I have been a member of the Royal Purple student newspaper at UW-Whitewater for the last four years. To say that the Royal Purple vaulted my journalism career to where it is today is an understatement. The skills I learned and understanding that I’ve developed through working with Dr. Zukas and the Royal Purple have given me several invaluable opportunities to advance my journalism career.
While the Royal Purple opened up those opportunities for me, I took advantage of them by learning to always say yes.
I will always remember the first story I covered for the Royal Purple. I joined a month into my first semester at Whitewater. I was a wide-eyed freshman with minimal high school journalism experience tasked with covering a Warhawk playoff football game. At the time I had never been in a press box nor had I been to a press conference. In the game, Whitewater won in a 69-7 rout of Greenville and Alex Pete tied the Warhawk touchdown record – I immediately fell in love with sports media.
Since that game, I have written 94 stories for the Royal Purple while pursuing other odd jobs and journalism opportunities.
In the summer following my sophomore year I pursued an opportunity – presented by the communications department – to write a weekly race report at Jefferson Speedway Racetrack in Cambridge. It was such a unique atmosphere, but I learned so much, made connections with valued members of the Southern Wisconsin community and had my work published in upwards of 15 local newspapers.
The following summer, I pursued an opportunity to live with my girlfriend at her grandmother’s cabin in Minocqua, while also working for The Lakeland Times, a small local, weekly newspaper cherished by its readers. In Minocqua I worked with a variety of talented and knowledgeable members of the media industry including younger journalists with their fingers on the pulse like Brett LaBore and Trevor Greene, as well as older more experienced journalists such as Brian Jopek and photojournalist Dean Hall. The paper was run smoothly by publisher Gregg Walker and general manager Heather Holmes. Everyone at the Lakeland Times was welcoming, patient and helped me gain a more thorough understanding of the ins and outs of newspaper production. At the Times I broadened my portfolio by gaining journalistic experience outside the realm of sports.
Following my time in Minocqua, I returned back to Whitewater and the Royal Purple where it took just a few months before another opportunity presented itself. UW-Whitewater Athletic Director Ryan Callahan – whom I’ve worked with on several Royal Purple articles – reached out with an opportunity from the Edgerton Reporter to cover high school basketball part-time. Of course by now I had learned to always say “yes.”
I covered the beat on boys and girls basketball at Edgerton throughout the winter, which proved to be a great decision. Currently, I am covering a beat on all of Edgerton’s spring sports and it has been just as fulfilling.
While I am currently still weighing my post-grad options, full-time journalist at the Edgerton Reporter is the leader in the clubhouse.
(Submitted by Mikey Rottier)
