As I walked down the basement steps of Schuylkill Hall, my mind raced in anticipation.
‘What will they think of me? ‘Will my writing be good enough?’
These questions swirled through my head as I turned the doorknob. As a shy, innocent freshman with no experience, I yearned to discover my voice. One week later, my byline was on the sports page of The Voice Student newspaper.
Growing up, sports were constantly around me. A native of the Philly suburbs, I was raised a die-hard Philadelphia Phillies fan. I am also the oldest of five with four younger brothers, and tagged along with my parents to my brothers’ sporting events. My mind could have been in a million other places, but there I was on the sidelines fixated on every play.
Fast forward to college, I declared a major in Media and Journalism with one goal in mind- to become a sports journalist for the Phillies.
However, I knew this ambition would not be possible without experience in the field. That’s why I decided to join the Voice my freshman year as a staff writer for the sports section. I wrote a variety of game previews and recap articles from tennis, to wrestling, to football. Then, unexpectedly, COVID hit and sports were no more. I had nothing to cover. At the time, this was a huge obstacle I had to face. Now looking back, it was a necessary opportunity for my growth as a reporter.
During my sophomore and junior years, I experimented with more in-depth feature stories including historical accounts from former athletes, player profiles and interviews with incoming recruits. This helped me develop more personal relationships with athletes, which in turn, improved my journalistic authenticity.
In May of my junior year, I was offered the position of Editor-In-Chief for the upcoming school year. As a rising senior, I was honored to be considered and accepted the position. However, I was equally as nervous as I was excited. I had never been a section editor before, let alone the lead editor, and didn’t feel qualified to manage an entire publication.
As the Editor-In-Chief, I was responsible for planning print editions along with student editors, stepping in to report, write and edit stories digitally and in-print, and laying out the publication’s pages via InDesign. The fall came quickly and it was time for The Voice to release our first print-edition. Production wasn’t perfect and I made mistakes, but the staff worked together and pulled it off. Over the course of the year, we printed 14 editions informing our campus of the latest news, one story at a time.
I graduated from Bloomsburg in 2023 with a B.A. in Media and Journalism and am a proud former “Voicer.”In hindsight, little did I know those sketchy basement steps I took to my first meeting would be an integral stepping-stone in the pursuit of my career today.
I am currently a Public Relations Intern at the Reading Fightin Phils, the Double-A affiliate of the Phillies. I absolutely love my job, and have no doubt that I would not be where I am today without the valuable skills I learned at The Voice.
