 I think my time at UA has really shown me what professionalism looks like. Coming in every day, there's a high bar that you have to continue to reach, and it takes a lot of discipline, but it also takes a lot of people to believe in you. I've felt challenged, but I've also felt very safe to fail, to really reach for those limits and push myself and create opportunities, because I would never say it was just waiting for me. But you had to look, you have to be ready, and then from there, you're prepared, because if the moment comes, there's going to be a lot of people that want it too. I grew up in Birmingham, always being an Alabama fan. My dad went here, my grandfather went here, and my great-grandfather went here. So with a full-ride scholarship, close to home, with the team I love, it was a dream situation, and then a major I fell in love with as well. Coming into Alabama, I didn't know what to think about my college experience, and I thought I wanted to be in athletic training. Through my connection with my teacher, I actually got to shadow Jeff Allen, loved my experience, but quickly realized I hated watching other people work out. Through conversations with Jeff, he really looked at me and he said, Emily, you love to talk about sports. Have you thought about our sports communications major? Through a quick research, I realized that was news media with sports concentration, kind of committed to that, and went with it ever since, and it gave me every resource and every opportunity to tell the stories I was passionate about, and through what I learned and the passion that I had, I think I really was able to make the most of my education and give me stuff I still have on my portfolio today. The first thing I applied for freshman year was Crimson Tide Productions. I worked in camera, in venue producing, and then worked in the production room, and I enjoyed my experience a lot, but I realized I loved talking with people and loved to interact. So I really prayed a lot about it, and Lord opened the door for me to be a women's basketball manager in my junior year. It was a volunteer position, so it was a year of unpaid work, but it was a year of work that really did set the tone and allow me to take that next step to be hired by Albino Football at the end of my junior year. Working for football as a recruiting photographer, we help make these five star, four star athletes really enjoy their experience while they're here, but also capture the energy, the moment. If it's them on a jersey in the tunnel, imagining what their future could look like as a football player here, getting to work on the field, getting to work in the locker room, getting to work in the recruiting room. Just having a lot of access to a lot of cool places has been a dream come true. They could have hired a full-time employee to do my job as a recruiting photographer, but they have chosen to let students be a part of that. They've chosen to let students take on a giant role of responsibility and know that the standard is excellent. So coming to Alabama, with the facilities that we have, the teachers that you have, the professionalism that's on this campus, the people that have done their jobs for years and do it at such a high level, doing it coming and learning from those people has been the greatest opportunity. You couldn't ask for a better setup to succeed. Coming into the graduation season, I was really nervous about what post-grad would look like, but I just kind of scoured LinkedIn and ended up finding an application for an NFL Films internship up in New Jersey. I really did feel prepared for what they were asking for. So many colleges can give you a foot in the door and you can do 50% of what the real world may look like. But coming to Alabama, you have the opportunity to practice exactly what you want to do for a career. When I started Crypto Tie Productions, I was like, there's nothing better. And I love my time there. And then after that, I got to work as a manager for women's basketball team. I've gotten to be with D1 athletes. I've gotten to travel on private planes and work a week in Nashville at the SEC tournament. And I thought that was the greatest step. But then the next step was working for football. And I thought that was the next greatest step. And now it's NFL Films. So work hard where you're at, be on the lookout for what that next step is. Because I thought it was so good my freshman year. And now I get to sit here and it's never been better.