I grew up hating sports.

I don’t know what it was about them that made me dislike them so much.

Maybe it was all my failed efforts to play basketball and baseball. Maybe it was all the times I didn’t live up to my father’s expectation and become the athlete he always wanted.

I was attracted to Waynesburg University because of the practical experience students could receive in television production. There were so many things that the school sold me on regarding their TV program, I would have been a fool not to come here.

Once I got here, however, I quickly realized how much of an emphasis Waynesburg University athletics had on the television program. Yikes. Shon doing sports? That sounds like a crazy idea.

Despite my personal feelings regarding people playing with balls for competition and a source of entertainment for others, I quickly got involved with the Waynesburg University Sports Network. Soon enough, I was emerged in a variety of different tasks and positions as a freshman that gave me a taste of what the professional environment in television sports would be like. Weirdly enough, I liked it.

A month into the semester, I was asked if I was available by a professor to work a Steelers home game for FOX Sports. I said yes without hesitation – I quickly went from the sidelines of John F. Wiley Stadium to Heinz Field. I was seeing more NFL field time than any athlete I went to high school with would ever see.

For a kid who hated sports and everything to do with them, I sure was doing a lot of cool things that involved them.

This routine continued over my three-and-a-half years. I worked every home football game and men and women’s basketball games for Waynesburg University. I had the opportunity to work for NBC during the 2017 Stanley Cup Finals. I worked a Christmas day Steelers game. Long nights, weekend and holidays I found myself embracing the entertainment side of sports and working TV productions at the high school, college and professional level. I spent every Friday in the Fall for three years working for WTAE covering high school sports in the area.

Man, this doesn’t sound like a kid who hates sports, does it? That’s because I don’t – at least not anymore. Through the athletic programs at Waynesburg University and also the Department of Communication, I found my love for the game.

While I was never athletic enough to be successful on a team, I found my expertise behind the camera on the sidelines. I owe all that to the practical experiences I got through my education at Waynesburg University, which wouldn’t have been possible without the athletic program.