Major: Sport Communication – Print
Years at IU: 2012 – 2016
What he did at IU: BTN Student U play-by-play broadcaster, Kappa Delta Rho recruitment chair, IUSportCom contributing writer, Arbutus Sports Editor
What he does now: I currently work in the Athletic Media Services office for the Fort Wayne Mastodons as a graduate assistant. I serve as the primary sports information director for women’s soccer and men’s volleyball. I also fulfill secondary SID responsibilities for the rest of the sports we have. I produce graphics, create game and match notes, manage the website, travel with teams, set up for gameday operations, and other duties as assigned (including dressing up as the mascot to record video for gifs). Because of the recent success of our men’s volleyball program, my job has been a lot more demanding this year, but it is all fun and very rewarding work. As a part of my graduate assistantship, I am pursuing a masters degree in communication.
What advice he has for sports media students: I suggest to students that want to work in sports information to learn the ins and outs of Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. I have spent more time with those programs in my job now than at any point in my undergraduate career. It is a vastly underrated program in education. If there is a possibility to learn the intricacies of Tricaster and 3-Play technology, I strongly recommend that, because that can be a very useful skill right out of school. I also suggest that students learn how to write quickly and with accuracy, because part of the long hours of my job is writing pregame stories and recaps of games. Being able to do this effectively is beneficial for both the content consumers and your own sanity. Be ready to work long days. When Fort Wayne had a men’s basketball game at IU (I’m sure everyone knows that game far too well), I had a 15-hour work day. Also, learn to work with a variety of people. Because I work and travel with different teams, there are a lot of personalities that I either have to tolerate or learn to deal with them. Love your job! Working long and odd hours is not near as big of a deal if you love what you do. I have yet to really have a problem with working the hours that I do because the job is just so fun to me.