By Amanda Ciminello<\/p>\n
All my life, everything I\u2019ve done has been driven by one goal: To become a sports broadcaster or work in the sports media field. Shoutout to the New York Giants, Eli Manning and Mark Herzlich for instilling that passion in me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In high school, it felt easy to find opportunities that gave me experience. Coming from an all-girls school with a graduating class of just 75 students\u2013where I had been since kindergarten\u2013I felt comfortable stepping into leadership roles. I wasn\u2019t afraid to lead the Sportscasting Club or push for something as simple as starting an Instagram account for us to showcase our work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As you can imagine, going from that small graduating class to a huge college campus was intimidating. But that didn\u2019t stop me from holding onto my values: trying everything and building connections with my professors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Pro Tip #1:<\/b> Especially as a COM student, connect with your professors. Many are still working in the field and can help you find valuable internship opportunities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n When I was making my college decision and toured Boston University, I remember hearing about all the opportunities to get involved in sports media. To be honest, it felt overwhelming at first. But I also knew it would be silly to not choose a school that offered so many hands-on experiences as a Division 1 program in the heart of a city.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I came into my freshman year at BU with a very simple mindset: Just say yes.<\/span><\/p>\n I was nervous. Should I really be joining all these clubs? Did I have enough experience to contribute compared to everyone else? But I quickly realized something important: it doesn\u2019t matter what experience you have. If something interests you, just go for it. There is nothing to lose. The only thing that could hold you back is saying no. You miss 100% of the chances you don\u2019t take.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n During the fall of my freshman year, I attended BUTV\u2019s general interest meeting, and three shows immediately caught my attention: <\/span>Live with Ty,<\/span><\/i> Offsides<\/span><\/i>, and <\/span>Terrier Nation<\/span><\/i>. All of them centered around sports, whether it was BU athletics or professional leagues. After figuring out the time commitments, I joined <\/span>Live with Ty<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Offsides<\/span><\/i> while balancing classes, adjusting to college life, and being on BU\u2019s Club Squash Team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Pro Tip #2<\/b>: You <\/span>do<\/span><\/i> have time for what matters and your interests. Everyone understands how demanding college is, so don\u2019t let that stop you from getting involved.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Even though I had experience in my high school\u2019s film program, working in a studio was completely different. I was used to filming on handheld cameras and editing on my laptop, so working in Studio West was a whole new environment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At my first Offsides pre-production meeting, I volunteered to work on a segment. New members were encouraged to start small by writing scripts, helping in the studio, or simply doing the open\/close for the episode. But I pushed past my nerves and said yes to both writing and being on-camera for a segment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The segment focused on the NFL pre-season with roster cuts, injuries, and what they could mean for the 2024-25 season. I thought to myself, <\/span>Who am I to just jump into this?<\/span><\/i> But I\u2019m so glad I did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Here\u2019s a little secret that always shocks people: public speaking has never been my favorite thing. It makes me nervous every single time, even though it gives me an immense sense of accomplishment. But because of my passion for sports media, I\u2019ve learned to push past that fear and embrace the uncomfortable.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Saying \u201cyes\u201d is what helped me find my place here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n At the same time, I was working on <\/span>Live with Ty<\/span><\/i> as a part of the in-studio crew, learning how to operate cameras, audio, and the teleprompter. When asked what team I was interested in, I chose social media. After meeting with the student running it, she constantly encouraged me and helped build my confidence. Soon, I was helping brainstorm content ideas for each guest we had on the show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n By second semester, everything changed. The social media manager was studying abroad, and Tyler, the host and producer, asked me to step in as associate producer while continuing to manage the Instagram account. Suddenly, I was coordinating props, taking photos, approving content, and even organizing team bonding events.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I never expected to become an associate producer in just my second semester of freshman year\u2013especially without prior studio experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And that\u2019s exactly the point!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Pro Tip #3:<\/b> No matter what experience you have (or don\u2019t have), get involved!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you\u2019re willing to step outside your comfort zone, opportunities will find you. And when you start to doubt yourself, trust the people around you who believe in you. My friends constantly reminded me that I was in each position for a reason.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Anytime I heard someone say, \u201cThe best thing you can do in college is get involved,\u201d I used to brush it off. It sounded obvious. But it\u2019s true. You don\u2019t need to have everything figured out. Just start somewhere by getting involved. While this looks different for everyone, even joining one extracurricular is a step in the right direction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I can\u2019t tell you how many times my friends have told me they feel disconnected because they haven\u2019t even joined anything.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Getting involved didn\u2019t just give me hands-on experience\u2013it helped me see how what I was learning in the classroom actually applied to real-world media and communication.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n More importantly, I found my people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I mean, it makes sense. When you surround yourself with people who share your passions, you\u2019re bound to form meaningful connections. Some of my closest friends now are from <\/span>Live with Ty<\/span><\/i> and the Club Squash Team. I almost didn\u2019t even try out for squash, but thanks to a friend encouraging me and reminding me how much I loved the sport, I went for it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I always think about what if I never had taken that chance?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So what if you fail? So what if you mess up a segment and stumble through your lines? So what if you aren\u2019t perfect? No one is! It\u2019s all part of the process. What matters is your effort, your intention, and your passion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Pro Tip #4:<\/b> No one will ever fault you for trying your best.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And don\u2019t forget to always <\/span>B<\/b>e <\/span>U<\/b>!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Amanda Ciminello All my life, everything I\u2019ve done has been driven by one goal: To become a sports broadcaster or work in the sports media field. Shoutout to the New York Giants, Eli Manning and Mark Herzlich for instilling that passion in me.\u00a0 In high school, it felt easy to find opportunities that gave … Continue reading Amanda C: Learn How to BeU in COM: From Uncertainty to Opportunity<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9594,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[44670],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5887"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9594"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5888,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5887\/revisions\/5888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bu.edu\/comblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}