Media Com students share Olympic experiences
By Joey Nunez, a senior from Harrisonburg, Va.
WILMORE, KY—More than 40 current students, alumni and faculty members assisted with broadcasting the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics in Whistler and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Junior Audra Buckel, a media communications student from Lexington, Ky., worked as a liaison officer at both the Mountain Broadcasting Center and the Guest Pass Officer in Whistler. Her responsibilities included escorting medal-winning athletes from the ceremony podium through the Mix Zone. While athletes passed through this area, only rights-holding broadcasters were able record interviews with each gold, silver or bronze recipient.
Among notable athletes, Buckel escorted both Bode Miller and the U.S.A. Bobsled Team through the Mix Zone. Competing in multiple Alpine events in Vancouver, Miller won gold in the Super Combined event, silver in the Super-G event and bronze in the Downhill event. After 62 years without a medal in bobsledding, the Night Train team received a gold medal during the Vancouver Games.
Along with memorable interaction with athletes, Buckel enjoyed being a part of her team of employees representing Canada, England, Japan and the United States. "[God] showed me that I could get along with the people I worked with and have a great experience," she said. Buckel also expressed how through God's instruction, she discovered her capability to accomplish any type of work, even while being separated from the familiarity of friends, family and Asbury.
Flexibility was the primary lesson for junior Leiza Palpant, a media communications major from Elburn, Ill. Palpant worked as a camera assistant at the Whistler Sliding Center. She would often learn her schedule only hours before an event and learned to work comfortably on various projects with different people.
Due to her intensive preparation as a student in the media communications program, Palpant was immediately confident with her role assisting with filming coverage at the finish line of the Luge and Skelton events. Her camera operator was impressed with her previous experience and encouraged her with advice for successfully entering the media business. Working alongside junior Tyler Hoff, a media communications student from Bloomington, Ill., Palpant even demonstrated her ability to build a camera.
Senior Lee Clements, a media communications student from Wilmore, Ky., not only enjoyed his work, but also found time to discover his co-workers culture. "Almost everyone in the crew spoke English to some extent," he said. So Clements took advantage of this opportunity to discover the differences within cultures, while learning the similarities and variances between techniques the United States and Norway for implementing media broadcasting and engineering.
-421x280.jpg "Asbury University students at the Vancouver Olympic Games.")
Having worked alongside David Grosz and Adam Wilson, two Asbury engineers who also participated in this year’s Olympics, Clements felt prepared going to Vancouver, having gained experience beyond that of entry-level media professionals. "We want to get the job done, and we want to help," he said. "That's what people notice, and Asbury is very unique in the way that it prepares students."
Senior JimBob Hiatt, a media communications student from Wilmore, Ky., credited his professors for teaching him multiple dimensions of media, including attitudes toward media, ways to perceive work on projects, and anticipating and resolving potential complications. While a camera assistant for the cross-country ski course on Whistler mountain, Hiatt said that Asbury University has given him ample opportunities to hone his craft and grow into a media professional.
"It is wonderful to see how all the opportunities I've had throughout the years, and the little lessons that I have learned, all came together in one beautiful, three-week experience that really demonstrated that I had learned and have grown in my four years at Asbury," Hiatt said.
