Sophie Wilson’s relationship with BCSN didn’t start with her love for sports, her love for media, or even a friend’s connection with the class: She just really didn’t want to take a weightlifting class. I’m sure that sophomore Sophie had no idea how this move would change the course of her life. 

 

Sophie has served in a couple of roles during her 3 years in BRNNews, as the Photography Manager and Business Manager. For two years, she was in charge of all pictures that were put onto and uploaded from the BRNNews website. During her senior year, she decided to take a bigger role, becoming the business director. This allowed her to be in charge of assigning articles to each person in the classroom, and being in charge of making sure that they were completed in a timely manner. Those were both very important, but she feels like her biggest contribution to BCSN was putting in effort to learn. She adds, “My first few years, I didn’t know a lot about the sports I was covering, so I had to really focus and ask questions to get the best camera shot”. 

 

That is where it is even more impressive that she has fulfilled such an important role, as the lead camerawoman. She had never really been interested in sports at all, but she was willing to learn. Willingness to learn is one of the most important traits to have in the broadcasting field, because there is always room for improvement. Sophie doesn’t want to be someone “who is afraid to ask a question”, and has never really been scared to be told no. This led her to expand her horizons, inquiring if she could broadcast other events besides sports, leading to her being paid to record things such as “band competitions, musicals, and pageants”. All of these experiences have led her to gain some teaching skills. She exclaims that “One of my favorite sayings is ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’, and I always have to remind myself of that if I get frustrated with someone else for not knowing what to do”. 

 

BCSN didn’t just add to her future, it also allowed her to find a new passion! She exclaims that BCSN really helped her grow confidence in her abilities. Last year, she was tasked to record the Boyle County Performing Arts production of The Little Mermaid. Watching all of her friends on stage gave her the confidence to audition for this year’s musical, Mean Girls! She got a lead role as Janis Sarkisian, and emphasized that “I got to meet several new people that I wouldn’t have met without this show”. She made a seemingly flawless transition from behind the camera to in front of it, and she has taken on other opportunities to showcase her incredible vocal talent, including singing at the Class of 2024’s Baccalaureate service! 

 

BCSN’s mentor and teacher, Michelle Feistritzer, also known as Coach Fei, has long worried that BCSN would fall apart once the Class of 2024 graduates. Sophie talked to a former teacher of hers, and the teacher noted that she loves BCSN, and her son is really excited to join once he reaches high school! Sophie makes sure to recognize that BCSN is here to stay, and her excellent camerawork and teaching skills have certainly contributed to that. 

 

Sophie will be attending Northern Kentucky University to major in Broadcasting. BCSN is very proud of her, and excited to see her flourish. And, just to think, this may have never happened if she hadn’t despised weightlifting class. To future BCSN members, don’t be “Mean Girls” to one another, you can work together to reach any goal! Don’t be afraid to ask questions, because as Sophie said, “You don’t want to be the type of person that someone is afraid to ask a question to.”

By Mason Young

A jack of all trades is the wisest, and Colin Wise has become that in his 1st year with BRN News/BCSN. In his first year with BRN News he has been the football, basketball, and baseball Sports Information Director (SID), he has also been the co-editor, assistant gipper manager, stream team manager, and the TV Coordinator. For BCSN, Wise has served as the football sideline reporter. In an interview with Wise we asked him how and why he became involved in the BCSN/BRN group, Wise said “I joined BRN News because I was looking for a fun and easy first period class. I had no clue what I was getting myself involved with when I first started.” While Wise may not have known what he was getting involved with, he became an invaluable member of the team, he was always willing to fill any role that was left open, he would attend as many signings as he could to help take pictures and interview the signing athlete, and he was always willing to jump in and help out with broadcasts. The knowledge gained from participating in BRN News is very helpful and will remain with you for a while, in Wise’s words “I have gained a ton from BRN. BRN has not only taught me the physical skills of doing broadcasts and writing articles, but it has brought me many friends and new exciting opportunities.” 

When working with Wise you never feel as if he doesn’t care, he always comes into class with a smile on his face and in a good mood, and usually with some quick, witty response to people around him; Colin is always the first person we look to when we need help and he is always ahead of the game making sure that all of his articles are planned out prior to the game happening, Wise said “I have learned that you always have to stay positive, get your gippers made, and keep Coach Fei calm”. BRN is a group where we are constantly learning and growing together as a family and a large part of that is growing as a person and refining our SOFT skills, the impact these lessons have on us are ones that we will have forever, Wise shares that sentiment saying “My time in BRN has taught me skills that I will take with me my whole life. I have grown in leadership, initiative, and most of all teamwork”. To finish off the interview Wise said that there are several people who have been influential to him this year, “I want to thank Coach Fei for her patience and her kindness. I also want to thank Mason and Brent because to this day they still teach me things and have been great friends during this class year”. 

While this year may be coming to an end, Wise’s eagerness to help out and his ability to fill any role will stick with him forever. Being the Colin of all trades will be with him his whole life.

By Sam Harless

We all have jobs here at BRNNews/BCSN class whether it be cameraperson, producer, set-up manager, gipper guy, and so many more, but if you ever need broadcast tips, a schedule, or someone to have a good joke with, you go to Mason Young.

Mason has been in the class for a little while now as he answered in our interview yesterday, “I did my first BCSN broadcast in February 2022, but have been in the class for four semesters, since August 2022.” He has been here for two years now, but his first year he just took the games he could get before he became our number one broadcaster. Once Jack Little started to play basketball, Mason took over the broadcasts for the games, and stole the show with his facts and jokes he came up with on the spot.

Mason was also your guy to go to about social media and the BCSN schedule. We asked what roles he served over his time and he responded, “I was social media coordinator during my junior year, the editor for the first two weeks of my junior year, and I am currently the BCSN Coordinator.” Mason also wrote how he enjoyed the coordinator the most as it was his interest to start broadcasts and introduce his classmates to different roles outside of class.

As he will now take his skills of broadcasting and coordinating to the college level as his major, he also will take experiences he learned from. The class has had so many mistakes as we were all high school students, but Mason learned that isn’t a failure, “ It also taught me that there is no such thing as failure. You can always bounce back.” He listed off that we had many hiccups in broadcasts, but it is something we could all learn from and wasn’t considered a failure.

 

The class has had some memories along the way and Mason talks about how these have made his time in the classroom and outside of it much better. He told us, “ Some of the memories made during my time with my classmates in BRNNews and BCSN are some of the fondest ones. From traveling hours on a bus ride to away games, to winning a cornhole tournament during our summer get-together, to making fun of Caleb for never charging the batteries, it has been an amazing experience, and I would recommend it to anyone.” These memories will last a lifetime as they did these things together as a class and as friends.

Outside of class and BCSN, Mason also played tennis. Being the number one seed on the Boys Tennis team for singles is not an easy feat for anyone at Boyle County. He was able to hold on to his one seed all year while juggling things for BCSN outside of class too. Mason had a very impressive season this year winning most of his games and only missing state by one game.

I have known Mason since a “Young” age, and we made a lot of memories throughout the years in school and basketball. These will always be memories for me. The class trip to Nashville where Mason and I did most of everything together. We have worked alongside each other for years and it has been an amazing experience. He may not know how to set-up or take down a broadcast, but he sure can talk one. Thanks Mason!

By Brent Christopher