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The Life of a Journalism Student

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The life of a journalism student at UF is challenging. I find myself spending countless hours in the newsroom improving my craft and creating content for WUFT . One of my favorite things about the program is the immersion experiences. My sophomore year, I started working for ESPN Gainesville WRUF as a radio anchor and multimedia sports journalist. Every Friday night I would travel to local high school football games writing articles and shooting video for the First at Five show. Eventually, I had the opportunity to serve as the beat reporter for the Florida basketball and gymnastics teams. I was responsible for attending every home game/meet and providing live and pre-recorded content for our target audience on multimedia platforms .  My love for journalism and content creation only grew as I gained more experience. This past spring break, I had the opportunity to be in Barcelona during the most recent Clásico. While the match was in Madrid, I interviewed locals about the ...
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Tipping Point Book Review

Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point "is a biography of an idea," (pg. 7). It dives into the compelling phenomenon of how certain trends catch on and gain so much prevalence, while others do not. As Gladwell says, "ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do," (pg. 7). Furthermore, the book explains how products and ideas reach such prominence within society. Gladwell provides an in-depth analysis of how these specific trends gain so much attraction as he categorizes his "Three Epidemics" into agents of change: the Law of Few, the Stickiness Factor and the Power of Context.  The Law Few is straight-forward. Products and ideas gain national or global attention because of a few celebrities or influencers partake or use the product or idea. As Gladwell explains, these icons are either Connectors, Mavens or Salesmen. This was a very informative section. I especially appreciated his section of Connectors. As the autho...
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Supporting Women in Sports Media

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It is always wonderful to see a fellow woman in sports media breaking the glass ceiling. As someone who is pursuing a career as a sports reporter, I appreciate the love and support I receive from my female peers. Kara Spierto , Sydney Jones and Rachel West are incredible #girlboss sports reporters who I have had the pleasure to work with over the past few years. Kara had the opportunity to work for CBS during the most recent Super Bowl in Atlanta. She always has a positive personality and is such a go-getter. Sydney loves football as she also worked at the Super Bowl and served as the ESPN Gainesville beat reporter for the various teams such as Florida football and baseball . I worked with Rachel last semester for the Monday sports edition of the WUFT First at Five show. She is currently in down in Tampa interning for the Rays . So excited to stay in touch with these women after graduation and I cannot wait to see them tackle their next adventure!
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Supporting UF Students

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UF is a competitive university and everyone wants to succeed. The College of Journalism and Communications is internationally known for the top-notch students it produces in particular. Because of this, there are stellar students who demonstrate a strong work ethic. Peers like Tessa Bentulan , Lauren Staff  and Abby Murphy  have dedicated their college experience to seizing every opportunity they can to grow and learn. I have had the opportunity to work with Tessa during some of my TV2 shifts this semester and she is so much for to work with. You can check out her most recent reporter reel here . I have known Lauren for over two years and she's always doing the most! Lauren worked in the communications department for various Florida Gators teams throughout her college years. I had the opportunity to see her at every home Florida basketball game and gymnastics meet while I was a beat reporter for the teams.  Abby has such a bubbly and fun...
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About Me

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Sophia LaFrance is a content creator and storyteller who is passionate about sports and culture. Sophia will receive her Bachelor's degree in a few weeks when she graduates from the University of Florida. Throughout college, Sophia served as a sports reporter for ESPN Gainesville and a sports anchor and producer for the WUFT First at Five show (click to see her full résumé ). In addition, Sophia covered various local, Florida Gators and professional teams. She dedicated her college experience to gaining knowledge and skills in front of and behind the camera. Now, as she prepares to embark into the "real world," Sophia is committed to continue providing factual, data-driven journalism.  As a tireless worker, she is eager to learn and seize every opportunity she can to grow as a reporter. For an inside look at her experience, check out her multimedia sports reporting reel . Sophia was born and raised in Valencia, California. Upon her high school grad...
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Crafting the Perfect Résumé

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In essence, your résumé your main marketing tool.  When applying for a job, your goal should be to market yourself to the employer that you're his or her ideal candidate for the job. The best way to showcase your skills is by having a stellar résumé. As my college graduation is just over a month away, I am continually updating my résumé and portfolio website.  Here are some tips to consider when completing your résumé.  1. Tailor your résumé to the job.  Not every job is the same, so it is essential to make sure your résumé includes keywords or phrases from the job posting . Most employers do not actually look through all the 100+ résumés. In fact, there are computer programs that scan résumés and pick out the keywords that are also found in the job description.  2.  Choose a legible font.  For us girls, most of the time we want to pick a ~trendy~ font to showcase our personalities. While I am a huge advocate for embra...
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The Power of Social Media

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When Instagram, Twitter or Facebook is down, the world explodes into chaos. While our grandparents might think we're being over-dramatic, many of our lives depend on social media. So for example, today (March 13), Instagram and Facebook were down due to technical difficulties. Instantly, this became Google's most trending topic . For the working class, students and adolescents, social media is a powerful tool. As a journalist, social media is a main avenue in which people obtain news. According to an article from HubSpot , 68 percent of Americans get their news from social media. Besides serving as a news outlet, social media can also generate your personal brand and your business. For example, I have a professional Twitter account in which I post all my news and sports media information. This allows me to provide content for people as well as show potential employers my content. I also use social media to expand the business my best friend and I started over th...
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