Dressed in his Hollister shirt and cargo short, Will looks
every bit the American student. It’s not until he begins to speak that you
become aware, he’s not quite from around here. With a thick and authentic Irish
accent Will speaks of his life, in such a matter-of-fact manner, that it’s
almost impressive to hear someone so aware of their journey.
From Ireland to America, Will has traveled far to pursue a
career in sports journalism, following the wise-guidance of his dad. In
listening to Will speak of his father, you can tell he respects and takes the
guidance given, without much question. The reason why becomes more clear when
he recalls how the “Sports Godzilla“ in him was unleashed. I t was his father that took him, a young 8 or
9 year old who thought sports were boring, to his first Gaelic Football match
and got him to understand the excitement and passion behind the game. When Will
told the story, his eye’s widened and mouth stretched to exaggerate the words, “I
really enjoyed myself. “ Will told a bigger message underneath that story, it
was that father knew and probably knows best.
I’m not sure if it’s his father’s guidance, or if it’s his
own wisdom coming to age, that he’s decided to go after the biggest goal, not necessarily
the highest paid or the most prestigious, but the one that makes him happy
every day. For Will, that’s a job that keeps him around all things sports.
Alicia Nieves Interviewing Will Slattery:
Alicia: “Will, tell us a little bit about where you are
from, where you were born , how you grew up.”
Will: “Um, I was born in Dublin, In Ireland. Um…When I was growing
up I always had a big interest in sports. I wasn’t very good at playing it
unfortunately. So when it came time to kind of decide what kind of direction I
wanted to go to, when I was finishing up in, ah, in secondary school, I just
decided to, ah, or high school rather, as it would be called over here. I just
decided to do journalism, um, because it was the only way I thought I’d be, I
want to be around sports all day. That my big interest. So I decided to do journalism, and a lot of
people didn’t, I would be one of the few who kind of went and picked a job they
wanted to do. You know? Most of my friends just picked boring business degrees,
kind of standard stuff like that. So I actually, whatever you want to say about
whether my prospects are good or bad, at you could say I went out and tried to
pick something in the direction I was interested in. Rather than trying to
following everyone and just doing the normal kind of standard thing.”
Alicia: “Who’s your family made up of?”
Will: “Um, ah my dad, my mum, I have two sisters. Um, it’s
my dad, actually the reason I’m over here. As well, when it came to the end of
my undergrad, I had to make a decision weather I wanted to kind of stick around
Dublin and try to freelance there, get work, get an internship. And my day,
knew someone who did this program last year. My dad talked to her, and he was
just like you are applying here, if you get in you’re going. I never thought
I’d get in so, at the time I was like, oh yea sure I don’t mind applying for
it. I just knew my grades were pretty terrible, so I was like they’re not going
to let me in. Then I get this acceptance letter and I’m like oh shit. I have to
go here now. So, ah, but no I’m glad. I knew, I knew the reputation Newhouse
was such that, it’s a very prestigious place to go. I knew it would only be beneficial to me in
the long run. Also, I’m 21, I’ll have plenty of time to come back to Ireland
and kind of freelance, get internships, have a working life there. But how many
people get to come to America, from Ireland, and get the chance to work here.
Um, very few people. So I know I have a very good opportunity, I’m kind of
happy I’m here.
Alicia: “What was your first experience with sports?”
Will: “Uh, my first experience with sports, uh... I actually
really didn’t like sports much until I was around 8 or 9 years old, which might
be unusual. Most people probably would get into it a lot younger. I don’t know
why I didn’t like it. I just found it really, really boring when I was younger. And then, I don’t know, I just went to a Gaelic
football match with my dad; a Dublin match. Which obviously, that means nothing
to anyone; Americans listening. I went to an Irish sporting event, uh, and I
really enjoyed it. And from there, I was at that age where when you like something,
you just consume it as much as you can. So then it was Gaelic football,
hurling, soccer, rugby, and then all sports now. I’ve just been devouring and
consuming sports, like some sort of Godzilla ever since.”
Alicia: “If you had
to decide a dream job, if you had to pick one, what would it be?”
Will: “You know people are always telling you how little the
job prospects are and how you have to fight, and scrap, and claw for anything
you get. I haven’t bothered planning a dream job, or at least I have for a
couple of years. Maybe when I was younger, I wanted to be a rugby writer for
the Irish Times, when I was in school. Then once I left school I was realized,
there’s not a chance of that happening. Once you get into one of these jobs,
your there 'til you’re like 65. I’ll be waiting until I was 50, if I wanted to
get in there. Like so, I don’t really deal in dream jobs, I just want to be
working in the sports media. Preferably in rugby media, so yea that will be my
dream job.”
Alicia: “What has been the best piece of advice you have
been given to get to that place?”
Will: “Well, um, when I was in undergrad my lecture, my
professors were all overpaid, lazy and didn’t know what they were talking about
so they didn’t give me any good advice. Um, but the kind of advice I picked up from fellow
classmates that was very good, was that it was important to kind of keep
writing throughout your undergraduate career. Stockpiling clips, because at the
end of the day, you could have a great GPA but if you have no clips to back it
up it really is worthless. So that would be my best advice.”
No comments:
Post a Comment