At this point in the internship, the days are starting to run together, especially because this week I worked Wednesday-Saturday. I usually go in on Tuesday after class, but I decided to take that Tuesday off so I could work on homework. Big mistake. It was hard to make up the hours I missed that day because I cannot go in on Sundays.

On Wednesday, I met Dan at the UWF football practice field facility where we did an interview with Head Coach Shinnick about National Signing Day for future Argonauts. That lasted about 30 minutes and then we left.

Thursday, I came in after class, but was not sent to any games besides a quick trip to Pine Forest to pick up a drive for Dan from the photog. I then went through the footage on the drive to find anything worth noting down for a highlight reel of the game. I also did a little editing, but this was not a super productive day for me because it was a really busy day for Dan and Steve and I wanted to experience the anxiety and stress they were so I could get a feel for what I will eventually go through.

On Friday, I came in at 3:30 and went to a high school basketball district championship game and took notes, again, on what was worthy of a highlight reel of the game. I am getting better at taking notes at a fast-paced game like basketball, but I still keep leaving important information out, so I still need to do that more.

Saturday, I came in a little later than usual because I had to cover the UWF baseball game for the Voyager. Luckily, it was over an hour earlier than I expected, so I was able to get to the station at 5. I ate my lunch and waited for the photog who was covering the Ice Flyers game, because that is where I wanted to go. We went and I took notes at that game, as well. There were issues with the LiveU streaming signal and Steve wasn’t getting clear footage, so I tried to be the liaison between Steve and Mac, the photog. By time we got back to the station, Steve was on the air and I went in during a commercial and watched the second part of his broadcast. After that, the crew had a small meeting, and then we dispersed. By that time, it was 11:00, and I went home.

My second week consisted of 3 days of work. On Tuesday, I went with the photog to Catholic to do an interview with some of the men’s basketball players as they look to head into postseason. After the interview, we went to West Florida Tech for a basketball game, but they moved the start time up and we made it with only 5 minutes left in the game, so we turned right around and drove to Pace and were able to film the second half of their men’s basketball game. This was good for me because it proves that communication is so important and we need to get a story, so if someone doesn’t give us the right information, we have to figure something else out.

On Thursday, I attended another basketball game, but this time at Pensacola Christian against Central. Steve Nissim went with us this time to interview the Central coach, so he sat with me and he helped explain some of the parts of the game that I do not completely understand because basketball is the major sport that I know the least about. That was so helpful for me.

Finally, on Saturday, I traveled to Gulf Shores with the sports photog and we covered the UWF Softball game. It was so cold and extremely wind. It also started an hour late and went long and it was brutal. This was another important thing for me to learn because it shows that I will have to endure some horrible conditions when I am in the field and I need to be prepared for that. When we finally got back, Steve had me write a script for the softball game and then gave me much-needed critiques. I made revisions, then edited a video to go along with my script and practiced ad libbing with the video.

My first real day working at my internship was AMAZING. I went in at 3:30 p.m. and didn’t leave until midnight. I was able to watch Steve Nissim edit while he tried to explain what he was doing, even though it was like a foreign language to me. I also watched him do his live show, which was really interesting. Then, I went to the Ice Flyers game with one of the photogs and enjoyed the game. Afterwards, I joined Mac downstairs for the postgame interview with the coach.

The next day, Saturday, was pretty much the same thing. Except this time I started to edit on my own. I started learning how to overlap videos, how to edit sound bytes, etc. It came a lot more naturally to me than I had anticipated. Also, I, again, did attend the Ice Flyers game, but I took my own notes of big things that happened for Steve back in the station, which helped him find the highlights to use in his video reel for the night. I, once again, did not get home until around midnight.

Sunday, I came in, but it was a much slower day. There was not a lot going on in terms of games or events, besides Kobe Bryant passing, but the news side did the stories for him, not sports. So, I started writing my own scripts and then editing a video package for that script, and I don’t think I did too bad! I definitely need more work, though.

I start week 2 today and am going in after my class gets out at 5:15 p.m., so I am expecting another late night at the station.

Today was my first day as an intern at WEAR-tv, but unfortunately it only consisted of 2 hours at the station. I was reintroduced to some important people and met again with Kimberly Wyatt. She put us through a standard orientation. I had not been given an email/login yet, so I was not able to get in to the system and start working on anything. Kimberly and I decided that I will come back some time during the week (date to be determined) to get in to the system and to learn how to edit. I will start working with the sports department on Friday, and will work Saturday and Sunday, as well.

I am lucky enough to be able to start writing about my internship with WEAR-TV this spring! I do not officially start until next week, however, so I will start this week with explaining what is yet to come and what I hope to get out of it.

Unfortunately, I do not have the ability to edit packages right now, which is a huge part of the broadcasting world. To become the sports reporter I desperately want to become, I need to learn how to edit. I am blessed that the people at WEAR are willing to teach me. I am going to sit down and watch/ask questions while others are editing so I can start to learn the basics. Then, someone will sit down with me and actually teach me how to do it all myself. I am really hoping to figure the skill out quickly so I can spend more time with Dan Shugart learning how to become a great sports reporter.

Once I develop a skill for editing, I will finally be able to go over to the sports department and start working with them. I fully intend on immersing myself in the work and getting the absolute most out of this internship. My dream is to be the next Erin Andrews and end up working huge football and/or baseball games for ESPN, and even report at the Olympic Games. To achieve this huge goal, I know there is a long road of hard work ahead of me, but that does not scare me. I am ready to take on the workload and doing whatever it takes to reach my dream.

I have met a lot of people at the station already and I am very excited to work with them this semester! My orientation is in a week and I am counting down the minutes until I get to start on the path to my life goals.

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Tori Wilkins and I will be interning with WEAR-TV’s sports department this spring semester and this blog will be used to discuss what I am experiencing and learning along the way, so you will get a look into my internship. My career aspiration is to become a successful sports broadcaster for ESPN, so I believe this is the first step in the right direction!

I am a college senior ready to graduate in May. I am a Communication major, so a blog seems appropriate for me. I will be sharing my experiences with my readers. Happy New Year and thank you for reading!