As the youngest of four and the only girl, I spent a fair share of my childhood getting dragged around to baseball games, wrestling tournaments, football fields, and so much more. During that time, I was sitting in the bleachers, bored out of my mind while my brothers played whatever sport we were at that day. However, once I learned the rules of the games, they became fun, and I began to enjoy going. While I can thank my brothers for learning how to calculate someone’s batting average, scoring a wrestling match, or shaking my head while they were in the penalty box, a career in sports didn’t occur to me in my childhood. At that time, sports were something I enjoyed, but not something I desired to dedicate my life to. In high school, I began to see sports in a different light. With the thought of picking a college – and a major – consuming me, I started to backtrack my goal of becoming a veterinarian (I don’t like math or science, so that may not have been the best idea) and started to think outside the box. In high school, I was the videographer for my high school’s wrestling team, as my brother was a senior (and since I was at the matches, I could put myself to use). While videoing, I would talk to myself about what was happening in the match, and it was brought to my attention that the team loved listening to the videos because they thought my commentary was ‘hilarious.’ Granted, most of it was me making remarks about the other team or the referee. While I didn’t think much of it, I later realized that sports commentary was an actual career path I could travel down, and I set my sights on becoming involved in sports. Now in my junior year at Pitt, I’ve found a love for sports through broadcasting. As an intern for ACC Network at Pitt Studios, I’ve gotten to work on Olympic sports broadcasts, including NCAA Tournament runs. The aspect I love the most about sports broadcasting is the storytelling that comes along with it. Producers spend all week brainstorming statistics, graphics, and storylines for the show, and it’s so fulfilling to see it come to fruition. During college wrestling season, I was the color commentator for a few matches, and it was incredible to tell stories about the athletes and combine those stories with the sport they love. I think the overarching world of sports is about more than sports itself – it's about how sports are translated through stories, how they are digested by the audience. As Jim McKay said, sports are about “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat,” and without storytelling, there’s no way to tell the audience about the victory, defeat, or how those things came about. As a child, I didn’t have a dream to be a sports reporter or coach, but I did love to tell stories. I’ve always had a vivid imagination and a love for reading, and I grew to love sports. By combining three of my favorite things, I can have a career in an industry I adore while telling stories to millions of people. Sports broadcasting caught my eye and has held it ever since, and storytelling has always been a part of me. While I try to explain my story the best I can, I know I didn’t do it justice. Sometimes, a story needs to be told out loud to be fully understood, and I can do that in sports broadcasting.

If there’s anything that sticks out to me in the world of sports, it’s hockey; if there’s anything that sticks out to me in the world of hockey, it’s journalism. I think articles in hockey define the sport, because that’s what people all around the world read. When the Stanley Cup Champions are announced, there are always articles from the champion team, ESPN, TSN Sports, and so many other networks. Whether it’s a play-by-play article, opinion article, or interview, hockey is showcased as a whole. I want to represent a team, organization, or network by utilizing my writing skills to write top tier articles to be read by the whole country. Out of all thirty-two NHL clubs, I am partial to the Pittsburgh Penguins. I mean, it’s hard not to, as during my youth Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin were (and still are) dominating the league. I followed the Penguins mainly on social media, but when I saw articles on my timeline, I read them. I found these articles to be quite interesting, as their authors equipped themselves with incredible diction and imagery. These writers also get to be around professional hockey players and watch their games, which would be a nice bonus. My favorite journalist at the moment is Mike DeFabo, a beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. DeFabo mainly writes about the Penguins, and he has a great Twitter feed. To be a journalist for a professional hockey team would require watching, analyzing, and breaking down the game, which sounds incredibly fun to me. The atmosphere at professional hockey games is out of this world, and being around people supporting one team creates a feel-good moment. Watching a fast-paced, energetic, intense game feels less like a job and more like a career to me. Sports journalism is a profession where I truly believe I could show up to work happy every day. All in all, sports journalism is a place where I think I belong. This industry is dominated by men, but I feel as though I would have a strong presence wherever I end up. I want my articles to impact the hockey world. Getting to interview NHL star players, coaches, and Hall-of-Famers is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I think that if I complete my bachelor’s degree in college and acquire internships throughout those four years, I could come out with a great job, and if I don’t, I will roll up my sleeves and climb the ladder to the top. I believe that a career in sports journalism would make me truly happy. Through volunteering for my high school's wrestling team, I was able to record the wrestles at all of their tournaments. Doing this opened my eyes to the world of sports and how much fun talking about sports can be. Volunteering for the wrestlers inspired my major and I have continued to pursue activities and volunteer opportunities since my time with the team came to an end.

With $1,000, I'd like to think that I would save it for college, but if I was given $1,000 right now, I would buy some breakfast. I'm writing this in my Drivers Education class, and I was almost late this morning because I didn't set my seven alarms last night. I got ready in like six minutes this morning, skipped breakfast, and then drove twenty minutes to school, and while on the way, I got stuck behind a bus. I think I made it to school on time because the assistant principal didn't make me get a tardy slip. But anyways, I would buy breakfast with some of that money. I also need gas, so that takes about $45 more dollars away, so now I'm down to about like $900? I was chosen for callbacks for my school's production of "Romeo and Juliet," so I might treat myself a little by going to the movies or something. There's been some clothing pieces I've had my eye on, so maybe I'd get one of those, too. I need a new rash guard for summer, and yes, I'm eighteen and I wear a rash guard because when I was ten I had second-degree burns from being sunburnt so badly. Rash guards can be pricey, with good quality ones coming in around $100. Now I'm probably down to like $715. I'll put the rest away and it will be used for books for whatever college I decide to go to.

My life has been greatly impacted by cheerleading. I started cheerleading at six years old in 2010, and now I am the captain of my team. There was something about cheer that was different from dance, softball, and volleyball; cheer was exciting. Traveling to different places gave me eyes to see different experiences, warm-ups allowed me to develop nerves of steel and competing got my blood pumping. Not only has cheer given me these, but it’s also given me leadership skills. In cheerleading, trust is a must. As a base and a backspot, I hoist my teammates into the air, and that requires trust. As I’ve gotten older, I understand why this bond is so critical to the team; so no one gets injured. And somehow, even if my teammate does fall, I will be there to catch her. Throughout the past eleven years, I have developed trust in my teammates and coaches, and they have developed trust in me. Not only does cheer inspire trust, but it also inspires loyalty. Since I’ve cheered at the same place for over a decade, I have learned what it means to be loyal. I have seen countless teammates, people I considered friends, walk out the door and never come back. When times were hard during my cheer career, I didn’t stop. With the support of my teammates and coaches, along with loyalty and discipline, I was able to push through rough patches. I have never felt alone during my cheerleading career. One of my favorite parts about cheer is how creative you have to be to create a routine. A competitive cheerleading routine is two minutes and thirty seconds of fast-paced stunting, jumping, tumbling and dancing. With twenty-nine other athletes on the mat, coaches have to develop creativity. In the more recent years, I have been asked by my coaches to be a junior coach and help choreograph routines; this is a challenge. The routines are scored by a panel of judges, so having a unique routine is a must. Finally, cheerleading has developed my leadership skills greatly. Since 2018, I have been seen as a leader by not only my teammates but my coaches as well. I represent the team I am on and the whole cheerleading gym. I know how to be respectful, gracious, and encouraging towards my team and competitors. I would not trade my cheer experience for the world, because nothing will ever live up to the skills I have learned.

If there’s anything that sticks out to me in the world of sports, it’s hockey; if there’s anything that sticks out to me in the world of hockey, it’s journalism. I think articles in hockey define the sport, because that’s what people who don’t know the see. When the Stanley Cup Champions are announced, there are always articles from the champion team, ESPN, TSN Sports, and so many other networks. Whether it’s a play-by-play article, opinion article, or interview, hockey is showcased as a whole. I want to represent a team, organization, or network by utilizing my writing skills to write top tier articles to be read by the whole country. Out of all thirty-two NHL clubs, I am partial to the Pittsburgh Penguins. I mean, it’s hard not to, as during my youth Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin were (and still are) dominating the league. I followed the Penguins mainly on social media, but when I saw articles on my timeline, I read them. I found these articles to be quite interesting, as their authors equipped themselves with incredible diction and imagery. These writers also get to be around professional hockey players and watch their games, which would be a nice bonus. My favorite journalist at the moment is Mike DeFabo, a beat writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. DeFabo mainly writes about the Penguins, and he has a great Twitter feed. To be a journalist for a professional hockey team would require watching, analyzing, and breaking down the game, which sounds incredibly fun to me. The atmosphere at professional hockey games is out of this world, and being around people supporting one team creates a feel-good moment. Watching a fast-paced, energetic, intense game feels less like a job and more like a career to me. Sports journalism is a profession where I truly believe I could show up to work happy every day. All in all, sports journalism is a place where I think I belong. This industry is dominated by men, but I feel as though I would have a strong presence wherever I end up. I want my articles to impact the hockey world. Getting to interview NHL star players, coaches, and Hall-of-Famers is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I think that if I complete my bachelor’s degree in college and acquire internships throughout those four years, I could come out with a great job, and if I don’t, I will roll up my sleeves and climb the ladder to the top. I believe that a career in sports journalism would make me truly happy.