Career Advice of Some Sorts
A lesson on how I learned to give career advice even if I am not a seasoned professional
I wanted to share this before I publish the first article I have written in a while about how the state of Christ can help college students feel reformed and changed. Christ has the power to empower people, and yes, as a practicing Catholic, I sinned a lot.
Tonight, I wanted to post this while finishing up watching my Indiana Pacers play against the Milwaukee Bucks. I wanted to share a comment that has some helpful advice to college journalists who cover sports or national news from what I have learned over the years because I am thinking about the graduates who will have their year unrest due to Palestine and the war in Israel.
Many journalists and even the Indiana Daily Student, which had a strike on the same day as the violent protests on the IU Bloomington campus, report on the happenings of the university but are silently going through one financial issue after another.
That I think is the IDS need to strike a reform on how the paper should be managed which I called on even as a former writer.
Either way, student media is reaching a tipping point, but I would love to contribute after I graduate and make student media more accessible and efficient for generations to come.
Whether that is giving money to these organizations or helping them in any manner, I would love to contribute in student media in some capacity after I graduate and get a good paying job.
Work and paying bills can be hard, but encouraging other people to reach their dreams can be limitless as is the case for this story.
Giving tips to broadcasters.
I submitted my Jim Nantz Award tape back in March and I got a text from a kid by the name of Braden, a freshman sports broadcasting student at Virginia Tech University, who left me a kind message after I posted my tape to YouTube which has an unsuccessful, but successful 140 something views, but that is not the story.
He’s an aspiring sports broadcaster and wanted to hear from me, a two-time community college transfer student and member of WIUX, a man who doesn’t define himself with any association to sports media after I left these organizations to pursue a freelance career, but he left me with a kind message to help him give some career advice.
Me participating in this year’s Jim Nantz Award to me hopes to bring some joy into my life as I figure out where I am going from here in my career. It could be years down the road that I find a good job but that road feels more narrow everyday.
But that’s for another day.
He said to me on LinkedIn, “Hey man, stumbled across your Jim Nantz demo reel on youtube. Thought you had some really good stuff! I'm a freshman at Virginia Tech, always looking to learn and improve at my craft of broadcasting. Wondering if you had any pointers or words of advice given your experiences at IU over the last four years. Thanks in advance, best of luck in the Jim Nantz Award.”
I seemed shocked and didn’t want to respond for a few days, but then I told myself, if I don’t he would think I ghosted him and never took much thought to this into consideration.
We had a massive storm the day before which delayed things for me, but I was able to find a way to reach back to him. Braden is a great kid with unbelievable potential to be a great sportscaster. His tape may need some polishing but I hope that one day he can maybe be like me and aspire to be the best journalist he can be.
This is what I wrote back to him the day after the storm and I think this is the best advice I have ever given to anybody, “
Hi Braden! Thanks for your comment and I also wish you luck in your professional career in college and at work and thank you for asking me this question. My apologies for not replying sooner I have been sick and under the weather. I would love to give you pointers, look at your demo reel or whatever you need to succeed as you advance in your journey in this field. I am also going to give you five important tips that have helped me through my career that I hope can help you as a freshman grow throughout your time in your career, but first here is my contact information if you want to contact me at anytime.
1. Live life to the fullest. You are young just like me so living life to the fullest is an amazing step to furthering your career and growing up. Take advantage in the clubs, activites on and off campus, and meet new people that will help you further your career and enhance friendships you will have over a certain time or forever. Sometimes though, people come in seasons and paying taxes is tough, so being in college and having fun is something I will regret not taking advantage of later, but I have learned the more I have been older to take advantage of the fun opportunities campus and life has to offer.
2. You will love sports but probably not your job sometimes. You will not always love sports so creating content about food or traveling the world is very important because you are finding a piece of your identity through trying and doing new things.
3. Respect is given if you respect the process. This kind of ties into the next tip which is to connect but don't be overwhelmed.
4. Engage and connect with as many employers as possible and don't be too overwhelmed with clubs and organizations. Remember that education is your top goal and the clubs are just clubs. Your importance should not be dictated by the clubs you join or the jobs you sign up for. In my second year of college I cared way too much about clubs and it got me in trouble because I was dismissed for a bit and went to community college for a little bit because I put clubs over academics and it hurt my grades. As much as you can live life to the fullest make sure to care about academics first and if you are mistreated at a club or denied from jobs, a door will open for you soon. Have faith and don't go running to doors that are not meant to be open for you as the doors you think will open will slam shut but faith will allow more doors to open.
5. Take usage of social media. Facebook, Twitter X, YouTube, Twitch, an employer will notice you if you are mature and post content that won't make you regret yourself later. Love making content and love making videos incase your career of any kind does not work out or if you want to advance you career.
I hope this helps and I wish you luck through the rest of your career.
I am grateful for the advice I received as it has been instrumental in helping me develop the skills of a life coach and a mentor. In the past, I struggled with self-doubt and lacked the support I needed to pursue my dreams. However, I am now thankful for the chance to provide career advice to others and guide them towards their own paths to success.