My eyes were glued to the field as I watched Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott throw the ball, completing yet another pass to wide receiver Michael Gallup. He would then go on to catch the ball, running down the field, evading the Washington Commanders’ defender chasing him. 

An indescribable feeling pulses through my body as he enters the endzone and I stand up from my seat, cheering as loud as I can. On the way home from the game, a large smile sits on my face. From that game onwards, I made it my personal goal to understand football and know everything about the game.

At the time, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do professionally. But the moment I fell in love with football, I knew that I wanted to have a job that involved being around it when I was older. The only issue was, I didn’t exactly know what I wanted that job to be.

Something that I was passionate about throughout middle school and going into high school was writing. I found comfort in writing about anything and let what came to my head be typed out by my fingers on the keyboard. With my passion for writing, I knew I wanted to find a way to incorporate it into sports, but I didn’t know how.

When I first learned of The Sidekick and what it does, I knew I wanted to be a part of it for my senior year. I knew that it was just what I was looking for, being able to be passionate about the sport I loved most and creatively express myself in my writing.

My first involvement with sports in The Sidekick was covering my first football game. I was so excited, to be able to provide live coverage using social media and being able to write about the game. Just being there on the sidelines made me ecstatic.

The only thing I was nervous about was interviews. There was just something that I didn’t like about interviewing athletes. They seemed so huge and very tall. I felt tiny when I stood next to them. I was worried I would ask the wrong questions about the game or that I would stumble over my words. Mostly, I was afraid they would judge me and think I was weird.

While I knew that they weren’t actually like that, my mind convinced me otherwise. I told myself that I had to do this, I would need to get used to conducting interviews with athletes. 

I was able to do it and learn how to be confident while speaking. When you have an interview, you’re not just asking questions. You want to have a conversation, be engaging. It helps better enhance your writing.

Not only was I able to cover football, but I covered other sports, such as basketball and softball. Sports that I never really knew anything about. I was able to learn about them and understand them the same way I did with football.

The Sidekick has taught me how to be confident when speaking to other people and not to be afraid. I’ve learned how to improve my writing, how to tell a story. To grab the reader’s attention. I’ve learned that there’s so much you can do with sports nowadays in journalism, you just have to find what you want to do and what works for you.

Follow Araceli (@aracelireynoso_) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.