Growing up there were few consistencies in my life. I moved around a ton and changed schools almost every year up until high school. The only true consistencies were my mother and sister, as well as my church family. 

One constant was SportsCenter echoing off the walls of every new bedroom I had. Watching broadcasters like Stuart Scott and Scott Van Pelt confirmed my passion for sports and my desire to pursue it for a career. 

As I got further in my interests, I realized the SportsCenter desk may not be my calling, but I had more of an affinity for play-by-play. Something that is storytelling made new with each game. The greats like Dick Vitale, Kevin Harlan, Mike Breen, Mark Jones and Gus Johnson among others showed me how much excitement I could bring to my profession.

I used to practice as if I were the broadcaster with my TV muted and me calling the game. I started out embarrassed doing something in front of peers that I obviously needed a lot of practice at. Now my mom and sister laugh as they can’t keep me from using my “broadcast voice” during games to call the action’s most thrilling moments. 

The idea of college never seemed realistic to me. I grew up in a single-parent household and it seemed like something only rich people could afford. My high school counselor encouraged me to look into it, and the first school he suggested when hearing my interest was NKU.

I applied and was accepted to my surprise. I scheduled a visit to the campus and instantly fell in love. I loved the idea of the small class sizes where I could really get to know my classmates and professors. The thing I became most enthralled with was Griffin Hall. The way it was illuminated, the extraordinary glass structure and the pristine technology made me quickly realize there was no “Plan B.” This is where I was destined to go school. 

I’d love to say there was only excitement going into college, but for a Lexington native who had never been away from home, this was scary. I cried in my dorm room alone after my mom dropped me off.

My college experience was less than traditional. I graduated high school in 2014 and packed my bags for NKU. There was a newfound independence that was freeing but also ultimately crushing. I was ill-prepared, only able to last three semesters before I had to go back to Lexington due to poor academic performance. 

I do not regret this portion of my life because I made friends and memories that will last a lifetime. I also learned valuable lessons that would ultimately help me in what I affectionately call my “second term” here at NKU. I was determined to get back to Northern, but it didn’t happen overnight.

It took six years of saving up at a job and an associate degree at Bluegrass Community Technical College  in Lexington before I was able to call myself a Norse again. 

I packed my bags for Highland Heights again, but this time for a permanent residence, in August 2022. It was no less scary the second time around. This time wasn’t about not knowing what to expect, but fulfilling the expectations I had put on myself to finish this time around. 

I was blessed to immediately get involved on campus, which prevented me from getting distracted from school. I got a job at the Student Union information desk. I followed that up with getting my first on-camera gig as a reporter for “Friday Football Live” thanks to professor Wes Akers—who let me be a piece of something I feel will be revolutionary for high school football. 

The relationship with Wes led me to become a part of the ESPN+ crew on campus and eventually a sideline reporter for Norse men’s and women’s basketball. I was on ESPN—something surreal that I checked off my bucket list way before I expected to. 

Wes continued to be an integral part of my success and helped me come out of my shell. His class helped me to start a podcast, which led to two others that have been a privilege to be a part of and I’ll be continuing past my academic career. He also believed in me enough to allow me to use his equipment to do radio play-by-play for NKU women’s basketball with somebody who came to be like a brother to me in Matthew Supinger. 

These interests led me to my involvement in The Northerner. 

Editor-in-Chief and now my close friend Emily Sisk was persistent in her pleas for me to apply for the sports editor position. I rejected this idea and said I was too busy. Emily would not be denied and offered the opportunity to work with Matthew to lighten my load. She sweetened the deal saying that The Northerner could help me create podcasts and continue my radio play-by-play to a bigger audience. How could I say no? She is a fantastic recruiter. 

I was offered and accepted the position with Matthew, and it never felt like work. That is partially because Matthew was always working harder than me and being a consistent role model on how to be the best journalist I could be. 

I have gotten so many unthinkable and enriching experiences during my time with The Northerner. Just to name a few, I got to cover future NBA and WNBA players at Purdue and Kentucky as they hosted the Norse. I got to have an ESPN NFL reporter Ben Baby on my podcast, and I got to interview NFL superstar Trey Hendrickson. 

Any future success I have I owe to The Northerner. It prepared me on how to deal with athletes and coaches and cover a school that I love so much in as much of an unbiased manner as I possibly could. 

So, my college career has been filled with both disappointment and triumphs. I lived two completely different experiences with each attempt at NKU, which means I have learned a lot. So the advice I’d like to give to anybody reading is two-fold:

1. Do it scared. Your dreams and passions are supposed to be scary. Scary is not always a bad thing, it means you care deeply about it. So do the thing that scares you. Eventually it gets easier. Somebody is going to do the thing you dream about. It might as well be you.
2. Don’t compare your journey to anyone else’s. You are exactly where you are supposed to be. The world would be boring if everybody’s path was linear and identical. It’s never too late to do what you love. I am going to be a 29-year-old graduate. That time is going to pass anyway, so you might as well do what you love as it passes.

NKU means more to me than my simple words could ever express. I am not leaving a university, I am leaving my home. I am forever indebted and thankful for NKU—the latest constant in my life.