As I solely registered for this class to learn more about strategic communication as our program has not offered many options since I started in 2022, I was not and never will be passionate about sports or anything related to sports. I also took this class due to having positive experiences with the professor previously in undergrad.

  1. What are your relevant takeaways from your time in a sports media classroom? I genuinely do not have any takeaways. It was interesting to learn how NIL affects students and influences college sports.
  2. What things that you have learned do you think will be valuable to your own aspirational sport and/or communication careers? I do not wish to venture into the sports world. As for communication careers, I guess learning the importance of image and perception. That is very well Public Relations. I don’t care for social media so I didn’t gain from the persona assignment, but I feel the NIL white paper was interesting to write. I did enjoy learning opinions and laws that surround NIL and how the laws are forever changing. Especially the state of Virginia, being able to pay student-athletes directly will definitely bring more athletes to our universities and put us even more on the map.

Professor O’Hallarn is a great professor, but I just did not do due diligence on vetting the class and its material before hand. I got through the class but I do wish it was more about stuff I like. That’s my fault. Overall, I enjoyed the interactive and engaging environment that was created and maintained in the class throughout the entire semester.