As some of you might relate to, I’ve never been much of a sports enthusiast. Sure, I’d watch a game on TV now and then or tag along to a live event for the vibes, but I was never someone you’d call a real fan. The only sport I’ve ever deeply connected with is basketball. It was the sport my family watched most often when I was growing up, so it’s natural that I developed an interest in it. To this day, it’s still the only sport I fully understand, and the only one that truly keeps me entertained.
I started playing basketball in fifth grade and stuck with it through my junior year of high school. You might be wondering why I didn’t continue into senior year. Honestly, I felt like I had peaked, and I was an average player at best. So, I hung up my jersey and became the team manager instead. I cared deeply about my teammates, many of whom were close friends, and wanted to complete our journey together. After being part of the program since freshman year, it felt right to finish alongside them, even if I wasn’t on the court.
After graduating from high school, I became what some might call a “NARP” (non-athletic regular person). To be fair, I never even really considered myself a “student-athlete.” Playing sports was just expected at my school; it didn’t feel like a separate identity. I also threw discus and shot put for varsity track and field and even tried out rowing, so I’d say I had a pretty solid athletic career anyway. When I stopped playing, I wasn’t shedding some deep identity, just letting go of something that no longer fit.
Coming to Northwestern, I kept that same lukewarm energy about sports. I went to the obligatory first football game during Wildcat Welcome, and while I understood the basic rules, I couldn’t really get into it. I waited patiently for basketball season and attended a few games that winter, but once spring rolled around and the quarter system kicked into high gear, sports fell off my radar again.
Then, this past summer, everything changed.
While scrolling through the Northwestern Student Job Board, I stumbled across a listing for a Student Broadcast Crew Member at Studio N in the athletics department. The job involved helping with live-stream and in-arena video board broadcasts of athletic events. I hesitated. I enjoyed video, TV and storytelling. But sports? That was the wildcard. I didn’t even know the rules for half the games they’d be covering. Still, I applied.
That decision led me to a completely new appreciation for sports.
When I started the job last October, I began learning what goes into producing a sports broadcast. I operated live cameras, coordinated with the Big Ten Network and ESPN and helped shape the game’s narrative for fans. The experience was more complex and collaborative than I had imagined. Most of my assignments were as a camera operator. While I already had some basic camera experience, this gave me a whole new lens, literally and figuratively, through which to view sports.
Most of the time, I’d be stationed above the action, like an all-seeing eye scanning the court or field. It was stressful at times: keeping pace with the game, ensuring smooth camera work and quietly dealing with my own feelings about how Northwestern was performing. But it was also thrilling. I felt like part of the team.
That role made me more invested in the players, the outcomes and the sports themselves. I found myself especially drawn to women’s sports. I had always known they received less attention and attendance than men’s sports, but seeing the difference firsthand was eye-opening. And, ironically, I found their games, especially lacrosse and softball, the most exciting and dynamic to film. I came in knowing almost nothing about these sports. Now, I’m genuinely a fan.
Working behind the camera also let me zoom in (pun intended) on the human side of sports: team celebrations on the bench, sideline arguments between coaches and refs, close-ups of players’ expressions and, my personal favorite, random crowd moments. The best thing I ever captured was during a softball game. While the umpires were reviewing a play, a kid and their parent were off to the side playing with a dog, not paying attention to the game. That tiny, silly moment, juxtaposed with the seriousness of the game, reminded me of what I love most about this job: I get to highlight the atmosphere, capture the emotion and help tell the story.
As the school year winds down and I take a break from working until the fall, I’ve been reflecting on how far I’ve come — from a passive observer to someone genuinely excited to be part of the world of sports. I may not have the stats memorized or own a jersey, but I’ve found my place in the game. Not on the court, not in the stands, but behind the lens. And that’s a team I’m proud to be on.
