Put Me In Coach
There were no real expectations for what I was about to get myself into. I heard stories, rumors and gripes about the class. Every story was just a bit different, and I even heard “horror stories” from people who had never even taken the dreaded “Super Semester.” It was my turn though. This was my turn at bat and I was ready to swing.
I started the preparations early. I asked for business clothes and a curling wand for Christmas. I was not going to mess this up. I think the hardest part in the beginning was freaking out about what I was going to wear. I am a very jeans-and-a-t-shirt kind of person, so dress pants and a collared shirt are usually not in my wardrobe. Maybe I’ll get one of those dresses all the lady meteorologists are getting, it seems to be working for them. Why not me? Besides, I’m just glad I did not accidentally wear green on my green screen days. That could have been bad.
When it comes down to it though, I have learned more in the last two weeks of Super Semester than I have in entire semesters of previous classes. This is a crash course in broadcast journalism, and we are only two weeks in, but I already feel like I know enough to impress some people in the business. I was reading this article about how to get ahead in the game of broadcast journalism, and I already feel like I know a lot of what it is telling me to do. Or at least enough of it that I can keep growing and learning from this class in a direction that will pay off come graduation in May.
From the moment I signed up for Super Semester all I could think about was producing. It has been a thought and possible career path idea for me for a long time. I was actually very inspired by the movie “Morning Glory” starring Rachel McAdams and Harrison Ford. There is a scene in the movie where McAdams is just doing her producer thing and making the tv magic happen, and I want that. It may seem ridiculous in this movie, but I think there is still that element in real broadcasts today.
The one thing I do not like more than green olives is seeing myself on television. It was hard at first to watch myself mess up, not be where I was supposed to be and just completely forget what I was doing. That is all part of the learning process though, so I get it now. It is the little things that go into being on television that I think will take the longest to get used to. You can’t make faces when you mess up. You shouldn’t look like a open-mouthed fool when the camera goes to you for your story or wrap. Most importantly though, I learned you need to relax.
I already started looking into producing jobs on LinkedIn, but never had the ability to say I had broadcast experience. Now, with this class, I can already say I’ve had some of that experience. It is amazing how we went from 0 to 60 in just a couple of weeks. I already feel better behind the camera and in front. The first day was overwhelming to say the least, but now I know what to mostly expect each day and am ready to tackle it head on. More importantly, I am ready to tackle it with a group of awesome people!
