by Cody Hodge

Created on: December 10, 2008

I remember when I was a freshman in college, my dream job was to be a sports broadcaster for the Buffalo Bills. I was a huge fan, knew all the stats, the history of the team, and I thought that was all I needed to walk in one day and get a job, or at least that and my college degree.

I remember one day my freshman year, when a professor of mine and I were sitting in the cyber cafe at St. John Fisher College, home ironically enough of the Buffalo Bills training camp. We were watching an episode of "Fisher News" a college news production that basically centered on campus life and things to do in Rochester. My professor turned to me and told me that I should go out and work for Fisher news.

My reaction was to laugh and tell him there was no way I was going to work for such a small time operation. I really didn't think I was going to learn much from reporting on the ticket prices at the local movie theatre, or how many students at the school preferred pizza over tuna fish in the cafeteria. He merely laughed back at me and asked me where exactly I was going to get the experience?

As a stubborn 18 year old, I figured I would just write to different websites, and that still just taking classes and contributing to message boards on the teams website would be a good way to get in. Besides I had no clue what I really wanted to do anyway, besides just doing something that would let me talk about football all day.

Now that I sit here as a 24 year old college graduate who has spent the three years since his college graduation working at a grocery store, I realize now how right he was. By not working for the news station, I lost out on valuable experience. Sure, nobody watched the newscasts, and the topics were pretty shallow, but what I missed out on was the practice time if anything else. Writing is a lot like reporting, you need to learn what angles you are going to take on a topic, the nuance of quality delivery, and how to get your message across.

When I graduated I had my degree sure, but what did I really have to market myself for a job? I had no real world experience in the field of journalism, or even writing to a degree. It took me three years to get my first article published, and as I truly venture out into the writing world, I learn how easy it is to make connections, and how any contact can be of value. Again, something else that I missed out on when not working for Fisher news, the contacts. I wonder how many people that had contacts from the Bills, maybe someone who knew Chris Brown, who writes the Bills blog, or just anybody who I could talk to on the team.

If you are a college student reading this, don't make the mistake I did. Take every chance you can get to gain experience and grow as a professional. Even if you failed, you still have the experience of failure, and so you can not do that next time around, and imagine the stories you will have. Remember, interviews are all about storytelling, and anything that you can say that will show growth, ability to overcome adversity etc. is something that employers crave. Not only that, but working on projects in college really looks good on a resume.

When employers see that you have done, they will be impressed. They will see a mature individual who has learned the ropes already and has practical experience outside of the ivory tower college experience. This will entice employers to take a chance, and give you a leg up on the job market.

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