Last week, I hit pause on my beach-filled spring break to hop on Zoom for some professional development. I had the privilege of talking to some professionals who currently work at ESPN and asking them questions about their careers. How’d I get to do this? Through FSUshadow!
WHAT IS FSUSHADOW?
FSUshadow is a super cool opportunity to shadow a professional for one day. These FSUShadow hosts, many of whom are FSU alums, provide real-world, hands-on experience and knowledge of their industry. There are professionals from many industries, and there truly is something for everybody.
The FSU Career Center facilitates the FSUshadow program during summer, spring, and winter breaks. With virtual and in-person options, this opportunity is available to all FSU undergrad and graduate students.
These one-day opportunities provide ways for FSU students to explore their professional career fields of interest in a way that is flexible with their schedules. Some FSUshadow participants have even received job offers after their experience.
FSUshadow has a great variety of opportunities in various locations, so don’t be worried if you won’t be in Tallahassee over break and you want to participate. I’m in the College of Communication and Information, and there were FSUshadow dates in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Panama City Beach, West Palm Beach, and Lake Mary just from my college-specific list.
FSUshadow is open to all majors, so if you’re thinking of switching majors, aren’t sure what your major is yet, or are interested in learning about many career fields, you can explore all of the FSUshadow listings.
MY EXPERIENCE
I applied to my FSUshadow experience on a whim after receiving an email advertising it from the FSU Career Center. I applied for a virtual experience with an ESPN editor.
On my virtual shadow day, I tuned into a Zoom panel with my FSUshadow host, ESPN Senior Editor and FSU alum Jeremy Willis. The panel also included two of his colleagues: ESPN Deputy Editor Alisha Miller and FSU alum ESPN Production Operations Supervisor Lacey Gandee. They each discussed their paths to ESPN and their job experiences and answered our many questions.
I’m very grateful for the opportunity to ask questions about the panelists’ experiences as women in the sports media industry, which is fitting for Women’s History Month. Her Campus at FSU even got a little shoutout during our conversation about building connections and taking advantage of all the opportunities we have at FSU!
There was a lot of discussion about breaking into the sports media industry, and the panelists talked about what they look for when hiring committees during their time at ESPN. I really enjoyed getting to listen to the panelists’ perspectives on how important integrity, flexibility, curiosity, and the “rising tide mentality” are in this industry.
GET INVOLVED WITH FSUSHADOW
Keep your eyes out for the FSUshadow opportunities coming for summer break. The list of FSUshadow hosts doesn’t stay the same every cycle, so there is an ever-changing list of opportunities at your disposal. You can apply and look through all of the experiences through Nole Network.
I’m so grateful for my FSUshadow host and for having such an insightful panel discussing ESPN and the sports media industry. Thank you FSUshadow for helping me add some professional development to my amazing spring break week!
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