At the beginning of my freshman year in the ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, I never thought I would have so many opportunities my freshman year. I’ve interviewed athletes, gone to countless basketball and softball games and, of course, written this blog. I never expected to obtain a position at the State Press, much less a position where I got to write about my passion in sports.
I hope you enjoyed my posts, have a great summer!There were weeks where I wasn’t sure I could make it, weeks where the ideas just weren’t flowing, but I knew I needed at least three and potentially four ideas for my blog. I wasn’t sure I could do it some weeks where I was stressed with schoolwork and I somehow managed to write my posts and get them in on deadline.
I now realize that what I write can make a difference in people’s lives. From my story with autographs to my piece about ASU student basketball manager Antonio Cannavaro, I had people thanking me left and right for writing about that topic or bringing a certain issue to light. People told me that they read Out of Bounds every single week, and that’s what kept me going.
To my editors Harmony and Mary, thank you. You always listened to my pitches and very rarely turned down any of my ideas. I always appreciated all of the feedback you had to give me.
This summer, I’ll be interning with the website SportsNOLA.com in my hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. My main job will be covering high school football previews for next season, but I will also be covering New Orleans Zephyrs and Tulane Baseball, as well as any Saints or Hornets news that comes across the wire during the offseason. There is no doubt in my mind that this experience not only helped me gain the internship, but will help me during the internship because I’ll be on deadline as well.
My first year at ASU has gone by in a flash. I have gained incredibly valuable experience. It remains to be seen if I will blog again next year. There is a lot of time between now and then and this time last year I certainly did not see myself accomplishing everything that I did in my freshman year.
This was my first experience at a true magazine, and since my goal is to end up on a sports team beat at a large city newspaper or as a Sports Illustrated columnist, this is a great stepping stone forward. I really hope I’ve given you, the reader, a greater understanding of the history and culture surrounding sports.
If you have any suggestions as to what you would like to see me write about or cover this semester, have a comment about a recent post or simply want to talk sports, contact me at nkruege1@asu.edu or via Twitter @npkrueger
