My path to where I am today as a journalist has been an arduous one, full of life-changing events and decisions. My name is Matthew Singer and I am a sports journalist at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
From the age of seven, until my sophomore year of college, all I ever wanted to do was to become an astrophysicist. I was obsessed with astronomy and all that came with it and thought I was destined to be in that field. Now you might be thinking how I got to where I am now and why I made a complete 180 in my career path.
In the fall of 2020, which was my sophomore year of college at the University of Arizona, my plans of becoming an astrophysicist were halted. It was right in the middle of COVID. The pandemic left me with my mental health spiraling out of control. Classes being online during that time period made the courses I was taking at the time in astronomy nearly impossible to complete, which left me in an even worse mental state.
So I had a major life decision in front of me: should I stay in this program and let my GPA and mental health suffer, or should I try something new and switch majors? I ended up choosing the latter. Because of my desire then to stay in a STEM field, I ended up switching to geosciences with a minor in pre-law, with the plan of becoming an environmental lawyer.
But once again I wasn’t happy. There just seemed to be something missing that I couldn’t figure out. It just wasn’t the same love that I previously had for astronomy. So I had another choice in front of me as I neared graduation: should I stay in this field and be unhappy, or should I pursue something that I have a passion for?
I once again decided the latter and abandoned my dreams of becoming an environmental lawyer.
After a few weeks of personal turmoil where I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when graduation was so close, I thought to myself what am I truly passionate about? What is going to make me happy?
Sports and writing have always been two of my passions in life. From a very young age, my father got me into sports and I have been obsessed ever since. But I wasn’t sure if a career in sports was in the cards for me.
So I took a shot in the dark and applied to the masters program of sports journalism at Cronkite, thinking I had no chance of getting in when I had no experience in the field. But by sharing these past experiences and showing my love for sports, I was accepted into the program and at that moment, I knew this would be the career I wanted to pursue.
Through Bill Hill’s writing bootcamp class, I became more confident in my writing and my ability to succeed in this field. When it comes to sports, I have always loved sharing my opinion on many different issues.
So when the time came to register for classes, Bill Hill recommended that I take this course in order to hone my writing skills.
I feel that commentary is especially important in the world of sports because there are so many issues that overlap with sports such as political issues, racism, sexism, mental health, etc. If there was no commentary, how else would we hear about these issues in the world of sports?
By expressing opinions rather than just spouting facts and writing game stories, we can show our expertise in different ways, and let our voice come through and be heard.
I would like to get everything I can out of this class, becoming a sponge and letting myself absorb everything possible in order to better myself as a writer. In the end, I want to be a beat writer for an MLB team, but I am very much open to being a baseball columnist so I want to prepare for that possibility by taking this class.
There are many challenges that our industry is currently facing. One of which is social media and misinformation/disinformation that comes with it. Anyone on X now can purchase a blue checkmark next to their name and appear to be an expert on anything. And when the public sees a blue checkmark, they automatically believe everything that person says, true or not.
Another challenge we are currently facing is the rise of Artificial Intelligence. With this comes issues of journalists losing their jobs and being replaced with AI which worries me greatly as I come into this profession. Finally, a deep-rooted mistrust in the media by many in the American population has led to a huge challenge in journalism.
I hope to be a voice of reason, integrity, and truth, no matter where it takes me in this field, and one day be respected for these qualities.
