Since I was a little girl I knew that I wanted to be a sports reporter. I wanted to be on the field, right where the action was, interviewing teams and players. WVU News has given me the opportunity to make that dream a reality. I have already learned so much and have had so many wonderful opportunities.

           My first story that I did was about “Being the Mountaineer.” It was a feature story on Troy Clemons, the Mountaineer mascot at West Virginia University. After editing the story, I knew that there were stories this week that were better than mine and knew that I probably wasn’t going to make show. After my thoughts were confirmed, I was feeling discouraged. A few days after submitting my story, I got a Facebook notification from the ESPNU TA saying that my story had been picked up by ESPNU! This was news that I needed and my confidence had been restored. This meant that I needed to step it up for the next story.

          For my second story, I took on the hot topic of fall in Morgantown, the new “Clear Bag Policy.” This was a story that I felt confident about. My favorite part about this story wasn’t being able to go on the field and get footage of the game, it was interviewing Mountaineer fans. I had the opportunity to talk to different types of people and ask them their opinions on the new policy. Being able to interact with people is one of my favorite things about being a reporter. While doing my stand-up, a parent came up to me and said that her two girls wanted to be on camera. The mother knew that the girls wouldn’t actually be on camera but she asked me if I could pretend to interview them. Of course, I invited the two girls over and instead of talking about clear bags, I asked them how their day was going and if they were having fun. They were all smiles and so excited to be “on camera.” Even though I knew that I wasn’t going to use them in my story I still wanted to make them feel special, and seeing how happy they were was worth it.

           After finishing my story and submitting it the wait was on. I was up early the next morning waiting for the tweet that would hopefully say that I was the one who made show. My phone dinged and there it was, I was the one who had made show! The first time that you hear you’ve made show is a really exciting feeling. The feeling was about to get even better when I found out that I was going to be the sports anchor for this week’s show and be able to introduce my own story. The pressure was now on to do well at the anchor desk.

           On set that day, the first few takes were definitely rough. I had no experience sitting at a news desk, and being in front of a camera before, so I really had no idea what to do or expect. After a few takes and some critique, I was finally starting to get the hang of things. And by the last take I was feeling more confident and feeling more relaxed. Once we got the take we were going to use for the show and heard that everyone did well, I knew that I deserved to be sitting there. At the end of the day I tried my hardest and gave it my all and that’s all I could do. Everyone was so helpful and supportive on set and making the show happen is truly a team effort.