there was one major thing that caused my outgoing nature. Whenever I wanted to know something I had to be the one to ask it. It did not matter if I was five, my dad would not be the one to speak up and ask somebody a question for me.

If I wanted to sell something for a school Christmas drive, I had to be the one to call up and ask people to buy stuff, neither he nor my mother would call up for us. If I wanted a refill on soda at a restaurant, I had to get the waitresses attention and ask her.

While I never quite understood why my dad had to put me in an awkward situation of interacting with strangers when I was little I realize now how beneficial it was and why he did it and I’m thankful for it because I now have very good social skills, unlike my cousins or many other people I know my age.

Point of Story: The only way to become a social person is to be a social person. Waiting for somebody else to strike up a conversation is not the way to be a social person you have to be willing to put up with the early awkward situation to become impervious to it later.

High School was Great, Middle School- not so much

Word Count: 188

I remember the exact moment I realized how great my educational experience at Calvert Hall was. I was sitting in my economics lecture of 200 people with my friends, who was thinking about joining but decided not to because she was afraid of big lectures. I was not afraid of any big lectures like my friend, I had two a day for four years of high schools it was nothing new to me. That and scheduled free periods in high school to teach you how to manage your breaks in college were taken for granted, but looking back they were great.

I thought going into middle school it was going to be great, but they really tried to make it a college prep middle school, as odd as that sounds. We got pushed into majors and half our day was spent studying that. I was not interested in any of them at the time but I was stuck with it. I was not ready to have that type of education but had to, it was not very enjoyable, there was too much work and I was only 11.