On Monday afternoon I had my first experience with the Jack Falla Speaker Series, as New York Daily News Yankees beat writer Mark Feinsand came in and spoke. Having never been to a Jack Falla Speaker Series event, I didn’t know what to expect, but was very pleased with the event.

Let me first give a little background to the speaker series. Jack Falla was a sports journalism professor at COM, who sadly passed away five years ago. Jack was known for many things; among them were his 8:00 a.m. classes (to make sure only dedicated students enrolled), the great contact he kept with his former students (or his “mafia” as they came known as) and the great speakers he would bring in, many of which were COM alums. To honor Jack and his dedication, the series was started to continue the tradition of great speakers.

Getting back to Monday’s speech, I was very impressed with Mark. He began by mentioning how nervous he was about speaking, but you would never have known this wasn’t a regular occurrence for him. He did a great job of going back and forth between stories and lessons he learned at BU (and Jack in particular) and advice from his years working, leading up to his current position with the Daily News.

The stories were funny and relatable, the advice was helpful and honest (especially since we share majors: sports broadcast journalism), but what made the biggest impression was how emotional he got when talking about Jack. Mark had to take a minute to compose himself at one point, which showed the amazing affect that Jack Falla had on the people he touched.

That’s what makes this series great. Not only do you get experienced, passionate speakers with great stories and advice, but you see the affect that a single person can have on so many. From Mark’s speech I learned things that will help me as I embark on my career in sports broadcast journalism, but it also was a reminder to take advantage of all the resources I have here, and that includes the amazing people. I am very happy I was able to attend Mark’s speech, and cannot wait for the next Speaker Series event.