In keeping with the theme of today's paper, I'm writing my first column about my experiences as a copy editing intern for ESPN.com this summer.
I never thought I would be able to say I worked for the "Worldwide Leader in Sports." For someone who has a passion for sports and a career goal to be a professional editor, I couldn't think of a better place to work. When I became a journalist, the idea of working there was one of those dream jobs that seemed permanently unlikely. I certainly had to pinch myself a few times to make sure it was real.
After a week of training for the Dow Jones News Fund — the group that helped me get my internship — at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, I made my way to Bristol, Conn., for the summer. (My poor car had thousands of miles put on it in just a few months.)
It was interesting to get behind the scene of a story production. Similar to my primary responsibility at the Daily News, I checked stories for grammar and spelling, fact checked and made sure stories were ready for publication — for a potential audience of millions in this case. I edited more than 800 stories this summer, so you probably read something I contributed to if you're a regular ESPN reader.
After a while, I learned different things about the people I worked with. I found different writers' tendencies, who was easier to work with and who the best writers were. I enjoyed working with Jason Sobel's golf pieces, and the "My Wish" features were touching. Great features always keep my attention more than the X's and O's of a game recap because my favorite stories celebrate the humanity of sports.
But just seeing the product before it's distributed to the masses was interesting and exciting. I read stories before anyone else and played a role in making them better.
There were certainly some cool experiences about working at ESPN. The commercials make it seem like there are sports stars roaming the halls at all hours. And to be honest, it's true. Pretty much everyday, a celebrity would be on ESPN's campus, and he or she would be paraded around the different buildings to meet people. This summer, I spoke briefly with a number of people, including Tony Dungy, Jim Harbaugh and Liam Neeson, to name a few.
Some people give ESPN a hard time for it's exaggerated coverage of certain sports personalities — LeBron James and Brett Favre, for example — but it's a different experience working from within. You don't have the option to avoid it, even if you want to turn away for a few minutes.
I also never thought I would be overwhelmed from being surrounded by sports 24/7, but I was at times. While sports are my first love, I try to keep a balanced knowledge by following the major national and international news stories as well. But after eight hours at work reading and editing, the last thing I wanted to do was spend more time staring at a computer or television at home.
It didn't help that the second half of the internship was so baseball-focused. Of all the major sports, baseball is by far the least interesting to me. I learned much more about baseball strategy and fantasy baseball than I would have ever wanted.
At least I had the World Cup.
Being at ESPN during the Cup was great. The main campus was decorated with a soccer goal and lines (you may have seen it in some outdoor coverage for studio shows). Many national flags flew around the complex, and they were taken down when a team was eliminated. This made the U.S. loss even more disappointing once the Stars and Stripes were removed from the campus courtyard.
In the end, the best part of my internship was the confirmation that this is what I want to do for a career: editing at a high level, preferably in sports. I have one more year of school left, and to be honest, it will be spent trying to ready myself to return as an ESPN employee or find a job at another sports outlet.
My advice to you is to come up with your dream job and go after it. Don't necessarily make it your only option, but take a chance and submit a résumé.
I never thought I would get my opportunity this summer, and you never know what can happen until to take a chance. Let yourself dream big once in a while.
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