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Hi! My name is Maddie Hoefling and I’m from Silver Spring, Maryland, right outside of Washington D.C. I’m a freshman at Michigan State University, and currently a journalism major with a concentration in sports, but I’m hoping to add a minor in broadcasting journalism and possibly marketing as well! Journalism has always had my heart since a young age, and I’m so grateful to have parents that pushed me into pursuing what I love.

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My lifelong dream would be working with ESPN or Fox Sports, as a reporter or even behind the scenes taking notes on each game. I hope that one day I can work with an NHL team and travel with them, reporting on each game. I wouldn't mind working for the NFL or MLB either, as I am an avid sports fan and watch almost every sport.

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Picking up the Ipad and making short films with my brothers was my entire childhood, something I knew I loved. In 8th grade, I applied to a special communications arts program at a high school near me, which grew my passion for media and journalism. Throughout this program, I created countless films and learned so many new tools that I have taken with me to college. After joining the News show, I started off working with the cameras but moved my way up to "switching," which is the hardest job on set.

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Although I loved doing that, I switched over to sports journalism, and have not gone back since. I found my passion working with these athletes and writing their stories for everyone to hear, and I hope to do the same in the future for major league athletes.

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My family has always been a huge sports family, and I grew up surrounded by sports. Whether this was playing soccer or basketball, or attending Washington Capitals games and Baltimore Orioles games, my life was filled with sports. Writing has always been a huge part of my life as well, winning multiple writing contests throughout my childhood.

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I decided to merge these two passions together, and while my major doesn't restrict me from other forms of journalism, I know my passion is sports broadcasting, and I genuinely enjoy watching and learning of sports news.

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My parents are definitely my biggest influences, as they've pushed me my entire life to do what I love most, as long as I'm trying my hardest. As for my brothers, they are both so different but each have their influence on me. Jack isn't really into sports, so my goal for writing about them is to make it interesting, and I always keep him in mind. Dylan and I always argue over sports, and 90% of our conversations are Orioles or Capital's based, like if trading Kuznetsov was the right thing to do.

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Association for Women in Sports Media at MSU

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Association for Women in Sports Media at MSU

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I first found this club during the club fair in the fall and immediately was interested, as it is something that is similar to my major and has built a community with women. Since women working in sports journalism is a fairly new field with very few women, this club is very helpful because I can connect with other girls who have the same interests as me. This field is very competitive as well, so hearing helpful tips from women who actively work within sports journalism fields is super helpful. This club has a variety of guest speakers and different specialized workshops to help you work on the different skills to make you the best journalist you can be.

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She served as AWSM's first president, started the AWSM Scholars program that has supported more than 200 students since its creation and funds two of the organization's annual scholarships.

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I was interested in this club because I might minor in marketing or advertising, and I think this club would give me a good understanding of what these minors entail. This club has a variety of different speakers that all focus in different genres, like beauty, health, entertainment, and sports. It would allow me to network and create relationships with alumni so I can grasp a better understanding of how this minor would help me out in the future.

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Digital Marketing Organization - Michigan State University

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Discover unique opportunities at Michigan State University! Find and attend events, browse and join organizations, and showcase your involvement.

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Women in Advertising and Communication Mentorship Program 

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Women in Advertising and Communication Mentorship Program 

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This club is similar to the other one but specifies in marketing instead. It is similar to the first club as well because it is simply for women, which in my opinion is way more welcoming. I think it makes it easier for members to create strong relationships with each other and connect through a similar interest.

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The Women in Advertising & Communications (WAC) Mentoring Program is a collaborative initiative of the Greater Detroit advertising community and Michigan State University. It provides a college-to-career mentoring program for undergraduate women studying at MSU. This program allows for a customized experience for students and offers women leaders an opportunity to give back.

Program Goals

Enable undergraduate women to participate in a mentoring relationship with well- established professional women

Enhance student understanding about workplace culture, organizational structure and work/life balance issues through relationships with mentors

Provide undergraduates an opportunity to explore a field of interest through exposure from a career woman in that field

Expose undergraduate women to real career options

Provide successful professional women opportunities to guide and give back to a diverse group of students

Program Structure

The WAC Program includes structured professional development events over the course of the academic year. We look to include:

Personal Branding Workshop

Networking Social

Mock Interviews & Resume Writing Workshop

Presentation Skills Workshop

WAC Mentors...

share their wealth of knowledge with future workforce leaders

learn new trends and perspectives from outstanding MSU students

enhance their mentoring skills

gain access to a pipeline of future talent

network with women leaders within and outside their company

students will benefit from personal connections and role models who help prepare them for professional careers.

Time Commitment

Quarterly Meetings:

Live meetings between mentee and mentor

Event covering different topics with speaker monthly phone calls between mentee & mentor

On-going email exchange for in-the-moment questions and advice

For more information, please contact:

Julie Beaty
Assistant Professor
Department of Advertising + Public Relations
College of Communications Arts & Sciences
Michigan State University
beatyjul@msu.edu

Teresa Mastin, PhD
Professor and Chairperson
Department of Advertising + Public Relations
College of Communications Arts & Sciences
Michigan State University
mastinte@msu.edu

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Women in Advertising & Communications | Michigan State University College of Communication Arts and Sciences

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The Women in Advertising & Communications (WAC) Mentoring Program is a collaborative initiative of the Greater Detroit advertising community and Michigan State University. It provides a college-to-career mentoring program for undergraduate women studying at MSU. This program allows for a customized experience for students and offers women leaders an opportunity to give back.

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Kathleen Weessies, MSU Geosciences Librarian | Liaison to materials in Journalism. Her email is weessie2@msu.edu and her phone number is 517-884-0849.

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Kathleen Weessies, MSU Geosciences Librarian

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Ask a Librarian | Hours | Account Support MSU Libraries

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Society of Professional Journalists - Improving and protecting journalism since 1909. | This organization is the largest broad-based journalism organization, and "encourages the free practice of journalism and stimulates high standards of ethical behavior." (sjp.org) It helps to educate new and current journalists on the first amendment, which is free press, and teaches new skills for writing.

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The Society of Professional Journalists is the nation's most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior.

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Society of Professional Journalists - Improving and protecting journalism since 1909

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The Society of Professional Journalists is the nation's most broad-based journalism organization, dedicated to encouraging the free practice of journalism and stimulating high standards of ethical behavior.

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• recognize the achievements of journalists

• educate journalists on best practices, skills and new innovations

• create products and services that help instill pride of vocation in journalists at all stages in their career.

• encourage news rooms to build more diverse communities

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This global organization supports women and non-binary journalists with grants, reporting opportunities, safety trainings, and emergency aid.

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The International Women's Media Foundation is a Washington-based organization that is dedicated to strengthening the role of female journalists worldwide.

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unleash the potential of women journalists as champions of press freedom to transform the global news media

research the factors that allow journalism to remain dominated by men

strengthen equal opportunities and press freedom worldwide

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This organization works on improving the quality of investigative reporting, something I am also very interested in. It was created for journalists to share their ideas with each other through story ideas, news gathering techniques, and news sources.

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Investigative Reporters & Editors - Investigative Reporters & Editors

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Investigative Reporters and Editors is a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of journalism. We educate, empower and connect journalists across the globe, so we can live in a better, more informed world. IRE is kicking off its End of Year Giving campaign on #GivingTuesday ( Nov. 30).

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Provides training, resources and a community of support to investigative journalists

Promotes high professional standards

Protects the rights of investigative journalists

Ensuring the future of IRE

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My grandfather though, has had an immense impact on my love for sports, and as a kid we went to countless Orioles games together, and we even got to see the Capitals win the Stanley Cup in 2018. If there was one thing about my grandpa, he was constantly complimenting anything I was doing, even if it was simply finding our seats at the hockey games. His constant praise grew my confidence in writing, and I always think of him while writing my articles.

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Mike Unger, the director of publications and editor for Towson University magazine, has been a journalist for almost 30 years. He has a bachelor of science in journalism from Indiana University, and has worked for a number of magazines and newspapers. He's written for Harvard, Penn, Georgetown, and so on. Mike has also profiled athletes like Michael Phelps, Joe Flacco, and Manny Machado, along with coaches like John Harbaugh.

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This interview gave me a first hand view into how I can use my journalism major in the future, and the endless opportunities I'll have. I was able to learn how exactly to get started working in this industry, and how important making yourself well known is in succeeding.

I learned the most important part of securing a good journalism job is getting involved and finding experience before applying. Experience is the key to everything, and getting started in college is extremely helpful later on in life, as you can make connections with alumni while also gaining new skills.

Journalism is a tricky field, and the process of creating stories is never perfect and smooth. As Mike said, towards the end of each cycle it gets quite chaotic as they have to meet the deadline for the magazines, so the few weeks leading up to that can be quite hectic. I feel like I work pretty well under pressure, and because I worked for the newspaper and yearbook in high school, the end of cycles are definitely a lot of pressure, but that feeling of finally submitting it feels so good.

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national and local newspapers

national television and networks

team and league media (sports social media pages, ex- Orioles instagram)

legacy sports media (broadcasting)

studio and production companies

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Reporting / Investigative journalism

Sports / social media

Marketing/ promotion

Producing / Editing

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The most important piece of advice within the strategies category was getting experience. Experience in any work field is important, but especially in journalism because this is such an intense and competitive field. Hands on experience, meaning attending speaker events and conferences and even asking questions will help you attain critical skills and make connections with new people.

Having strong writing and editing skills is also extremely important, and knowing how to work on different platforms is principal in securing a good job. Finding experience in college, like working with the school newspaper or football team is also a good skill to have, as it will teach you how to advance in your skills and create helpful relationships with alumni, which might help in the future.

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As a journalism major, you could create your own newspaper or even social media page pertaining a specific topic, although it is quite difficult to truly work independently as a journalist because of the many steps with in the process. Creating a news story takes at least three people, the writer, editor, and producer, but most stories go through countless team members to make sure the overall story is flawless.

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After reviewing this interview with my team, we learned that J. Hojnoski is an IT manager and has a bachelor of arts in sociology. We noticed how much detail she gave with her responses and it really helped us to connect closely with her and understand exactly what her job entails. I liked when she talked about the difference between formal and informal writing in the workplace, and how she almost gave specific details on each style of writing. She noted that formal writing is more "concise, polished, and well tailored for the audience," while informal writing can be "less structured."

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After reading this interview, it helped me understand how to interview Mike Unger in a way that would give me specific information about my major. As someone who has conducted many interviews in my life, I definitely thought this interview was quite different and it helped me freshen up my skills in learning how to gain knowledge from a first hand source and also focus on asking followup questions. Asking follow up questions can be difficult because you have to really focus on what the interviewee is saying while also trying to craft a new question up in your head, and reading this interview I got a good idea of how to exactly do that.

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Since Mike Unger is a journalist, he interviews people almost every day, so interviewing him is definitely going to be quite intimidating, but I know he will have good tips for me in the end. I will work on trying to craft follow up questions in my head so that the interview can sound more like a conversation and not just questions back and forth. I think making the interview feel more like a conversation definitely makes it more interesting and engaging for those listening, as well as making the interviewee more comfortable. I will focus on asking questions that will help me in the future as well, like asking how he got into this profession and the struggles he has encountered through the years.

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How It Helped Me Realize What I Wanted to Understand From My Interview:

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How It Helped Me Realize What I Wanted to Understand From My Interview:

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After reading the J. Hojnoski interview, I was able to get a good grasp on exactly what questions I wanted to ask Mike Unger, and how these questions will help me to fully understand my major better. After reading her answers I could tell how much information would be helpful to hear from Mike Unger, because I felt like I got a pretty good glance into her life from her answers. I knew that I wanted to ask questions that would help me in the future, like how to get experience and what experiences he has had that have made his career special.

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I thought this project was very enjoyable because it really allowed me to dive deeper into understanding my major and how I can use my degree later on in life. While I knew most of this information to some level, I truly learned quite a bit more on each topic, like the specific jobs I can get started on outside of graduating. This project also showed me new resources I didn't even know existed, like What Can I Do With My Major, or all of the clubs Michigan State offers that somewhat have to do with my major. I changed my major half way into the year, which was a difficult decision, but I have felt so much better after doing all of this research and truly diving into all of the resources that I was able to find while creating this project.

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I have learned so much information while creating this project, but most has come from the personal interview I conducted, the candid career videos, and the What Can I Do With This Major website. These three tools have truly given me such good advice for how to excel after college and start my job. My personal interview was beneficial in learning first hand advice and tips from someone who has actively been working in a job that interests me for over 20 years, and I learned a lot of tips that could help me get started right now while still in college. I learned similar information from the candid career videos as well, but one thing I learned from all three sources was to get ahead with experience and start in college, meaning getting involved with school newspapers and sports to help build a resume.

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I have learned quite a bit, but the advice that has stuck with me is starting experience as soon as you can along with creating relationships with alumni and interning at places you find interesting. It is very important to get ahead because this is a competitive field, so finding internships and creating relationships with those who can help you later in life is very important. Going to networking events and asking questions is important in getting your name known, and it can overall just help you practice your interviewing skills and public speaking skills. Making sure your writing and editing skills are intact is also very important, so practicing these skills each day can help you greatly in the future.

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How Will This Project Influence My Studies?

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How Will This Project Influence My Studies?

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Going into this project, I was definitely passionate on what exactly I wanted to do with my major, but after doing some extensive research on it, I found some other jobs that I would be interested in as well. This includes broadcasting and even magazine writing after conducting my interview on Mike Unger, who writes for Towson University Magazine. After this interview, I realized I don't have to focus just on sports, but I can also include fun stories on different restaurants in the area or even investigative journalism. I am definitely more open to other concentrations now after all my research, and I'm excited to see where the future leads me.

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I've learned so much about myself throughout this project, and I was so nervous about changing my major in the beginning of the year, but this project has shown me how much I truly love journalism, and it has made me so excited to start a job after college.

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After completing this project, I have come to the conclusion that I definitely want to pursue journalism and become a journalist. The research I conducted has shown me the countless possibilities I can pursue after college, and even though I thought I had my heart set on sports journalism, I am now open to also looking into other concentrations, like broadcasting and even writing Op-eds, or opinion articles. I have truly learned so much from all my research, and this project has made me so excited for my future, as I now know of the countless possibilities I can experience in the future.

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While interviewing Mike Unger, he emphasized how one of the best parts of his job was the travel he gets to experience while writing these stories. He told me he gets to travel around the world to create first hand stories and interiew people from different areas, and this sounds like something I'd love. As someone who loves traveling, I would be able to travel with sports teams if I worked for them, which would be my dream in life.

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As I have worked for most of the publications at my high school, I have always been unsure of what exactly in media I want to pursue. I started off working with the news show, where I was switcher and had to switch the entire show back and forth while filming live, and while I loved that, I knew I wanted to test out sports. I made lots of videos for sports teams, but realized I also enjoyed writing, so I joined our sports newspaper and have since then loved sports writing. All of these experiences have helped shape me into the journalist I am, and this project has helped me dive deep into what my future might look like.

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IT Manager at SharePoint

has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of South Florida

has post-baccalaureate work in Computer Science from DePaul University

has a masters in Information Technology Management from Indiana University

19-years experience with this field

4-years as a licensed Property & Casualty insurance agent

10-years in technical support and system administration

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Matt Bresee, president of the Erie Bayhawks, the minor league affiliate of the New York Knicks, talks about how important networking is and how it has helped him throughout the years. In the sports industry, being able to meet people, and for them to put a good word in for you is needed. (0:05-0:15) It's very important to be done in the right ways, when you network with people, making sure that you're looking out for them. (0:28-0:39)

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Candid Career - President of Professional Basketball Team, Erie Bayhawks

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Matt oversees daily team and business operations within the Erie Bayhawks organization, the minor league affiliate of the NBA’s New York Knicks. Under his leadership, both the average game attendance and total fan base are on a steady rise. Matt shares with us what it’s like to run a sports franchise and how to make it on the business side of sports!

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While watching this video, even though it was only about 50 seconds, I learned quite a bit of information about networking from someone who works with sports teams, which is something I want to do. One tip that was very helpful that I learned in this video was asking for two business cards instead of one, so that you can show how much you care about that person and their work while also being able to share their card with someone else.This way you are able to give as much as you get, and creating those strong connections.

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Katie is the Director of Communications for Comcast, and in this interview she explains the type of leader she finds most enjoyable to work with, while also explaining how she likes to lead. In my mind, when I know of someone who is not genuine and who's not authentic, I tend to not want to follow their lead (0:03-0:10). A true leader needs to be able to work with all types of people, and adapt (0:26-0:31). In her current career she works with introverts, extroverts, engineers, and creative directors, sometimes all at once (0:31-0:41).

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Career Information Videos - Candid Interview - Candid Career

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Login to watch more candid interview and valuable career information videos. Candid Career is the source for industry advice straight from those who know best.

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After listening to Katie share her experience as the Director of Communications at Comcast, I came to understand how important it is for people working in a work place to have a genuine leader whom they feel comfortable around. This can make such a difference, and people will want to actually show up and get their work done with pleasure, rather than having to come to a hostile work place. She notes that not everyone is the same, and adapting to everyone's different styles as a leader is very important in creating strong bonds with your work community.

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Timothy King is the hockey analyst for Penn State's Men's Hockey team, working everyday to analyze players and stats for the broadcasting team, a very detailed job. His job entails basically cataloging every piece of information about the particular hockey game that they're covering each week (0:05-0:15). On game days he hangs around the rink, sees what the guys look like, if somebody looks particularly good or particularly bad, if they look injured, or if they look like they're having a rough day (0:27-0:46). He also talks to the coaches to get a feel for things (0:47-0:50).

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Career Information Videos - Candid Interview - Candid Career

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Login to watch more candid interview and valuable career information videos. Candid Career is the source for industry advice straight from those who know best.

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After watching the video on Timothy King's explanation of his job, it truly opened up a new path that I didn't know existed. I knew the broadcasters had to analyze the game somehow, but I had no idea how much work really went into it. This seems like a job that I would love, specifically hockey, and now I am definitely going to research it more. I thought it was interesting how he talked about finding information on the players parents, along with if they look like they're practicing well or not. That is all super detailed information and definitely so interesting to learn how much work goes into broadcasting each game.

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I chose these three videos mainly because I knew they would be impactful in helping me grow my skills and knowledge for my major. While researching throughout this project, one of the main pieces of advice was networking, so I decided to watch a video on that which definitely helped me to understand it more and learn how to get started. The video on soft skills was helpful because it showed how important adapting is in a work environment. As for the last video, I learned that is something I am very interested in, and I will definitely research more of this topic.

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How Will These Videos Help Me Later In Life?

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How Will These Videos Help Me Later In Life?

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These videos have helped me understand and learn new skills, and I hope that through networking I can possibly land an internship with the Baltimore Orioles, or even the Washington Capitals. These videos will help me remember how important networking is, and how you will need to adapt in your work environment, which is very normal.