In the beginning of December, I decided to take on a beat of the ADM boys basketball team.  The number one reason I wanted to do this was because when I am older my goal is to be a sports reporter for some big news station. I knew that I needed to start young so I wanted to make this my goal. There were a lot of things I learned from this experience that will help me meet that goal.

First of all, I learned that making two stories a week and trying to get them uploaded within the next day is pretty difficult. I traveled to Pella twice this year to cover games for the Tigers and didn’t get home until 10:30 – 11:00 p.m. I uploaded photos and took my time to get stories out, wanting them to be quick-turnaround stories. There were nights I was up at 1 a.m. writing. It was tough, but I knew it was my duty to get things done. Also, trying to find different ways to approach a story, sometimes made it difficult to come up with new and exciting ideas and phrases to say, so my readers would maintain interest.

Another thing I discovered was that I made bonds with players and other fans. Traveling to almost every game, I think I missed only five games due to school work and other personal issues. When you travel to the away games that are an hour to an hour and a half away, you get a lot of respect from the players, coaches and even some parents. I was known as more than just a journalist but a Tigers fan. It made it hard to keep my stories as unbiased as possible, but I believe I made it work.  I made many friends of guys who were on the ateam. I got to know them on a different level than just a fan. Once the season was over, it was tough to see them all down and sad. I would’ve never felt that way if it weren’t for all the traveling and cheering I did for them.

When the season was over it didn’t hit me as hard as it hit other people on the team, but I was sad. Knowing that there wasn’t going to be any other games I could go to to take pictures, to cheer for my team and to write a story felt like something would be missing from my future.