North Canton Resident, Elizabeth Bucheit to Graduate From Ashland University With Impressive Job

2014 Apr 29

ASHLAND, Ohio -A digital media journalism student at Ashland University will graduate during commencement exercises on May 10 and will walk across the stage to get her degree with a very impressive job in hand. Elizabeth Bucheit of North Canton accepted a position of production assistant with ESPN Sports in Bristol, Conn. Bucheit will start her production assistant (PA) role with ESPN on July 14. As a PA, she will be working closely with producers, producing different highlight and voice over pieces that air on shows like SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, NBA Tonight, etc. "Not only do I create the highlights, but this job also includes writing the script for the highlights that the talent read on the air," she said. "As a PA, I am part of the CAP Program, which is a six-year program starting as a PA for up to two years, and a content associate (CA) for up to four years. From there, I will have the freedom to move within the company." Bucheit was able to land this job after participating in a 10-week internship with ESPN that ended on April 4. "Starting on Jan. 27, I was in Bristol, Conn., doing many of the things that I will be doing once I am back at ESPN," she said. "I was able to land the internship by applying through DisneyCareers.com, interning with SportsTime Ohio last spring and then working for them this past summer and early fall, not to mention the countless opportunities within the AU department." Bucheit said the interview process for the internship was very involved. "I interviewed with two different people, but had multiple conversations with each person," she recalled. "I also had a homework type assignment that included analyzing any ESPN broadcast show, watching a game and creating an outline of a highlight, and a shorter version of a cover letter telling them why I would be a good candidate for the job. The interview process to be an intern is rigorous due to the number of people who apply every session -- usually around 15,000." Bucheit said at the end of her internship, she met with a hiring recruiter who told her that based on the work she had done for them as an intern, they wanted to extend a full-time offer to her to start in the summer. Bucheit said the JDM Department at Ashland University was the reason she was able to land this job. "Our JDM department is the sole reason that I transferred to AU in the first place. (Professor) Tim McCarty told me that if ESPN was my dream, he could guarantee that I would be ready when the time came as long as I was willing to put in the work," Bucheit said. "While the classes that the department offers are necessary to learn the basics, it is really the dedication of the professors that allowed me to grow during my time here. With their dedication to outside experiences like broadcasting AU football and basketball games, news updates, sports updates, live debates etc., we are able to get a real taste of what our futures will be like. The professors encourage you to try new things, accept new ideas, and push you to do your best and improve on every project you work on." Bucheit said she would highly recommend the JDM department to high school students looking to pursue a journalism-digital media degree. "AU's journalism and digital media curriculum is set up so that by the time you graduate, you can write a story, shoot a story and edit a story. You are able to be a true multimedia journalist, which is what the world of journalism is today. As a freshman, you are able to walk into the journalism hallway and do anything you want. You can anchor a show, you can write for The Collegian, or you can DJ a show on 88.9 WRDL-FM. The possibilities to grow within our department are endless, but more importantly they are priceless," she said.

Ashland University, which has been ranked in the top 200 colleges and universities in U.S. News and World Report's National Universities category, is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong, applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students. ###