STEELE SPORTS

The early summertime portion of the school year can be an exciting and nerve-racking time for many high school seniors.

I remember how excited I was to prepare to leave for a whole new adventure at a college in a place far away from home, but I also remember having to prepare for a question that I wasn't entirely sure I knew the answer to – What do I want to study?

The obvious answer for me was that whatever I chose, needed to revolve around sports.

However, I honestly wasn’t sure I knew how I was going to make that happen.

My saving grace was when my mother showed me an article from a local newspaper that had mentioned my name in it after a section football game.

I remembered the exhilarating feeling that came with seeing my name in the paper and the happiness it brought my mom, even months after the game had ended and most had long forgotten about it.

Thus begins my pitch to all of the local parents with children who are athletes: Introduce them to sports journalism.

Only the smallest percentage of athletes will make it to the professional leagues as players; however, it does not mean that they are the only ones fortunate enough to make a living around the games they love.

Being a sports journalist will not only allow you to get paid to watch and write about sports, but it will also introduce you to a job where your office can be anywhere from a ballpark to an ice rink.

In the last nine months, I have seen more of the state of Minnesota than I have in my past five years of living here in college – not to mention, I’ve also visited three new states in the same time period.

I’ve seen towns with less than 1,000 people pack football stadiums so full you would think that it was the Super Bowl and student sections so wild you can’t hear yourself think.

Yet – more importantly – I’ve seen moments.

There have been laughs, cheers and tears so plentiful that I can’t help myself but get lost in moments in time where it feels like I’m watching a movie unfold before my own eyes.

The greatest gift this job can give you is trying to forever encapsulate a moment in time for the ones lucky enough to be experiencing them as they occur.

Sports journalism – and all journalism for that matter – is not your standard nine to five job.

Every day that you wake up, your curiosity will drive you to look for the things in your community that many people may not notice are even happening.

Whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, there are stories everywhere and it truly is a great privilege to be able to tell them.

I wish the best of luck to Steele County’s class of 2022 with all their future endeavors, thank you all for the moments we all got to share this school year!