Kicking Off  A Career

Pikesville High School's Samantha Fink never thought her interest in sports and journalism would get her the opportunity to interview an NFL player, but it became a reality this summer. Although the teenager looked diminutive next to the 252-pound Todd Heap, she also appeared confident to ask the Pro Bowler the tough questions.

Fink originally came to the Ravens' practice facility this spring to participate in "A Day with the Pros" presented by Toyota, a day-long communications clinic held in April that offered Baltimore-area high schoolers a chance to learn about sports media from members of the Ravens' front office and local reporters.

Many of the 40 students in attendance took advantage of an essay contest for a chance to interview a Ravens' player during summer minicamps. Fink was selected as a broadcast media candidate, while Mitchell Cohen of McDonogh won as a print media prospect. Cohen will have a story published in an upcoming preseason game program and on BaltimoreRavens.com.

"I've always been interested in doing something in sports journalism, whether that's radio, TV or writing," said Fink, who writes for the Pikesville Pipeline, her school's paper. "I just really like interviewing people. It's really fun to get to know what they're all about."

Whichever area the students were interested in, they were treated to some of the best instructors in Charm City. Baltimore Sun columnist David Steele, WBAL Radio's Steve Davis and Amy Fadool of Fox 45 all led sessions on their respective fields.

In addition, senior director of publications Francine Lubera and design manager Ken Lisse talked about the Ravens' brand and publications, manager of advertising and research Andi Goodwin and manager of events Megan Collins spoke about marketing properties, director of public relations Chad Steele, public relations manager Marisol Renner and public relations coordinator Patrick Gleason led the media relations workshop, while director of community relations Kenny Abrams and community relations manager Melanie LeGrande spoke about their respective field.

Many of the attendees at the event were already well-versed in aspects of sports media. However, after leaving the event, they had a newfound understanding on what it takes to get to the level of the "Pros."

"I've always considered going into the communications field, but actually talking to people that are having success and loving their jobs was very inspiring," said Corianda Dimes of Hereford High School. "They gave really great advice. It wasn't just the textbook ‘Do well in school and you can do well in life.'"

For David Steele, a native of Washington D.C. and University of Maryland graduate, it was a chance to give back to the local community and hopefully ignite the same fire that turned him to becoming a columnist.

"No team was doing anything like this when I was in high school, and I would have eaten something like this up," he explained. "It would have made all the difference in the world to be in front of professionals in the business I wanted to go in to.

"They were really interested in what to do next, and a lot of them had already started doing things. I think it meant a lot to them to be encouraged to get out there and succeed. I think we're going to be hearing from a lot of them later on."

That mutual respect for the students was common. After setting up Fink's interview with Heap and Cohen's chat with Bart Scott in June, Gleason sensed budding talents.

"The students all obviously displayed an early passion for some area of the sports communication field," he stated. "More importantly, I think they've proven that they hold a tremendous amount of promise. We hope to kick-start their professional journeys and point them in a direction where they'll excel in the future."

For Fink and the other lucky interviewees, a "Day with the Pros" was a great place to start.