In this class, I have been able to expand my knowledge on sports farther than ever before. I pushed myself above and beyond my writing, navigating WordPress, creating a blog, and expanding my network by reaching out to several sports professionals and getting the opportunity to work with one for the semester.
In the beginning, I was really nervous about this course. Having a sports penpal seemed daunting, and I was really new to creating a blog, having only worked with simple websites like Carrd in the past. Despite my own nerves, however, I was able to accomplish everything the course required, including writing a sports feature story, completing a capstone project, and writing several blog posts about my favorite sport, football, to name just a few!
Another lesson this class has taught me is to never underestimate myself. I have doubted myself so many times when it comes to sports, because being a woman in the sports industry can be incredibly discouraging. There have been times where I have worn a Bengals jersey in public and have been asked to “name five players” or if “I actually like my team,” which really got to me. Despite this, I continued loving football and the Bengals no matter what people had to say. My sports penpal, Julia Mendelson, who is a woman in sports, also gave me inspiration to keep moving forward with my dreams.
The most important skill that I learned throughout this course was communication. Not just with my penpal, but for the capstone assignment as well. I had wonderful group members who kept great communication for the paper, and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with them. The penpal assignments also taught me how to properly budget my time. I learned to reach out early so I could get the information I needed to begin my assignments and submit them on time. This came with some trial and error, however, because there were times where I was caught up in work for other classes and reached out to my penpal later than I should have. I was able to turn it into another learning experience that I can apply to future situations. Sometimes I make mistakes, but I learn from them like anybody else does!
Through and through, I enjoyed this course a lot. Like anything new, it seemed scary at first, but once I made my way through one module at a time, the material clicked and I was able to push my previous limits to succeed. Putting all of the skills I learned together will surely help me to succeed in my future (hopefully in the world of sports media), and I am grateful for everything I have learned in this class.
With appreciation,
Kaleigh Longerbeam