For this week's Throwback Thursday we turn to our former intern Amy Simpson who shares her internship experience. Are you interested in sports journalism and want to hone your skills in writing, video production, photographer, or on camera broadcasting? Do you have a passion for marketing or social media? We want to hear from you. Send me an email Todd.Grasley@flocasts.com and join the team!
On my first day interning at MileSplit headquarters in Longwood, the head honcho Jason Byrne showed me the office's "Wall of Fame" -- a hallway lined with signed photos of famous runners. I shook my head, feeling pretty silly, as he pointed to each photo and asked if I knew about that athlete. Justin Gatlin? No. Jim Ryun? Nope. Prefontaine? Sounds familiar...not.
The truth was, even though I'd seen my little brother run in both track and cross country competitions and my mom is an assistant coach for both sports at The King's Academy (my alma mater), I didn't really know the first thing about the athletic sport of running. My personal experience was limited to running on a treadmill in the UCF gym my freshman year (always while watching the Food Network) and running a couple 5k's for the t-shirts.
Why would a newbie like me choose to work at MileSplit in the first place? To be honest, after I graduated from UCF with my journalism degree and no job prospects, I was pretty desperate. I'd been applying to jobs for months but the market just didn't seem to have room for me. So when my mom sent me info about the MileSplit internship I thought, "What the heck?" It was part-time, unpaid, and had to do with sports -- three things I definitely wasn't looking for -- but it was certainly better than sitting around my house watching BBC America all day.
That first day in the office, I had trouble believing Jason when he told me that by the end of the internship, I'd be a big track and cross country fan. He was right. In a little over two months, I've gotten to do so many awesome things and I realize now how glad I am that I didn't let this opportunity pass me by. The highlight was definitely talking to Olympians before the London Games, but I was so pleased to also speak to the most personable, funny, and kind high school athletes I've ever encountered. For some reason track and cross country seem to have a monopoly on all the good kids.
From a journalistic standpoint, the experience was also very good for my portfolio. Almost every time I went to the office, Todd Grasley would talk about how we're "cranking out content," and it was no exaggeration. I did more for this internship than for any other journalism job I've had. Writing, shooting and editing video, producing vodcasts, working with social media, making graphics...I'm just sad that I didn't do this before I graduated!
I'll be starting an internship with the Orlando Magic on Monday, and I really believe my work with MileSplit helped prepare me for this next job and the others I hope I will have in the future. I think I can also say now that I am indeed a fan of the sport. I might not be able to identify every famous runner, but I can recognize a few and I've begun running again myself, albeit a little inconsistently. This is probably the best sport out there, and I'm happy that I got to be a small part of it.
To the next MileSplit interns: make the most of it. Good luck, and good running!
Cool stuff I did:
- National Training Center Coverage of Olympic Athletes
- Bring Back The Mile Project - The Romanace with America's Distance
- Converted Swimmer Found Her Land Legs on the Track (Feature with an athlete from Illinois)
- MileSplit Summer Movie Marathon: Chariots of Fire
- Elevation Training Mask: Indespensible Tool or Waste of Money?
Amy's Full MileSplit/flrunners.com Article Portfolio...