Nicholas Lundberg, a second-year student in the School of Journalism, got the feel of a small newsroom while writing and reporting in the big city.
Lundberg worked with PreP Sports — an organization based in metro-Detroit — as part of his summer internship experience. He did sports reporting and covered the undefeated St. Mary’s baseball team, which was the number one high school team in the country.
“For the most part of the season, I followed the team,” Lundberg said. “I watched all the games that were broadcasted, and I did a couple features on some of the players. A lot of people had interest in it.”
A Detroit-native and aspiring sports reporter, Lundberg got a taste of his future ambitions while soaking up the perks of interning at a small company.
“It was really cool because everyone was very nice,” he said. “No one was uptight since everyone was new to everything. The communication was easier, and the people were very relaxed — that’s the coolest thing about working with a smaller company.”
When he wasn’t following St. Mary’s baseball team, Lundberg gained a plethora of new skills like research and design.
“There’s not much information to be found on high school teams because there’s obviously not as much coverage as college or pro teams,” he said. “I definitely got better at scoping out information. I would also build graphics. When the scoreboard pops up, it has information on the players — I did that. I even did camerawork for one game.
Though Lundberg is passionate about feature writing, his favorite part of the experience was when he worked in Comerica Park’s press box while covering the Catholic League playoffs.
“It was cool to see that side of the stadium and get to work where all of the pros usually work,” he said.
After brushing shoulders with seasoned sports journalists and publications, Lundberg found that establishing professional relationships is the best thing up-and-coming reporters can do to advance their careers.
“Keep making connections,” Lundberg said. “That led me to talking to Woodward Sports because they work [with PreP Sports]. Keep networking because you never know who you’re talking to or how they could help you in the future.”
Lundberg’s dream career doesn’t stray too far from his experience at PreP Sports.
“I would love to work with The Athletic,” Lundberg said. "That’s ultimately where I’d want to end up. I’d also love to cover a Detroit team at least once because I’m from Detroit and I’m a huge Detroit sports fan. It’d be cool to switch it up and cover them instead of root for them.”
By Stella Govitz