Sport Journal Prompt #4
For three months, you have been students in COMM 462-562, Sport and Strategic Communication. During that time interval, what are your relevant takeaways from your time in a sport media classroom? What things that you have learned do you think will be valuable to your own aspirational sport and/or communication careers? Feel free to reference specific assignments such as the Social Media Persona, the Sport Journal, and the NIL White Paper
My Final Blog: A reflection of COMM 462/562
This will be my final blog post of this portfolio with the semester coming to an end. So I would like to reflect on my experience while taking COMM 462/562 Sports and Strategic Communication.
When I first applied for this class, it was honestly strictly due to the fact that it had sports and my major in the title. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. At first I thought this class was going to be an easy going sports class, and with sports being one of my biggest interests as talked about in previous blogs, I figured this class would be a piece of cake. Early on I learned this would not be the case and that this class would be harder than I anticipated. However, after all of the lectures along with an abundance of assignments, this class ultimately turned out to be one of my favorite classes I have taken while at ODU.
The thing that worried me the most about this class early on was the writing. After reading the long list of writing assignments I was going to have to complete, especially after seeing that the majority of our work would be combined into an eportfolio, I wasn’t very thrilled. Even though I feel I am a decent writer, I am not the biggest fan of reading my writing, so having a hub where my writings would be saved and showcased terrified me. Now that were coming to a close, I have to admit that I am grateful for this experience and couldn’t be happier with my progression. One of my biggest issues in my writing, in my opinion, is showcasing it in an easy on the eyes and visually appealing way, especially through a technological medium. So the combination of writing and posting blogs online didn’t have me very excited. In additon, this portfolio would be fully online and computers aren’t my strongsuit, however, this eportfolio has given me the chance to fine tune my writing and learn more graphic design tactics to turn my paragraphs into a professional website all while talking about the most interesting subject on the planet, sports. So, to best showcase what I feel are the most important things I will take from this class, I want to show two of my favorite assignments I completed during this class…
The weaknesses of mine that I touched on earlier became very apparent in one of my earlier blogs which is pictured above, where I wrote an 800 word wall of text, and called it a blog. Its crazy to think this is where I started, and that the blogs youll see below are where I finished. This boring and unappealing way of organizing my writing has slowly left my arsenal, and due to the many practice oppurtunities and feedback I recieved from my professor, I am now incorporating more visual aspects and organizational layouts that allows my content to look more of that which would catch the eye of a reader. This slowly but surely started to turn my wrting into something that is more visually appealing and professional. I have now put together an array of skills that I can use in all future writing, no matter the subject. Using better paragraph spacing, imagery, and easy to read layouts, I have taken my writing to the next level. To me, this is most apparent in my journal article on Kolin Kaepernick, which I personally feel is the best example of the skills I learned throughout this process.
The other assignment I want to highlight, that I feel best illustrates my key takeaways from this class is the pen-pal infographic. This assignment was a gold mine of useful experience. I was able to reach out and make a professional connection with the CMO of the New York Mets, which is ridicoulus in its own right. I was able to meet and interview him, and create an infographic on the information gathered from the interview.
The infographic above isn’t the best infographic ever created, but to me it signifies some of the skills I have learned and have been able to implement while taking this class. The pen-pal assignment taught me lessons like how properly reach out to a sports industry professional, which I had never spoken to a professional in any ragard. It also gave me my first experience interviewing someone, and the CMO of my favorite baseball team is a unique first time. One of the most important learnings from this assignment that will be beneficial in my future career is how to take my creative ideas and displaying them on a screen while also effectively communicating my core message. In an increasingly more tech savy world, being able to communicate your thoughts, grab a readers attention, and effectly get your message across, is so important. The times have passed where just speaking out loud is good enough. In order to be a fully effective and well-rounded communicator, you don’t have to be a tehnological savant, but you do need to be able to ensure your message is still portrayed and recieved online just as well as it would be face to face. This assignment is just of of the assignments I am reflecting on because of its unique signifigance, and there are so many beneficial experiences within this assignment, its hard to pin-point the most important one.
Conclusion
Overall, I am pleased with my progression and although I feel I still have much room for imporvement, I can confidently say I have benefited from all the work I completed in this class and feel I have come out of this experience a better writer and have a new found appreciation for professional sports writing. I also have enjoyed being a critique of sports media, which has been another common topic we have focused on in this class. The ability to create quality pieces of sports media can be taken to the next level when you know what to look for and what tactics, when implmented correctly, increase the effectivness of getting your message across; which ultimatly is the goal of communications in sport.
All of these skills I have discussed were harnesed and practiced through the various assignments I have had to complete in this class, and will take them with me no matter what career I decide to pursue. Sports has and will always be an important subject to me, so learning how to be a better sport consumer, and learning skills that could allow me to become apart of the sports industry is something I know I will always apprecieat. Honestly, following this class, pursuing a job in the sports communications and media industry is now one of my top career interests, and I know this class played a huge part in that. Thank you to those who have read my writing, I hope the progression has been as apparent to you as it has for me, and hope you have enjoyed consuming my writing.