Emphatic Pause

By Riley Christian, guest blogger

It is sheer luck that I was able to get an internship in time to get credit for this semester.  It was Andy Wolf, former Pulse member, who got me in contact with Larry Alter, sports editor at The Courier, and let him know that I was in need of an internship if he had a spot available. Lucky for me, he had one left.

The biggest thing I have learned is the ability to write stronger ledes for my sports stories.  I remember one of the first high school basketball stories I wrote for the Courier.  The lede went something like, “Fostoria beat Arcadia 54-33 in a boy’s basketball matchup.”  I emailed the story to Mr. Alter and waited for a response.  He got it and yelled, “Riley! You gotta have a better lede than somebody beat somebody!”  So of course I said, “Yes sir, will do!” like any first-time employee trying to make a good impression.

Now my ledes are better, and he often lets me know that I am doing much better than when I started.  Sometimes I tend to get too fancy, though, and he tells me to tone it down.  But, he’d much rather have me trying to be too fancy as opposed to boring the reader to death.

I have gotten a lot better with the amount of time it takes to finish a story as well.  Mr. Alter did not put too much pressure on me in the beginning when it came to timing, but after a few days he let me know I was spending too much time on one story.  I had to be more efficient or I was not going to survive in the sports writing business.

Most of my timing problems stemmed from learning to use the template the Courier uses for box scores and write-ups.  It’s a technical process and one little mistake could cause the entire story to be blundered. Once I got used to the template I got much faster.

I struggled with the timing because I was trying to learn the format and also because I was trying to go too fast at times. As a result, I would make simple mistakes forcing myself to backtrack and waste more time.  I quickly realized that the more I panicked, the longer it took to get the story done.  After a while, I was able to relax because I was beginning to learn the ropes.

Another great thing I learned is how to write a basketball story from only the box score.  Mr. Alter taught me how to look at the key statistics of a game, analyze them and use them in the story.  Of course, I already knew to look at the leading scorers from each team, but he taught me how to go beyond the obvious.  He taught me how to look at the tendencies of the teams such as turnovers and points per quarter.  Maybe a team exploded in the fourth quarter of a game, which led them to the one-point victory.

It’s those simple techniques that made my job easier.  I’m sure me doing better probably made his job easier as well.

This experience has been great so far. In the office, all of the other employees treat me as one of their fellow coworkers and help me as much as I need along the way.  I am learning to be a better, more efficient sports writer. I work in the evenings until almost midnight, so the late hours can be a tad stressful, but overall I like the internship.  It makes me feel like I’m working hard striving towards a greater goal.

By Abbey Nickel, guest blogger

Someone I admire once said, “it’s not necessarily about the grades you make, but the hands you shake along the way that will have the biggest impact.”  After completing an internship with The National FFA Organization this past fall, I realized just how true those words were. Grades matter – but networking, building relationships with mentors, and making connections can have an invaluable impact.

After I started my college career at The University of Findlay, I often reflected on the influence FFA had on my life during high school and wondered if there was a way I could stay involved. Luck was on my side when I stumbled across an internship posting on the National FFA website.  The organization was seeking five interns to serve as reporters in its newsroom for the national convention in Indianapolis, which typically draws an audience of 60,000.

So I got busy

1. Digging up clips from The Pulse and preparing my resume and cover letter
2. Revising and reevaluating my application dozens of times
3. Finally submitting all of it and hoping for the best
4. Making follow-up calls during the next months to check the status of my application

And I got in!

Eventually, I received an email telling me I had been accepted. Being able to combine my career aspirations with an organization I hold so close to my heart was an inexpressible feeling. This was my first time in a newsroom outside of UF, so the idea was both exciting and terrifying.

My weeklong internship taught me a lot about:

• Being a versatile storyteller.  Even though I was assigned a beat, I still was thrown into different situations and was required to present a story for various formats. Some articles went directly online, either onto a blog or the national website, or they were sent for publication in the national magazine or newsletter. My audience was different for every story – and I had to keep that in mind even during my interviews and preliminary research.

• Being able to “think like a journalist.” If I had any downtime, I would walk around the convention center and just observe – and I would occasionally strike up conversations with FFA members, parents, and their advisers to see if I could scope out a story.  I met people from all walks of life and found unique stories.

• Being able to work efficiently. I saw first-hand how the digital world has changed our profession. I had to work quickly following each event so content could be posted immediately to the blog and social media.

Words can’t describe how appreciative I am for my education at UF and how well it has prepared me. I felt confident going into every interview and prepared for every story I wrote. My class work and time with The Pulse provided me with the knowledge and ability to write articles that were published in large publications – something I had only dreamed of.

You can’t fully comprehend the value of what all you learn in the classroom until you take it and apply it outside of the classroom.

During my week covering the national convention the hands I was fortunate enough to shake have helped me network in ways I didn’t think possible.  Not only was I asked to return next year, but I was also invited to freelance for the National FFA.

Turns out “shaking hands“ is pretty important.