Friday, May 24, 2013
Why Me?
Choosing a specific pseudonym/blog for this course was easy
for me. The idea of a Penn State Football blog came to my mind
instantly. I have been a die-hard fan of Penn State Football since 2003
and I thought it would be exciting to start blogging about the team. My background will help me cover this topic. I worked
for the team for 2 years while I attended Penn State and now I currently work
for the a Sports Production Company. I am surrounded by College Football
news and experts at work, I occasionally hear of breaking news hours before the
public. Also, I can share stories and give the viewer a sense of what it
is like to be on the field at Beaver Stadium during a game or inside the tunnel
before the team runs out onto the field. This summer I will cover training camp, recruiting, and preview each game on the 2013 schedule. I can't wait to start blogging! We Are!
It’s good that you started with a cover letter. As you can see now, I begin the semester letting you explore you. The bio and beat assignments work as drafts of the About You, but what you choose for a sample and your resume are other perspectives. I’ll get to your resume next week.
ReplyDeleteThe more drafts the better. I don’t believe in just proofreading or editing your work for errors. Tackling a piece of writing should involve writing several different pieces and then pulling the best from all of them.
The bio and beat defense assignment are a bit of a trick. The beat or credibility defense is usually the better bio. Students often tell me their whole life story in the first assignment, while the beat defense focuses on what makes you most proud. It focuses your life. It focuses your narrative for the audience.
You are a good writer. You go over your work, craft your content. In your case, your bio is my favorite piece of the three because it’s the most specific. It is a real detailed single story, which is the most valuable kind of information. Always tell a story when you can.
You can still craft better though. First, stop with the two spaces between sentences. If you don’t believe me, look it up. Second, even if the following is true, it’s still repetitive and a bit cliché. (I applied and then after I applied… After applying for the position, Lee offered me the position….)
I knew it was a long shot, but I applied anyway. After applying for the position I sent Lee several emails stating how much I wanted the internship. Lee eventually offered me the position, he said I showed the most interest out of all the applicants.
How about… “Submitting my application felt like a Hail Mary, so I lobbed several follow up emails right after it. Lee said my determination got me the position.”
Oh wait, you’re talking about soccer. Oh well…
Your perseverance with Lee tells us about your devotion to sports production much faster and better than your cover letter. Your cover letter does what your resume should already do. It tells the whole narrative. Your Why Me? is a shorter version of your cover.
What none of these pieces offer me is what I would find most valuable. What have you learned from all of this hard work? A cover letter should tell me what the resume did not. Why are you applying for my particular position? I know how I can help you. What can you offer me? A great cover letter will make the reader think that hiring you will be beneficial to both of you. Instead of you, you, you did this, what about me, me, me? That’s how all audiences think. (And this is very hard to do generically, before you know where you are applying.)
But the process of honing your narrative in your head by writing that cover letter is still invaluable.
Another way to think of all of this writing is giving your audience takeaways. If I’m already learning from you in your cover letter, well then I at least want a meeting. I want to talk to you. But that requires your content be original - your unique thoughts. If you can talk about Penn like I’ve never heard in your About You then you are not only credible – I want to keep reading, which is the point.
An About You can be the best piece of writing on your blog so far.
Every headline (and tweet) you write is a byline of sorts. Once in a while you write such a perfect sentence, it becomes your tagline.
You clearly have your passion, which some students do not find all semester. Now tell me some stories, either yours or the teams, but I would like to hear a few of yours. What have you learned? What is your take on sports content? Either talk about it or show me in the pieces.
Keep practicing. Good work. Welcome to 506.
Prof. Kalm