Truth it, I knew I wanted to go into sports broadcasting at a very young age. My family tells me stories of when I was three or four years old reciting every NASCAR driver and their car number or watching Tigers baseball games, Red Wings hockey games, and Lions football games with my family. When I was a kid (I think everyone is like this), I went back and forth between becoming an artist (which I was awful at), a meteorologist (who at the time was afraid of storms), a massage therapist, and several other strange career choices.
Then, one day I was in sixth or seventh grade and my cousin called me asking if I'd like to be on his friend's sports radio show at Central Michigan University and their on-campus radio station to talk about the Detroit Tigers. I obviously accepted and loved every second of talking sports, which is when I decided I had to work towards a career at it. For the next two years, I had no idea how to get a jump start on my career, especially being in just eighth grade. Little did I know the unexpected journey I'd be on towards gaining experience in my field.
One spring day on April 26, 2011, I was standing outside with my dad and little sister watching storms roll in which is a frequent occurrence with a father who loves thunderstorms. But this storm was different. I remember seeing a funnel cloud, my dad pointing it out and urging it to drop to form a tornado, since my dad's dream is to chase them out west. Well, he got his wish. A few seconds later, we watched a small twister turn over 27th street in my hometown of New Salem, Michigan bringing debris with it and throwing it wherever it pleased. I watched in awe and fear as my dad anxiously waited while it approached our field and near our house.
Immediately, I grabbed my little sister and darted for the basement and after a few minutes, we stepped back upstairs to see my dad in the field watching it head northeast towards our general store. At that moment, my dad yelled at me from across the field and told me to call the news, so I did. First, I attempted to call WOODTV8 in Grand Rapids, our NBC affiliate but the lines were busy for several minutes due to the storms in the area. That's when I turned to WXMI-Fox 17 in Grand Rapids and within seconds, they answered my call. I pleaded my case for what we saw, which was in fact a tornado, their operator got my name, address and phone number saying they'd be at our house in about twenty minutes. Sure enough, the Fox 17 Jeep pulled into our driveway and the reporter interviewed my dad. As cool as I thought that was, I was more focused on how the cameraman and what the reporter was doing since that was the path I wanted to go with my life.
Following the interview, the reporter spoke to my mom as they looked my way before the Jeep finally drove off. Minutes later, I asked my mom what they were talking about, but her answer was nothing. The next week while I was in my freshman English class at Hopkins High School, I received a note saying my mom would be picking me up early, which was something she had never really done before. Assuming I had an appointment, I went to meet my mom in the high school office. As soon as we were in the car, she explained to me that I was going to Fox 17 for a job shadow and had been invited to their studio to see how everything worked.
After about a half hour drive or so to Plainfield Avenue in Grand Rapids, I had arrived to Fox 17 and was in complete shock. The first person I met was Steve Amorose, the sports anchor, who I had watched on television nearly every evening. He explained to me that he was sending me with Kent Wassink, their sports cameraman and I would be going to a Hudsonville High School softball game and a West Michigan Whitecaps game to watch him work and what not. From there, my mom stayed behind as I hopped in the Fox jeep with Kent and the crew to our two destinations. Following our evening of shooting simple highlights and Kent explaining how everything worked, I was in shock and knew this was what I wanted to do. Not only that, but I was given a studio tour following our arrival back to the station. Seeing behind the scenes of a newscast was something that caught my eye and something I never imagined doing.After several thank you's and photos, I left the station and immediately asked my mom how to do it again. I went home later that night and emailed all four news stations in my area asking how to get experience and if I could "intern" with them for the summer or fall.
However, due to my age and only being fifteen years old, I was shot down after all of the stations told me I needed to be a college junior or senior, obviously, to receive credit. WOODTV8 was nice enough to offer me a job shadow with them, which I obviously accepted and got a chance to follow their sports director, Jack Doles around for an evening, seeing their studio as well. Still, I knew I wanted to help out or at least watch them night in and night out.
Weeks later, as high school football season approached, I woke up to an email from Ms. Tara Hernandez at Fox 17 saying that I could come back to their station for a night of High School Football and the Football Frenzy, which is their Friday night show. So the first Friday of the 2011 High School Football season, I arrived at Fox 17 and was ready to learn, which is when I walked in to Tara Hernandez at her desk as she told me I'd be riding around with Mr. Chris Poturalski, one of their Friday night cameramen and a very important news guy at the station as well. Following that week of High School Football, which was one of the craziest nights of my young life just seeing how much goes into the show and what not, I was asked to return and was given "internship" papers. However, it wasn't truly an internship since I wasn't in college, but I was Friday night help.
After helping out the entire High School Football season with simple things like grabbing rosters, holding the microphone for interviews, and editing their score ticker at the bottom of the screen, I was given the opportunity to help out with some college basketball. Between playing high school basketball myself, I struggled to find time to help out. Going forward, in the High School Football season of 2012, I had an increased role and also had a car so I didn't need to be brought to the station on Friday nights. After several weeks of football, I was asked if I'd like to attend a few Detroit Lions football games with Fox 17 as a media member. Completely in shock, I obviously accepted and covered four games in the 2012 Lions season and had a chance to hold a microphone next to Calvin Johnson, Matthew Stafford, Jim Schwartz and several others throughout the season while also shooting some on the field stand-ups and demos after the game.Now, with technically five years of television experience, I've learned so much and met so many incredible people that I can't say enough about. I owe so many thank you's to everyone who has helped me reach this point. I am now twenty years old, I've traveled for a summer in Rochester, Minnesota and have shot, edited, produced, and scripted several 'Northwoods League Now' shows on Fox Sports North and Wisconsin and have done the same for our pregame shows. Not only that, but things are really going well for me at Buckeye Cable Sports Network in Toledo as I have begun doing audio, studio camera work, ENG shooting and editing as well as on-camera play-by-play.
What I'm getting at is I can't believe the journey I've been on. I haven't done anything special; I'm not overly smart and not overly talented, but I've been dealt some insanely lucky and timely hands and have met some of the best people this world has to offer and for that, I thank the Lord and everyone who has helped me along the way, you know who you are.This journey has consisted of sleepless nights, insane amounts of stress, time away from my family, and a loss of a few friends since I, "grew up too quickly" or "changed," but I wouldn't trade that for the world. Everything granted to me has been a blessing, I've been given several outstanding opportunities that I wish to thank you all for and all of your support has only helped me along this insane journey. As I continue to grow and mature and graduate college within the next two years, I'll never forget those that have helped me along the way and will never forget that little tornado that went through my hometown which has led to this dream chase.
So THAT is how the small EF-0 tornado helped change my life as I continue towards my goal of reaching the peak of sports broadcasting.
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