My Favorite S-words

Sports and social media are the two S-words I live by.

My goal in life is to be in the world of sports when “I grow up,” specifically on a social media or TV platform.

I live religiously through the ESPN app and other sports websites. When scrolling through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, I will usually read a sports article, if I haven’t already done so through the ESPN app. I also follow many athletes on social media because I like to see what athletes do outside of playing sports — it makes me understand their motive better and being the naturally inquisitive journalist that I am, it prompts me to do further research.

When on the ESPN app, as well as reading articles, I also enjoy watching the videos because I like to listen what sports analysts have to say about different topics. Since I would like to be a reporter one day, I pay attention to the types of questions reporters asks in different scenarios.

I share a lot of sports’ content on my social media platforms — it is usually football, basketball and/or baseball related stories. I find it very compelling when stories from today are compared with stories from past years. Human-interest stories are also very intriguing — I go back to what I said before and following what athletes do outside of sports, there is just something so special about adding emotion to a story. For the most part, an audience is more compelled by emotion because it adds relativity to a story.

I think about my future-self when I read these stories because it helps me shape what my one-say stories will look like. Reading articles about players helps motivate me because I look at the obstacles these players had to overcome to get to where they are, and I can’t help but think of what my story will look like once I “make it.”

Personally, I like interacting with people. Everyone has a story and an opinion so listening to people and paying attention to what a person posts on social media says a lot about them. There is a reason I am so interactive on social media — for one, it is fun and two, I pay attention to detail and it helps me understand how people work.

I also think it says a lot when you give a glimpse of your life to others because people can relate to you. I to an extent give viewers a chance to see my everyday-life, outside of my profession, through mainly Snapchat and Instagram stories. Most people would say I am obsessed with my son, I love to sing and dance, I drive a lot, fitness is my passion and I am ALWAYS busy.

I am comfortable with all social media platforms so it makes me more hirable in modern-times because many stories are now told through social media. Sure it has its downfalls (like distracting me when I am supposed to be working on projects) but it is a major way of telling stories now. And again, I already interact with people on a daily basis, so asking questions is not an issue. I genuinely care about what people have to say because that is what will guide my story.