The Start of the Rest of My Life

There are only five more days until I graduate, so I have a chance to reflect on the past and look towards the future.

The JMC program atUNC has done a great job of making me a better writer. There are also a variety of things to focus on, from newspaper and magazine writing to broadcasting and that really helps students develop into better journalists. I do wish we had started working on actual reporting earlier than junior year. I should’ve joined The Mirror to get that experience, but more of it in class can be a boost for the students who don’t work for the paper.

I learned that AP Style and I don’t get along very well. I like to write my numbers out; AP stops me at ten. AP wants me to abbreviate states; I like to write them out. Making the switch to focusing on journalism instead of working on it with Chicago style in my writing minor should help.

I learned that I have a knack for journalistic writing. Overly poetic language feels weird to me so I feel out of place at times in the English department. The goal of journalism is to give as much information in as few words as possible, and I can handle that.

I think I’m ready for a career in journalism, but is it ready for me? I want to go into sports writing, but it’s such a difficult field to find a job in. Sports writers love what they do, so there aren’t that many positions open. Peter Gammons has been writing for 42 years, so I hope I can have a career like that.

Bears Looking to Rebound

The University of Northern Colorado baseball team is currently 5-24. After starting the season 2-17, the Bears have won three of their last ten games and are 2-2 in Great West Conference play.

After a slow start that led to being benched and dropped in the order, outfielder Jarod Berggren has heated up in April. In nine games this month, including eight starts and one pinch-running appearance, Berggren is hitting .387 with 11 runs scored and 15 runs batted in. He now leads the team with 22 RBI.

Second baseman T.J. Berge has started 28 games and leads the team with a .371 batting average, 25 runs scored and 49 total bases. First baseman Ben Packard has started only 19 games but is hitting .351 while leading the team with two home runs a and slugging percentage of .545.

The Bears have only played nine home games so far, but will play 13 more before the end of the season. With 31 games remaining, the team has a chance to turn things around. It will be a struggle to finish with a winning record, but they do have a shot at the Great West Conference title if they can beat teams like the University of North Dakota and Chicago State University.

A New Baseball Blog

The purpose of this blog is to cover the University of Northern Colorado's baseball team. I follow professional baseball but I have never followed college baseball, so this will be a new experience for me. I hope to learn more about the players and what they go through. Anybody can write a story about a bunch of names, but I want to get to know the people behind the names.

My journalism experience is limited. I did cover the Greeley City Council during the 2009 fall semester, and I covered the UNC Club Volleyball team last spring.

I am confident in my writing ability, but I have to work on news gathering. I cannot write a good story if I cannot get all of the information I need.

I do have experience with blogging. I kept a blog while covering the Greeley City Council and I also covered the MLB Hot Stove on another blog. I am very confident when it comes to blogging. I enjoy being able to connect to individual readers more.