Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Ethan Joyce Interview by: Thomas Scott




    When Ethan Joyce was born with Epidermolytic Hyperkeratosis, a rare skin disorder that WebMd characterizes as varying degrees of blistering and subsequent reactive scaling of the skin, his parents were told that he might not be able to walk or even play a sport.
            Despite the doctors concerns, Joyces parents did everything they could to make sure that Joyce wouldnt be held back from anything because of his skin disorder.  Joyces father, Darrell Joyce, used sports to encourage Ethan to try different things and push his limits.
            Sports was kind of the way that I could push myself outside of a comfort zone, and then I found out I really loved it, said Ethan.
            Ethan continued to push his limits and was able to physically participate in sports that didnt require to much contact.  He transferred his love for sports into a Communications and Journalism major at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, where he learned to cover sports like field hockey and womens softball.
            Ethan applied to S.I.Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University because he heard about the Sports Communications Emphasis and he wanted to expand his networking opportunities outside of Appalachian State.  To his surprise, he was accepted into the Magazine, Newspaper and Online Journalism program.
            The young aspiring journalist is far from home, but he is pursuing a career to cover what he loves.

Q: Ok Im here with Ethan Joyce; tell me a little about yourself?
A: Well like you said, my name is Ethan Joyce.  I was born in Winston-Salem, NC. Raised all my life in a small town called Sandy Ridge, NC.  Grew up playing almost every sport.  Stayed in undergrad in NC. Went to Appalachian State University. It took me awhile to get to journalism, but around junior year, I figured out I wanted to go into journalism and Ive always wanted something to do with sports. So I took a chance and applied to Newhouse and got in.  Was surprised that I got in, but just kind of went from there and here I sit.
Q: What was your major at Appalachian State?
A: It was Communications and Journalism.
Q: Who introduced you to Newhouse?
A: One of my best friends in undergrad, his name is James Ashley. Hes from Brooklyn. I think he lived in the state of NY for the first 13,14 years of his life, and we were talking one day.  I had not even really considered grad school, but the more we talked the more I realized we didnt really have a network to work with at our undergrad; so I was looking at UGA for a journalism masters, looking at a couple other bigger ones you know, South Carolina. But when I found out that Syracuse had a sports concentration, and he was looking at applying first and then when he introduced me to the idea of the sports concentration I was just like man I gotta go there.
A: Youve told me before that sports has been a big part of your life, when did you really know that you were getting into sports, and how did that start for you?
Q: Sports was kind of introduced to me by my dad as a way to I guess cope with life.  Ive told you that I was born with a skin disorder, its called EHK, and as a baby they said I might not walk, Id never be able to play a sport, you know anything contact wise. So I was lucky to have parents who would care for me and did whatever they could for the betterment of me. My mother was very protecting, obvioiusly, like mothers are, but my dad continued to push me to do different things and to push my limits so I could learn more about myself. Sports was kind of the way that I could push myself outside of a comfort zone, and then I found out I really loved it. That was at the age of 6 and 7 when I started getting into sports and it just took off from there.
Q: With the skin disease, what kind of obstacles did you have to overcome to be able to participate in sports and other activities?
A: Well, one of the major things that was going to be a problem was the lack of ability to sweat and that would cause heat stroke.  So I had to be careful with that. Also, with contact sports, like the way that the skin disorder is, my top layer of skin is constantly just rebuilding and so it means its like really easily fractured. So with like football, I could never play football. It would just kind of turn me into a giant scab. It was things like that I had to watch out for.
Q: When you played, were you able to play as much as everyone else, or did you have to scale back what you were able to do for the sports that you could play?
A: Yeah, at first I had to work with that scale, but then as I got older, I got better. I got to know my boundaries a little more and was able to push myself and I got to where I could play with anybody for as long as I wanted to. It was constant tinkering when I was younger, but once I reached the age of 12 or 13, I knew what my boundaries were.
Q: Now youre getting ready to try and become a sports journalists, what sport do you prefer to cover and how are you experiencing Newhouse right now?
A: I love the Newhouse experience.  This is my first time Im living outside of North Carolina in 22 years. Its been a shock. Its been a lot of fun. I want to cover basketball. With that being said, I like learning about any kind of sport.  In undergrad I covered field hockey once. That was something I knew nothing about, but it was really interesting. I covered womens softball. Didnt think Id ever want to do that, but that was one of the best teams to deal with. Im really open to anything, but Id like to work my way to basketball.

Thanks and good luck.

        

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