Where do I even begin with this post? Being in the College of Journalism and Communications at UF, and more specifically, a telecommunication major, has meant so many things. There’s been countless late nights spent in the newsroom finishing up projects and so many tough newsroom shifts where I somehow was able to turn my story and meet the daily deadline. But most importantly, there have been so many great people I’ve come across who have had a huge impact on not just my career, but my life.

Of course, there were all my newsroom managers and professors who helped guide me along the way. Without these people, I never would’ve been as involved or had the chance to take advantage of many incredible opportunities. They’re the ones who helped me find ESPN Gainesville and allowed me to anchor for WUFT — two experiences that have made my college career so amazing and have given me invaluable experience moving forward.

During my time at UF, I realized sports was my thing. But if that’s not for you, there are so many other opportunities you can get involved in. For starters, you can anchor the WUFT 5 o’clock show in several other specialties like news, entertainment, politics, health, and weather. And you can write for the website if print is your preferred medium. There’s also GHQ for those interested in being on the radio and The Agency if you lean more toward the advertising and public relations side. The list goes on and on, and I’ve come to greatly appreciate that. I credit all these opportunities for teaching me a lot of what I’ve learned throughout college. The mission of the Center for Media Innovation & Research is to create new ways of telling the stories that journalists tell, to develop new ways of disseminating strategic communications, and to research the effectiveness of both. And it absolutely accomplishes exactly that.

Another major part of what made my experience working in the CMIR as good as it was were all the friends who turned into family. Without all of them, it would’ve been so much harder to make it through. They were the ones who helped me with stories, kept me sane at 2 a.m. in the newsroom, and just understood exactly what it felt like to be in my situation because they were either going through it with me or had done it before. I knew that no matter what, they had my back. Finding people like this in life is SO necessary, and I’m extremely grateful to have found them in the CJC.

Leaving college, I feel very prepared for my career, and I can’t wait to see what’s ahead for me, as well as all the lifelong friends I’ve made. I know I wouldn’t be working for the Tampa Bay Rays right now if it wasn’t for the CJC, and I couldn’t be any more thankful for everything the college has given me.

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcom Gladwell explains how seemingly minor things can eventually turn into greater matters of concern. Gladwell does this through telling stories that illustrate the idea of “the tipping point.” He defines the tipping point as the time when an idea catches on and spreads throughout society. He compares this phenomenon to an epidemic — in the same way a sickness can quickly spread around, one small idea can catch on in society and grow to be extremely popular. I thought this comparison simplified the concept so much and really went a long way in helping me understand exactly what he meant by the tipping point.

Throughout the book, Gladwell answers the question of why it is that certain ideas catch on and spread while others don’t. He brings up three different components of the tipping point — the law of the few, the stickiness factor, and the power of context. The law of the few is the concept that a social epidemic relies on people with varying sets of social abilities. The first of those being connectors, which are people who have links to a variety of groups and settings and can connect them together. The other two types of people are mavens and salesmen. Mavens help make decisions and salesmen are able to get others to buy into an idea.

The stickiness factor refers to an idea that’s memorable. If something is memorable, it has a better chance of gaining traction and becoming more well known. The third rule is the power of context. I think the Bernie Goetz case that Gladwell uses as an example for this rule sums it up perfectly. According to the power of context, the environment of the New York City subway shooting had a greater impact on what happened than the psychological background of Goetz and the teens involved did. If there hadn’t been graffiti on the walls or disorder around the station, the shooting may not have happened. Simply cleaning up the subway might’ve been enough to help solve the crime, instead of trying to fix the larger-scale problems.

With all the examples Gladwell used to illustrate his points throughout the book, I think he maintained a good balance between enlightening readers of the darker sides of various stories while still allowing them to be optimistic for the future and believe things can change.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading the book and think he did a great job of doing what he set out to do — defining “the tipping point.” The examples and case studies he used drove his points home and brought to life what he was trying to say, making them them a lot easier to understand. I think the idea of the tipping point is so prevalent in today’s society due to the increased potential for ideas to spread, thanks to technology. And it’s great that this book can help us understand exactly how that works and how it’s even possible.

I know I’ve already shared some of my classmate’s blogs with you, but there are just too many good ones to stop there. Here are some more awesome blogs, but more importantly, some more awesome people you should check out.

Alyssa Benthencourt

I’ve known Alyssa for a while now, and I have nothing but great things to say about her. She’s been working so hard toward her goal of becoming an MMJ, and I know it’s all going to pay off for her. Her blog is one of my favorites…because it’s all about food! Who doesn’t love some good food, right? Her recipe for burger and parmesan truffle fries made my mouth water. This is a must see blog, but if you’re hungry, be careful!

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Abby Murphy

While I’m on the topic of food, if you care about your taste buds whatsoever, Abby’s blog is one you NEED to check out. It’s filled with delicious sweets, mainly ice cream, that I seriously would probably die for. There honestly aren’t words for it, so just go look yourself.

Tessa Bentulan

Tessa is killing the game and is sharing some really cool things on her blog that’s all about the hidden gems of Gainesville. They’re things you wouldn’t normally think to do, but as she shows, they’re definitely worth it. She’s also a great reporter and has some wonderful insight on the going ons in town. So this is definitely the blog for you if you want to learn anything about Gainesville!

UF has some of the best people and hardest working students in the country. I get to see that first hand everyday when I’m around my friends and classmates. They’re working to gain experience and pursue their dreams day in and day out, and I think that’s so awesome. Meet some of them here:

Vanessa Villalobos

Vanessa has been one of my closest friends throughout my time at UF. I can (and do!) go to her for literally anything, so I’m very excited to see where we both end up after graduation in May. Vanessa hopes to be an entertainment reporter, which I think is absolutely perfect for her. Her blog is all about life as a college student, particularly being in a sorority. It’s very fun and entertaining, and most of all, real. She tells it how it is and isn’t afraid to let people in on her life.

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Lauren Staff

Lauren is one of the nicest people I’ve met at school, and I love what her blog is all about. She shares her experiences working in communications with UF athletics, which I think is super cool. She’s done a lot throughout her time in school, and I know she’s going to be successful working in media relations or social media for a sports team in the future!

Kara Spierto

I consider myself so lucky to have had a friend like Kara while in college. She has taught me so much and really helped me grow as a sports reporter and anchor, while staying sooo encouraging the entire time. Her blog is about sports and her coverage of them — whether it’s Gator basketball or the Super Bowl. She’s clearly pretty cool and has done some awesome things, and I’m sure she’ll continue to do so after graduation. Make sure to check her and her blog out!

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Here’s a little bit about me:

I’m a telecommunications student at the University of Florida and will be graduating in May. Sports have always been a big part of my life, especially since when I started playing softball at the age of 4. Eventually, my goal is to be a sports reporter for a MLB team, but really, I’d love to work in any sport I get the opportunity to.

Throughout my time at UF, I’ve done several things to help me along this career path, like be a beat reporter for the Gator baseball and men’s basketball teams. I’ve also been a sports anchor for our school’s TV station, which puts on a 30-minute 5 o’clock news show. The full list of all my activities is in my resume:

Currently, I’m a broadcasting intern with the Tampa Bay Rays, and it has been an amazing experience so far. Every day for work, I get to go to a baseball field, and honestly, I can’t imagine anything better than that. I’ve already had the chance to do so many cool things, and the regular season hasn’t even started yet. I’ve gotten to do several interviews with current players and prospects in the organization. Interviews and getting to talk with the players are one of my favorite parts about my job. In addition to that, I also do a lot of work on the production side, which is a lot of fun as well.

It’s safe to say sports consumes a pretty good chunk of my life and always has. But I wouldn’t want it any other way. I was born into a sports family and have been around and involved in them ever since. They are such a huge part of who I am, and I can’t wait to start a career that allows me to be around them every single day.

As my college career begins to wind down, it’s more important than ever for me to start preparing for a professional career.

As an aspiring sports reporter, I’m extremely grateful for all the experience I’ve been able to gain throughout my time at UF. I’ve had the chance to work as a sports anchor, multi-media reporter, and producer, just to name a few. In doing this, I’ve been lucky enough to travel as far as Omaha, Nebraska to cover some of the best collegiate sports teams in the country. These experiences have given me so much insight into not just how to do the job I hope to have one day but also the sports industry as a whole.

On top of all the opportunities I’ve had in the sports world, I have been able to see how things work on the news side of the industry, too. Having done news work in addition to sports has been very helpful and only made my foundation stronger. There are things to be learned in the broadcasting industry that are applicable across all disciplines, and I’ve definitely learned a lot through working in news.

If you want to see all the work I’ve done, check out my resume here:

For the last installment of getting to know Rays prospects (previous ones can be found under More Interviews! and And Even More Interviews…), here’s all about a couple of international players who are adjusting to a whole lot more than a higher level of baseball:

Back in January, the Rays made history by tying the record for the most amount of prospects included in Baseball America’s Top 100 rankings. They had a total of nine players, which is the same amount that came from the San Diego Padres this year and the 2011 Kansas City Royals. The Rays have built much of this strong system completely on their own, with all nine prospects being homegrown players (drafted by the Rays or international signings).

Four of those nine are, in fact, international signings, which Rays director of minor league operations Mitch Lukevics says are vital to building the team’s system. However, there are some additional steps that need to be taken when it comes to these players. Once they are signed and come over to the U.S., they are suddenly thrown into a completely different country with a whole new culture. It’s very different from everything they’ve ever known and definitely takes some getting used to. This is why Lukevics says the team employs all its resources to try to help these kids get adjusted to this new way of life as quickly as possible.

Two top prospects — Ronaldo Hernandez and Moises Gomez are going through this exact situation.

Ronaldo Hernandez, C — .284 AVG/.339 OBP/.494 SLG (Bowling Green)

Following the 2018 season, Baseball American listed Hernandez as the №56 overall prospect in the minors and №4 in the Rays system. It was a season in which he was the MVP for Class-A Bowling Green and named to the Midwest League midseason and postseason All-Star teams. The Colombia native launched 21 home runs and picked up 79 RBI, which put him third among all Rays minor leaguers in the two categories.

Because the 21-year-old has had a great amount of success so far offensively, Lukevics says it’ll be interesting to see how he performs with the Charlotte Stonecrabs this season in a league that’s not necessarily hitter-friendly.

While there are no doubts about Hernandez’s ability on offense, the defensive side of his games is one thing the team is hoping he can improve. He started out as a third baseman and has since been coverted to catcher, so there has been a learning curve for him.

Hernandez says he won’t be trying to drastically change anything with his game this coming season. He knows he just has to show up to the field and work hard every day in order to keep getting better.

Moises Gomez, OF — .280 AVG/.328 OBP/.503 SLG (Bowling Green)

Gomez is another prospect receiving attention from the outside. The Venezuelan is ranked as the №10 prospect in the Rays system, according to Baseball America. And along with Hernandez, he was named to the Midwest League midseason and postseason All-Star teams.

Lukevics says pitching has historically been a bright spot for the Rays system, but he thinks the piece that has most improved the most in the last year is the talent of the position players. And it’s guys like Gomez, who’s an outfielder, who have helped bring this group to the forefront.

Even though Gomez finished second among all Rays minor leaguers in RBI (82) and tied for fourth in home runs (19) last season, he says there are still ways he’s hoping to improve his game.

In an environment where there could be a lot of pressure to be successful and make it to the big leagues, Gomez hasn’t lost sight of what’s most important when it comes to playing the game. He says making sure to have fun is his highest priority, which isn’t hard to do when he’s surrounded by teammates who make showing up to work a good time.

So since I had the chance to talk to several players the other day, I figured I’d write about all of them, instead of just one (More Interviews!). For my next couple of blogs, I’ll give you the inside scoop on five more Rays prospects. I’ll start out with a group of pitchers — Brendan McKay, Tanner Dodson, and Shane McClanahan.

At the major league level, one of the best things the Rays have going for them is all the versatility that exists on the team. Several guys can play multiple positions, giving manager Kevin Cash a ton of flexibility when it comes to making the lineup. And that quality 100 percent holds true within the minor league system. What’s interesting, though, is not all of them have the typical versatility we’ve become accustomed to seeing. Two-way players McKay and Dodson bring a unique element to the table. Both are pitchers who also play the field and bat. Rays director of minor league operations Mitch Lukevics is very optimistic about each of these guys. He says he’s excited about their talents, as well as their determination to pull off being two-way players at the major league level.

Brendan McKay, 1B/LHP — .232 AVG/.295 OBP/.368 SLG/1.93 ERA (Bowling Green/Charlotte/GCL Rays)

McKay has had a tendency of making his presence known throughout his career. It dates back to his college days where he received countless awards and honors, and especially when he became the highest drafted player out of the University of Louisville in program history after being selected fourth overall in 2017. He was drafted as a two-way player, which is something not many players can do and hardly any teams try to do. Despite this, he, along with Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels, went on to become the first players ever on two of MLB.com’s top 10 position lists in the same offseason (№1 1B/№5 LHP).

Following the 2018 season, McKay is now the №3 prospect in the Rays system and Baseball America’s №47 overall. Oblique injuries plagued the Pennsylvania native last season, forcing him to take two trips to the DL, which ended up hindering his season batting stats. But through it all, he still managed to post decent numbers on the pitching side. Learning how to best take care of himself and minimize stress on his body are things the lefty is looking forward to in 2019. To try to help with this, the Rays announced he won’t be playing first base this season, and instead, will be the DH. A little bit of a smaller workload will hopefully also help with his mental focus — something McKay says he knows he needs to have throughout the season.

Lukevics also speaks to the importance of the mental aspect of the game, and he says he believes McKay has both the physical and mental skills he needs to hopefully one day take him to the majors.

Tanner Dodson, OF/RHP — .273 AVG/.344 OBP/.369 SLG/1.44 ERA (Hudson Valley)

Dodson will likely be the beneficiary of McKay paving the way for two-way players in the organization. The former UC Berkely Bear is a year behind McKay in the process and has the luxury of knowing what worked (and what didn’t) for him. Dodson says he’s very appreciative of this.

While Dodson and McKay are both two-way players, they’re still pretty different, with Dodson being thinner and an outfielder. But even still, Lukevics says the team has learned a lot from working with Brendan that they’ll apply when it comes to Tanner.

During the 2018 season, Dodson worked 25 innings in nine games, leading to a 1–0 record and one save. He allowed just four earned runs and picked up 25 strikeouts. As it stands now, the righty is the №16 prospect in the Rays system and №6 in the New York-Penn league, according to Baseball America. He also earned their honor of Best Outfield Arm in the organization.

When it comes to the 2019 season, Dodson is excited about playing a longer season and says he’s hopeful he can continue to improve in every aspect of his game.

Shane McClanahan, LHP — 0.00 ERA/4 G/7 IP/13 K (GCL Rays/Princeton)

McClanahan isn’t a two-way player like the previous two pitchers, but he’s still very highly touted. He was the 31st overall pick in the 2018 draft, and following the season, Baseball America ranked him the №12 prospect in the Rays system, in addition to giving him the honor of Best Fastball in the organization.

The 21-year-old has come a long way since the 2016 season that he missed while he recovered from Tommy John surgery. He says he’s looking forward to continuing to grow and eventually reaching his ultimate goal of playing in the big leagues.

After suffering from such a tough injury, he’s very grateful for the position he’s in today. And while he himself has immense talent and could one day contribute a lot to the organization, he says he loves being a part of such a great group of young guys with so many skills.

As a former USF Bull, last Tuesday night’s matchup between the Rays and South Florida was extremely exciting for the young pitcher. The Rays’ lineup was made up of mostly minor leaguers, with the majority of big-league guys already having played in a split squad game in Fort Myers. This meant McClanahan was in uniform and had the chance to play against his former teammates. Prior to the game, he said he was expecting it to be a great experience and a good game.

This past week of work has been so much fun, and I’ve gotten to do a lot of exciting things. Not only have I been working in the radio booth at several Spring Training games, but I also got to go to a media availability for the Rays’ top prospects.

Because I ultimately want to go on and be a reporter for a baseball team, this opportunity was absolutely perfect for me! It was really cool getting to talk to so many up and coming stars of the sport and find out how their development on the way to the majors has been going. It was similar to the first interviews I did that I wrote about in my blog a few weeks ago, but this was even better because they were all one-on-one.

There were six prospects there that I got to speak to, and they were all extremely nice and thoughtful and gave me a lot of good insight into their experiences in the minors so far. I learned a lot, so here’s some of my takeaways from all of my conversations:

If there’s one word that sums up how the Rays organization feels about its minor league system and all the young prospects who are working their way up, it’s excitement. And with all the talent that exists there, it’s pretty easy to understand why.

The Rays’ system is ranked second in Baseball America’s Organizational Talent Rankings of minor league prospects, behind only the San Diego Padres system. This is the fourth consecutive season they’ve improved their standing, and it’s their highest ranking since 2011.

Rays director of minor league operations Mitch Lukevics speaks extremely high of the group and is looking forward to seeing them continue to grow into major-league-caliber players. He says he’s never seen anything like this group come though during his time with the team.

A handful of these top prospects were made available to the media Monday afternoon, and after hearing from each of them, it’s safe to say they’re just as excited for the future of the organization. One of the most highly touted prospects is teenage sensation Wander Franco.

Wander Franco, INF — .351 AVG/.418 OBP/.587 SLG (Princeton)

The young 18-year-old has received accolade after accolade upon coming over to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic. After producing numbers as impressive as the ones he did for the 2018 season, he was named the Appalachian Player of the Year, MVP for Rookie-level Princeton, and named to the Appalachian League postseason All-Star Team. This makes it easy to understand why he’s the №1 prospect in the Rays system and №4 overall in the minors, according to Baseball America.

While trying to maintain this high level of performance, Franco not only has the tough task of adapting to a whole new country and culture as all international players do, but he’s having to do it at an age where most kids are in their junior or senior year of high school. The young star chooses to look at the bright side of this, though, and says he appreciates the opportunity he’s been given and knows he’s lucky to be where he is.

Franco does have some people in his family he can call upon to help him through, though — major-league baseball runs in his blood. His uncles are major league infielders Erick and Willy Aybar, who have spent a combined 17 years in the majors. His two older brothers, Wander Javier (24) and Wander Alexander (22) are both currently in the San Francisco Giants minor league system. And finally, his father, also named Wander, was a professional player in the Chicago White Sox system. Franco credits his success to his family and says all of their experience has certainly helped get him to where he his today.

When it comes to the 2019 season, Franco is looking to turn himself into the whole package. He believes he’s already pretty sound offensively, which is proven by his league-leading 85 hits and 57 RBI, as well as defensively, as he had a .925 fielding percentage last season. But the one things he hopes to improve is his speed. If he can do that, he says he’ll have all the tools necessary to have a good season.

The last couple of days I’ve been working on something very exciting! In case you don’t know, Mike Zunino is a recent addition to the Rays, and he also happens to be a former Gator player. He was the Gators’ catcher from 2010-2012 and has since gone on to have a successful career in the majors. Ever since he was drafted, he’s been playing for the Seattle Mariners…far away from Gainesville and his hometown of Cape Coral. But now, after being traded to the Rays this past offseason, his friends and family will have more opportunities to come out to games and see him play. I thought this was a really cool idea for a story and thought it’d be worth looking into how this makes everyone involved feel.

So, being a UF student, I wanted to talk to his former coach and teammates at Florida and find out what they had to say about Zunino and his return home. I was first able to talk to Tommy Toledo who was a pitcher at UF during Zunino’s time there. Tommy had nothing but great things to say about his former catcher. He loved every second of playing with him and has so many great memories of Mike from throughout his career that he recounted to me. Here’s a clip of our conversation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQokEzOWgVw

I was also lucky enough to be able to talk with Paco Rodriguez, another member of the pitching staff during Zunino’s time there. Paco shared the exact same feelings about Mike and talked about how not only was he great on the field, but he was also amazing off the field. In talking with him, I learned even more stories about Zunino that just show the kind of character he has and the type of player he was during his UF career.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdgRsPyX8uY

The other person I talked to, so far, for this story is Kevin O’Sullivan, the coach of the Gators. Sully praised Mike for all he did during his time at Florida, and again, echoed the thoughts of both of his former pitchers. He shared some of his own stories about the work ethic and leadership Zunino showed, and obviously still has to this day considering how successful he’s been in the majors. Sully touched on how excited he is to have Mike back in Florida and how happy everyone in his life is to have him back close to home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6a_GuRCXPc

Now my next step in working on this story is to talk to Zunino himself, and I’m planning on doing that within the next few days. I’m excited to hear about things from his perspective and what coming home really means to him. I’m so excited to start putting all these pieces together, and I think this is going to turn out to be a really cool and fun story that I’m looking forward to sharing with everyone one it’s all finished!