My almost grown up life

It is nine o’clock on a Saturday night and I find myself in my room, alone, in a city I’ve moved to unrelated to school or family.

How did I get here?

After spending countless hours researching, writing cover letters, updating my resume, filling out internship applications for professional sports teams, sports networks, and news stations, and getting rejected by all but one inquiry, I made the decision to move to Knoxville to continue my internship with the hockey team I began interning with during the fall semester. I initially kept the internship in the back if my mind as a last resort for this semester, but then life happened. And I could not be happier with how the events of my life over the past two months have played themselves out.

Yes, the massive amount of rejection endured during those two months was enough to make me doubt myself, my ability, my knowledge, my experience, and question if I was even cut out for the sports industry. Surely if I was meant to make an impact in such a competitive industry, all of the sacrifices, hard work, and internships I’ve dedicated my life to for the past three years would impress someone at a huge network and they would be thrilled to have me in board, right?

Wrong.

My accomplishments may have been impressive in the Lee University bubble but in the real world, I’m just another piece of paper, another applicant, another person trying to get more experience before she graduates with her Bachelors degree and thirty thousand dollars worth of student loans that need to be paid off.

Those two months of my life were a couple of the hardest, most challenging months of my life and they followed a semester full of bad events.

When it was all said and done, I had three options: stay home to work and possibly do another internship with the news station I interned at this past summer, possibly intern at a news station in Maryland, or move to Knoxville to continue my work with the hockey team.

With hockey being the love of my life, my familiarity of Knoxville and the team, and the possibilities with Ice Bears TV, I felt at peace when I made the decision to move to Knoxville.

I’ve lived in Knoxville for two weeks and am the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.

I finally came to the realization that it doesn’t matter where I end up as long as I’m doing what I love. Whether working for a major sports network, one of my favorite professional sports teams, or for a minor league hockey team, I would rather wake up every day excited about what I get to spend that day doing than to be working somewhere where my attendance is of little importance to anything but my internship log hours.

Since my move here, I have had the opportunity to interview a head coach, the leader in goals scored for the SPHL, and a goofy team of guys that have completely stolen my heart. (I mean this in the I love being around everyone, they make my life and my job a lot of fun, not the romantic stuff, sorry readers.)

I have the honor of working with a production team and staff full of people that are passionate about hockey and the success of hockey in Knoxville, Tennessee. I am gaining valuable, hands on experience that I definitely would not have gotten at any of the other places I applied to. My creativity is challenged and my input is appreciated. Everyday I wake up, I am excited about the direction my life is going. Every night I go to sleep, I am grateful for the steps that were taken during the day that are getting me closer to my dream of being a HOCKEY BROADCASTER.

Granted I still need to find a source of income and a group of friends to hang out with in my down time, I am ecstatic for all that God has in store for this semester.

When God wants you to be somewhere, if you are obedient and allow Him to guide you, He will work things out. They may not be the plans you had for yourself, but they are the best plans because His plans are far greater and more fulfilling than anything you could arrange on your own.

For that, I am grateful.