Interning for Gymnastike was such an exciting adventure for me this semester. I applied for the position, thinking it would be really fun to follow the team throughout the season and learn how to make the videos and cover competitions. I also thought it would be really beneficial for Western Michigan University’s gymnastics program. Being a part of the team, I had inside access and I was excited to show the gymnastics world what an amazing group of women this team is.

I started out with an introduction video of myself. Going into this, I had no idea I would have to go in front of the camera!  It was hard for me to get a shot without messing up or laughing so I had a lot of videos to filter through to find something I could actually use. Then, I had to start editing my first video. I had zero editing experience so I had to watch a few tutorials, and it took me a long time to get the hang of editing. Once the first one was done, I was anxious to get on the next one.

My next video was a Meet the Team video. I thought this would be pretty easy since I obviously knew all the girls on the team. I figured the girls would be comfortable with me filming them since they knew me and they wouldn’t be so nervous. This was not the case. I think since they knew me, they were not as serious and more comfortable when they messed up. When I finished filming them, I went back to edit the videos and found I had over 100 clips to chose from. It was so overwhelming! I finally filtered through them all and got a great video done, but I learned that having a ton of videos to choose from does not necessarily mean your video will be better, it just gives you more work to do to find the best clips!

My favorite video to film and make was the Workout Wednesday. I think this video really portrayed our team well. This was in the middle of the season and it represented how we practiced on a day-to-day basis throughout the season. It was fun to film things at practice because it put a little pressure on the girls while capturing the atmosphere of the gym. The Spring Break video was also fun because viewers got a little more behind the scenes look at the team instead of just videos of their actual gymnastics. If I could go back, I would have done a little more behind the scenes filming to capture the personality of the team a little more.

Covering meets was the hardest part of the internship for me. Being a part of the WMU Gymnastics team made competing my absolute priority on competition days. Unfortunately, I was seeing other interns post great videos of meet coverage, and I was disappointed that I could not contribute as much coverage to competitions as I would have liked. I did get to cover a competition with Bowling Green intern, Danny Sierra. He was extremely helpful. He covered his team while I covered mine so that I was able to focus during the meet and still get the videos up for viewers.

Besides learning how to film and edit videos, this internship really broadened my horizons to so many things. First, I learned that my interviewing skills were absolutely terrible! My first few interviews were so bad that I could not even use them. Then, I learned to prepare beforehand and have a list of questions ready. This really helped because even if I did not use all the questions, I had something there if I couldn’t think of anything to ask.

I also learned what an amazing tool social media websites have become. Posting video links to Twitter and Facebook allowed access for people who have never heard of Gymnastike to see the videos and check out the website. This also allowed people to give me feedback and comment on the videos. It is great to hear what viewers say about the videos so you know what they like for next time, or what to take out.

Overall, I had such a great time being a Gymnastike intern. I was honored that Anne picked me to represent Gymnastike even though I had such little experience. I learned so much and am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to partake in this internship. It was an amazing learning experience and I am excited to take all that I have learned with me for future experiences. 

                                                    GO BRONCOS!
                                                            Brynn