Working in sports means a lot of travel. A. Lot. Of. Travel. It's a great opportunity to visit places you would never otherwise go to - it also keeps life interesting. But being on the road can be exhausting, especially when sports seasons are back to back to back and you sometimes forget what city you're in even as you drive through it.
From January to May of this year, I traveled to 6 of the ten Big 12 campuses. Additionally, I covered the swimming championship in Austin, the women's basketball championship in Oklahoma City, the men's basketball championship in Kansas city, the women's golf championship in San Antonio, the rowing championship in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the baseball championship in Oklahoma City.
I say all of this to make this point - it can be hard to NOT get tired and lose focus of what you are doing and why you are doing it. My career path so far has taken many twists and turns, many unexpected, but one thing I've discovered I love is sharing good stories. That's why I am passionate about Big 12 Champions for Life. When I'm tired after catching an early morning flight but then am listening to someone tell me that the proudest moment of his life was being able to give his young son a bed because he never had one growing up, I feel forever impacted. (Note: this really happened, I cried during the interview, and had to hug him afterwards. I really was honored to tell his story).
From January to May of this year, I traveled to 6 of the ten Big 12 campuses. Additionally, I covered the swimming championship in Austin, the women's basketball championship in Oklahoma City, the men's basketball championship in Kansas city, the women's golf championship in San Antonio, the rowing championship in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the baseball championship in Oklahoma City.
I say all of this to make this point - it can be hard to NOT get tired and lose focus of what you are doing and why you are doing it. My career path so far has taken many twists and turns, many unexpected, but one thing I've discovered I love is sharing good stories. That's why I am passionate about Big 12 Champions for Life. When I'm tired after catching an early morning flight but then am listening to someone tell me that the proudest moment of his life was being able to give his young son a bed because he never had one growing up, I feel forever impacted. (Note: this really happened, I cried during the interview, and had to hug him afterwards. I really was honored to tell his story).
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We see so much bad news on the internet and television and on our phones and really, everywhere. Someone hates someone and someone is protesting someone and there are earthquakes and hurricanes and it's hard to not go to bed feeling like the world is coming to an end.
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Take sports alone: the stories that circulate in the media are about crimes and suspensions and other terrible things. That's why I think it's so, so important that we share these positive stories and that we realize that for every bad situation we hear of, there are two good kids out there trying to make a difference. The campaign launches today and I have put much blood, sweat, and tears into making it as good as it can be. I'm so proud of the product we are putting out and I really hope that anyone who is a Big 12 fan or a fan of sports and good stories in general will follow along as we share a new story each week.
Highlights of this year's stories include Kansas cross country's Sharon Lokedi, who had to hide with her family in the forest in Kenya as political unrest disrupted her village; Iowa State football's Hakeem Butler, who lost his mother and moved across the country to live with family, who embraced him as their own son; Kansas State Football's Denzel Goolsby, who is a big part of the local Big Brothers community and has encouraged his teammates to also participate in the program; TCU football's Shaun Nixon, who uses his own money to pay to feed the homeless and along with a group of teammates, visits elementary schools in the community to inspire young children and let them know that they can dream big.
In fact, this group of guys at TCU don't watch TV, they don't use social media. When I asked them what they did with any free time they had, they told me that they spend that time discussing ways that they can make the world a better place.
These are the stories we need to share. These are the stories we need to focus on and celebrate. I hope that you will check out the series at some point on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or the website this season and that it inspires you the way it has me.
Highlights of this year's stories include Kansas cross country's Sharon Lokedi, who had to hide with her family in the forest in Kenya as political unrest disrupted her village; Iowa State football's Hakeem Butler, who lost his mother and moved across the country to live with family, who embraced him as their own son; Kansas State Football's Denzel Goolsby, who is a big part of the local Big Brothers community and has encouraged his teammates to also participate in the program; TCU football's Shaun Nixon, who uses his own money to pay to feed the homeless and along with a group of teammates, visits elementary schools in the community to inspire young children and let them know that they can dream big.
In fact, this group of guys at TCU don't watch TV, they don't use social media. When I asked them what they did with any free time they had, they told me that they spend that time discussing ways that they can make the world a better place.
These are the stories we need to share. These are the stories we need to focus on and celebrate. I hope that you will check out the series at some point on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or the website this season and that it inspires you the way it has me.