I feel like there is never a dull moment in life when you are a sports reporter. That statement held true for my second story of the semester.  I was SUPPOSED to be covering a wrestling match that was a benefit for breast cancer awareness. I talked to our sports TA/ my good friend Reghan Bailey, and she told me that when she went last year there was a huge turn out and everyone was wearing pink…Soooo I planned on there being a huge turn out and everyone wearing pink. It was advertised this way as well. 

I show up to the meet in a bright pink shirt planning on doing my stand-up walking through the huge pink crowds talking about the turnout. Well… to my surprise I was one of the ONLY people wearing pink and honestly one of the only ones there. 

The turnout wasn’t anything what we thought it would be, so that’s when you have to think on your toes and quickly plan what to do next. I decided I would do a feature story on Jake Smith, he was nationally ranked and it was a quick fix. 

This was my first wrestling story I have ever done, and even though I was researched on the match and the athletes, I was prepared to ask a different set of questions. I filmed the match and went to media directly after. I was the only girl in the room besides my TA. 

                                                                                                            

Fast-forward to an hour later… I pull into my apartment building to go home. I was sitting in the car on the phone with my mom telling her about my night, when I suddenly had a sick feeling in my stomach. I was almost 100% positive that I used the wrong terminology when asking a question in interviews. I was tired and stressed, and looking back at it now I can’t help but laugh….but at the time I was upset. Yep. I cried in my car for 20 minutes because I was so sure I had just embarrassed myself in a room of reporters, coaches, and athletes. 

I couldn’t even go back and watch the interview for a whole day because I was so embarrassed. Well….I DIDN’T MESS UP WHATEVER I THOUGHT I MESSED UP.  It was just a huge wake up call to relax and trust in myself! It is important to have confidence and that is a big lesson I need to remember. You ARE going to mess up sometimes and that is okay!

     

So besides the big dramatic event that never even happened I was extremely pleased with how my package turned out. I had a really creative stand-up and had great interviews. The story even got picked up by ESPNU! 

So… long story short I needed to relax. I had a good story and the taping of the newscast was great! I am very lucky do be able to do something that I love, and I need to remember that!