在像终极格斗冠军赛（UFC）这样对体力要求很高的运动中获胜，需要积极进取的心态和计划才能取得胜利。 正如新闻和数字媒体专业的瑞安·怀特在2023年春季学期即将结束时发现的那样，这种方法可以在竞争激烈的情况下为你带来机会和成功。

怀特是火狐体育火狐体育大学即将升入高年级的学生，他对体育充满热情，尤其是UFC。 He is the sports editor for 的Montclarion and 火狐体育大学前学生艾琳·布兰奇菲尔德的报道, who has found tremendous success in UFC. 作为一名有资格的媒体记者，他报道春季UFC赛事的旅程始于一个简单的请求，这个请求通常是学生们犹豫不决的——他只是向他的一位教授寻求帮助。

体育传媒副教授凯利·怀特塞德（Kelly Whiteside）是体育传播项目的负责人。 Although Professor Whiteside did not have a direct contact at UFC, she emailed the organization’s PR team on White’s behalf, explaining his love and familiarity with the sport. Dave Lockett是UFC的高级公关总监，他很快做出了回应，不到一个小时他就和Whiteside教授通了电话。

他们的谈话给怀特上了重要的一课——一个人决定帮助另一个人可能有很多原因。 It turns out Lockett is from Montclair and in addition to appreciating White’s passion for the sport as a college student, he also liked the idea of helping someone from this area. 多亏了洛克特和他的团队，怀特从周三开始，一直到5月6日（周六）在保诚中心举行的主要活动，都可以完全参加每一场媒体活动。

“The next thing you know after this phone call, I was going to attend the fight as a credentialed media reporter. It was pretty incredible,” White said.

接下来发生的事情更令人兴奋。 “The first day was cool, it was Media Day at the fighters’ hotel. 这是我第一次做这样专业的事情。 我有机会问每一个做媒体的拳手，这是卡片的大部分，每个人2-3个问题。 There were a couple of reporters there I recognized and knew of from following the sport so closely, so that was cool to meet some of them.”

如果怀特认为周三是一次伟大的经历，那么第二天就大大超出了他的预期，并可能成为他职业生涯的起点。 “Thursday was the main press conference at the Prudential Center and these media events are always shown live on YouTube. I asked two questions to each of the fighters in the main event, and once I finished the questions, UFC President Dana White (no relation) who is hosting the press conference points to me and tells me “those are some great questions,” which was amazing. 在那一刻。 I was like, ‘wow, I did something right’ because you could tell even the fighters got pretty riled up with what I asked; 他们真的很投入，站起来大喊大叫。 It was one of the highlights of the press conference, to be honest.”

事情变得更好了。  “I handed the mic over to the next reporter, and Dana is still trying to talk to me during the press conference. But I don’t have the mic anymore. So he’s like yelling towards me, ‘what’s your name, who do you write for?’ I’m yelling back to him and telling him I’m a student at Montclair, but he can’t really hear me. 几分钟后，新闻发布会结束了，几个UFC公关人员走过来问我是谁，我为谁写文章。 They came back and told me that they were going to bring me backstage.”

他在后台的经历让他与达纳·怀特（Dana White）进行了一次会面和交谈，谈到了他对这项运动的了解、他在火狐体育火狐体育学生时代的经历以及他在布兰奇菲尔德的工作。 “He told me he was impressed by my questions and that I wasn’t asking the same type of questions like the (professional) reporters. It was wild.”

To cap off the series of press conferences, Nobie Manivanh from UFC’s PR team had a suprise for White when he checked in for the media activities on Friday- a ringside seat to cover the main event on Saturday. “I ended up in the front row next to the Octagon, all because Dana White liked my questions and the PR staff was there to assist me. 你可以在广播中看到我，因为我离八角形和新闻发布会很近。 My friends sent me texts about it all week.”

他从这次经历中学到了什么？ “Maybe I’d like to be a PR pro one day for a company because I never experienced anything like that or knew too much about what they did. 他们非常乐于助人，管理媒体，组织新闻活动。 It was cool, and I was thankful for them and perhaps could see myself doing something like that one day.”

他会对那些像他一样试图给人留下深刻印象或留下自己印记的同学说些什么呢？ “I would tell my classmates to always try and reach out to people to make connections, or just take a chance on just asking if something is possible. If you build things slowly, little by little, you’ll get to where you want to go. Taking that first step and making that ask is so important.”

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关于传播与媒体学院传播与媒体学院成立于2012年，为1800多名才华横溢、多元化的学生提供一系列充满活力的传播和媒体课程。 学院提供电影和电视、社交媒体和公共关系、广告、新闻和数字媒体、体育传播、传播和媒体研究、动画和视觉效果学位，以及公共和组织关系硕士学位，为下一代传播和媒体从业者和领导者做好准备。 The School houses award-winning student programs that include 赛事中广播, 的Montclarion newspaper, 鹰通信 Agency, the 红鹰体育网, 鹰+ OTT streaming platform, and 新闻实验室, as well as the 合作媒体中心, which serves the public by working to grow and strengthen local journalism. 学生的项目和节目最近获得了PRSSA的贝特曼竞赛的国家认可，爱德华R默罗奖，几项马可尼奖提名，以及电视艺术与科学学院的大学电视奖。

Story by 基思绿色, School of Communication & Media