The purpose of this blog is to teach me how to blog while practicing journalistic values. I will be covering the role of college sports in shaping the identity of athletes. There will be some posts where I talk about mental health as well. I plan to cover this beat through research and conducting interviews. My blog will focus mainly on the University of Northern Colorado Track Team as it is the most accessible resource to me for this beat. Staying updated on other collegiate sports will keep my blog relevant, and interviews will bring a personal touch to my posts. I plan to post at least once a week. I aspire to be a sports journalist, so blogging about the athlete experience while being in college will guide me on that path.
I have very minimal experience in journalism. From my sophomore to senior year in high school, I created scripts and announced for the Weld County Special Olympics track meet my school hosted every spring. My high school didn’t have a newspaper so I was unable to practice the media writing side of journalism before college. Through covering this beat I hope to improve my skills as a writer and journalist. I hope to discover the most beneficial methods of researching and documenting information. Most of all, I hope to learn more about myself and my teammates through the topic of collegiate athlete identity and mental health. I’ve never covered a beat before so this blog will be a learning experience.
I am a very passionate writer. I’m not lazy and I put a lot of effort into the writing I produce. I am also very receptive to feedback. I understand not everything I write will be flawless and I look forward to using feedback as a tool for future work. My biggest weakness is confidence. I strive for perfection and I struggle with feeling like none of my work meets my expectations. I also struggle a lot with procrastination. Entering a field where deadlines are critical means my habits of waiting until the last minute need to change. I anticipate that keeping myself to a weekly blog post schedule will help me with that habit.
I’ve followed podcasts such as On Track & Field but not many blogs. I have never blogged myself. I’m eager to learn and grow as a blogger, and I believe it will ultimately make me a better journalist. I am very confident in my ability as a writer to learn and create engaging blogs. I am a bit nervous to interview and I am not the most text-savvy person so learning the tools for blogging is a bit intimidating. Still, I’m excited to practice these skills and grow as a journalist with “The Unspoken Athlete”.
The Unspoken Athlete 
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