In the world of sports journalism or media, a woman has to fight for every lead that she gets. We have to spend more time proving ourselves than our male counterparts. This is what I want to talk about today. I don’t know if this is just my personal experience, or if more women have found this point to be true. Anyways, I spent the better part of last hockey season feeling like I wasn’t good enough to be around the media company that our school keeps. I mean we have people like Brad Schlossman, who has been writing about UND sports for many years. What do I have to offer? I think this is a thought that many new reporters have to overcome. For me, this was the biggest hurdle to overcome. It is something I still struggle with.
My first interview was Aaron Dell. If you are not from North Dakota or a San Jose Sharks fan, until this year, you wouldn’t know his name. That being said, Dell is one of my favorite players to come out of UND Men’s Ice Hockey’s program. Don’t ask me why, because honestly, I do not know. I had a phone interview with him after the San Jose Sharks made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Pittsburg Penguins. He was their black ace, which is essentially a backup to the backup goalie. I cannot tell you how many times I rewrote my questions or how unbelievably sweaty I got dialing his number. I wonder if this is just a girl thing or if one of my male counterparts would have had the same feelings? Maybe this will reach anyone that they can answer this question for me. This interview was literally eight minutes long. Oops. I was fumbling through my notes; I swear, I must have sounded drunk because I felt like I couldn’t keep my thoughts straight; for those of you who know me, this is typically me. I was so embarrassed.
Now, I look back on this interview experience and laugh at how far I have come. I would never allow myself to act like that during an interview now. It’s been over a year since that first interview and I cannot believe how far I have come.
Till next week.
~Kelsey Lee~
