Girls often plan out their wedding days wayyyy before it’s even relevant.  I have to admit, I’ve done the same.  I think my dream wedding is a little less stereotypical than what most girls imagine, though…

Picture this:

I want to get married at Autzen Stadium, home of Oregon Duck football.  Obviously the whole wedding will be green and yellow themed.  The alter will be set up in the middle of the field, on the 50 yard line, right on top of the Oregon “O”.  Instead of walking down the aisle, I will walk out of the same tunnel that the team runs out of before games.  Everyone will be sitting on chairs set out on the field, between the tunnel and the 50 yard line.
All my bridesmaids will be wearing green dresses.  The groomsmen will be wearing tuxes with yellow bow ties and jersey vests.  (Yes, I will probably have to custom design tux vests that look like football jerseys, but I’ll make it happen.  I know they make NBA jersey tux vests, so I don’t see why my idea would be impossible.)  My dress will have green accents, and my groom’s tux will have yellow accents.  The bridesmaids’ bouquets and the groomsmen’s boutonnieres will be yellow roses will green leaves. Puddles, the Duck mascot will be up at the alter marrying us.
The fans (I mean, guests) will be handed duck quackers when they walk in.  Instead of clapping when we kiss, they will all be expected to quack.  All the wedding favors will be duck footballs and other duck gear.  The cake will be a giant, multi-layered duck helmet.  And then of course the reception will be completely duck themed.

You might think I’m crazy, but I will make it happen.

So how does this relate to my career?  In a pretty important way, actually: it reflects who I am and what I love.

I admit, the whole duck wedding concept is pretty ridiculous, but I’ve had this planned out for years.  Perhaps all that passion (/obsession) should have been a sign that a college football-related career would be ideal for me.  Had I really sat down and considered my true passions years ago, I might not even have applied to Scripps.  I might have only looked at schools with big broadcasting programs like USC.

While in hindsight, going to USC seems like it would have been a better option, I have no regrets.  It’s easy to get a little frustrated when I see so many people who majored in broadcasting and learned so much about the industry while getting their degrees.  It’s easy to feel discouraged when it appears that everyone else had a huge head start on their careers, having TV internships as early as freshman year.  I have to remind myself that I ended up at Scripps for a reason.  If I hadn’t come to a small liberal arts college, I might not have realized how much I missed college football and the hole it suddenly left in my heart.  I might not have realized that I was passionate enough about it that I wanted to make a career out of it.  Even though most of my coworkers actually learned about broadcasting at school, it doesn’t mean my college career was pointless.  I learned about other subjects, what I like and don’t like, and most importantly, a lot about myself.

The moral of my story?  Every experience you have teaches you something about yourself; never regret any of them.  Also, it’s never too late to pursue what you love.  I know I have a difficult road ahead of me and that many people I’m competing with have a head start on me, but it hasn’t deterred me from pursuing my true passions.

Perhaps what will be the most difficult is finding someone who will agree to that ridiculous wedding….