Nov. 22, 2024
As I reach the end of my first semester of my fourth and final year in journalism school, seeking internships and the next steps in my career, I want to look back on some of the stories and moments that have stuck out for me.
Here are five projects I have worked on over the past four years that I am most proud of and want to reflect on for their significance in the path I have followed and continue to strive toward.
1. My first recap for The Eyeopener – Mar. 2, 2022
The moment that really kicked things off for me in terms of the sports writing and editing I have done so far in my career has to be the first recap I did for The Eyeopener.
I remember being terrified about the prospect of fitting in among other media people at the games, navigating interviews with coaches and players and writing an article as quickly as possible after the game. I prepared as much as possible before the game, was at the rink very early and tried to make myself presentable with a decent outfit and being respectful of my place. In the end, I got into my element watching and analyzing hockey and tapped into my roots—writing game stories about my own hockey team when I was about 11 years old.
In the end, the story went well and my editor, Gavin Axelrod, gave me the confidence to do it again. Within the next week, I did three more recaps, covering hockey and volleyball, a moment that I am proud of as an example of my perseverance, hard work and initiative.
There are definitely some changes I’d make with the story based on everything that I have learned in the time since but I am glad this is an example of how I applied my love of sports and my basis of news writing knowledge in my first year of j-school.
2. My first Mississauga Steelheads game – Oct. 2, 2022
On a similar note, I remember the first time I covered a Mississauga Steelheads (now Brampton Steelheads) game for Intermission Sports very well.
The founder and former Editor-in-Chief of Intermission Sports, Alex Baumgartner, offered me the opportunity to write stories about the Steelheads and apply for a media pass on Sept. 9, 2022. I remember the day very well because it was also the day my now-girlfriend and I decided to start going out. Safe to say, it was a momentous day.
Just a couple of weeks later, I attended my first Steelheads game as a member of the press. I spent hours agonizing over how to prepare for the game, dress and act when I got there. Alex called me just as I was preparing to leave my house and I ended up talking to him about what to expect, how to make a good impression for myself and the publication and more. I felt much better as I got to the rink, but going to the wrong parking lot at first didn’t help my nerves.
I grew up playing and watching games at Paramount Fine Foods Centre and the neighbouring community rinks but had never entered through the side door, been in the media room or gone up to the press box. It was a surreal experience, even if it wasn’t that different from what I’d done with The Eyeopener up to that point.
The game went well and I felt prepared to write my first ever “takeaways” article but from there, it proved to be a learning experience. I asked where to go for interviews (something I now realize I should have been informed of before then) and was directed to the visiting team’s dressing room area, rather than the Steelheads. Though unhappy to go home with no interviews or quotes, I got the story done and had lots to reflect on and learn from.
3. Two weeks, two features – March/April 2023
A couple of weeks before the end of my second year in journalism school, I had likely two of my two favourite stories I have ever written published in the course of a few days.
First up, I told TMU Bold men’s hockey player Elijah Roberts’ story of having a kid during the TMU Bold men’s hockey season and balancing being a student, athlete and parent in an article for The Eyeopener. Part of The Eye’s sports special issue “Beyond the Boxscore” that year, it was the first real feature article I had written. Speaking to Roberts, people around him and a TMU alumnus who could relate to the story gave me a depth of understanding and appreciation I don’t think I realized I could get from this story.
At the same time, I had been working on a story for my feature writing class all semester, learning how to go about the long-form style and how to immerse myself in a story. The article, entitled “Keeping the beat working” and published on T., was about the opportunity for University of Toronto (U of T) jazz studies students to perform on stage at The Rex Hotel and Jazz Bar. I attended several student shows at the bar and spoke to the manager, a collection of students and professors and even some fans in attendance. I also travelled to U of T with a source–a student in the program–-to conduct a long, sit-down interview and tour the spaces where students practice and go to class. I had never immersed myself in a story in this way before and by the end of it, I knew that my initial inclinations were right—long-form writing is what I wanted and still want to do with my life.
4. Intermission Snapshot, eps. 9 & 10 – February 2024
I was having a difficult time deciding when it was that I felt like Intermission Snapshot was a bonafide thing for me and my peers at Intermission Sports. Starting a podcast was something I had thought about for a couple of years but figured was too cliche or ego-centric because, frankly, who needed to hear my voice? However, when my co-hosts and I started to talk more about sensitive topics or leagues that were not covered in the same way as a professional men’s league such as the NHL, I was proud of what we could contribute to the airwaves.
Episode nine of the show, “Hockey Canada, the Four Nations Tournament & Oilers dissection” was important because my co-hosts Adam Floujeh, Jakob Kristensen and Abhinav Tirumala and I dug deep into the updates that were coming out around the 2018 World Juniors sexual assault case and the Hockey Canada scandal that followed many years later. Though I hear things that could be fixed in sound quality, my way of speaking and certain details of how we speak when I listen back, I also am reminded that we took and still take the show and all of the topics we discuss on it very seriously. Major hockey media outlets aren’t overly keen to share harsh opinions about the Hockey Canada situation, but we were.
The next episode marked a milestone for the show and reflects a milestone for myself. The 10th episode, “Bourbon Chicken & Dubois Check-in” (a title I was quite proud of coming up with) started off with a long discussion about the PWHL and their “Battle on Bay Street” game at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. I had attended that game a few days prior and not only got to write a game story, but got to sit in the media gondola with my peers and a slew of sports journalists I never thought I’d share a room with at this stage of my career and to ask a question to some of the best women’s hockey players ever in a press conference. I am proud of that experience and of the way I was able to translate it into meaningful content and conversation, but I was even more proud that we are one of probably not many podcasts out there that talked about the PWHL for over 20 minutes straight.
5. My first print edition – August 2024
Finally, I have to highlight my work as a sports editor at The Eyeopener and there’s no better way to spotlight an ongoing era of my life than to talk about my first time working with a print edition.
The first print of every school year for The Eye is the frosh edition, which comes out in the middle of August, before the school year starts. This year’s edition, “Frosh out of water” incorporated articles from every section, including our sports story, entitled “What TMU athletes get up during the summer” and written by Ria Sidhu. This was the first time I worked with Adobe InDesign to design a print page for a newspaper and with the entire Fall 2024 masthead to produce an edition. Getting to see all the work that could go into producing journalism and working with my peers—many of whom were already my friends—was so special for me as a student, journalist and young professional.
This edition was the result of a lot of preparation over the summer to feel like I could fulfill the role of sports editor at The Eye. Since, I have worked on several more print editions as well as a large number of sports stories that I have helped pitch, produce, edit and publish either online or in print. It has been a lot of work and there’s plenty more to be done, but I can’t begin to say how valuable of an experience it has been.
Here’s to lots more of these kinds of memories.