Throughout my life, I have always had a passion for community outreach and connecting with individuals. When deciding upon my college major, I had no doubt that I would want to pursue a career in journalism where I could leverage my public speaking skills and love for volunteerism and people.

Entering my senior year of college, I was eager to get into the news room and learn more about the inner workings of television. I feared that if I had no experience, I would struggle in the job search post grad. Internships during this time were hard to come by due to COVID-19. I reached out to 6 news stations, all saying they weren’t taking interns because of the pandemic. Luckily, a local cable television network, CN2 News, took a chance during uncertain times and gave me an internship to gain experience.

As an intern with CN2, I worked alongside Renee O’Neil (pictured above) as an assistant and cameraman. Renee is the reporter, anchor, editor and producer of CN2 New’s lifestyle show, CN2 Today. As a one man band running an entire show, Renee needed assistance with all aspects of the show. Through working with Renee, I gained invaluable knowledge about the News industry and how to execute all aspects of being a journalist. For the 8 months I worked at CN2, Renee and I covered all aspects of the Tri-County. I was able to assist her during a presidential election and through most major holidays all amidst a pandemic. Renee and I became fast friends and I was quickly known as her “sidekick.” I grew so much during my time at CN2 where I was given the opportunity to go out and cover stories for them as a reporter. This experience helped launch my journalism career and allowed me to gain a competitive advantage within my career field. I’m forever thankful for my CN2 family!