By Danielle Bednar
If you walk past Jim Patterson Stadium on a Tuesday afternoon, you might see me with a mini microphone in the dugout or behind home plate, camera in hand, trying to catch the exact moment a player cracks a joke that might—just might—go viral.
To the 15,100 followers on our U of L Baseball TikTok, I am the invisible eye behind the “Fastest Animal” debates and the dugout dances. But to my alarm clock at 6:00 a.m., I’m just a senior communication major trying to figure out how to balance Adobe Premiere Pro timelines with the looming reality of a May graduation.
Welcome to From Behind the Lens, a column where I’ll document the unfiltered reality of working in the high-stakes world of sports entertainment while simultaneously navigating the “senior scaries.”
This past year, I had the privilege of founding the U of L Baseball TikTok account. Watching it grow from zero to 15,100 followers was exhilarating, but the real magic happened when we hit our first million-view video. The page has taught me that in sports, people don’t just want to see the score or game-winning hit. They want to see the soul of the team.
However, being the one “behind the lens” often means you’re so focused on capturing everyone else’s highlight reel that you forget to check in on your own. Patrick Kurish, Director of PR with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and my boss during my time with the Pirates, has mentored me throughout my time in athletics. He notes that this is a common hurdle for young creatives.
“You have a unique ability to find the human element in athletes that people usually only see as stats on a jersey,” Kurish said during a recent phone call. “But the industry is demanding. For seniors entering this field, the challenge isn’t just knowing how to edit video; it’s knowing how to maintain your own creative spark when you’re working twelve-hour days during a home stand. And I always say, the person behind the camera is just as important as the person in front of it.”
Kurish’s words resonate deeply as I stare down my final months at the University of Louisville. Like many of my peers, my “lens” is currently pointed at a terrifyingly blank calendar starting in June. The transition from student-intern to full-time professional is a pivot that no amount of Dean’s List awards can fully prepare you for.
Isabelle Johnson, a fellow senior communication major, shares that sentiment of anxiety during our last semester.
“It feels like we’re playing a game where the rules keep changing,” Johnson told me as we grabbed a coffee. “We’re all just trying to capture the best version of our lives for LinkedIn, but behind the scenes, most of us are just hoping we’re headed in the right direction.”
That is exactly why I’m starting this column. I want to show the grit behind the glamour. I want to talk about everything, from the moments that go viral, to the bittersweet feeling of realizing this is my last season as a student and creative intern with the baseball team.
As I navigate this final inning of my college career, I’ve realized that life, much like a good TikTok, doesn’t have to be perfect to be impactful. But it must be authentic. So, whether you’re here for the sports insights, the career advice, or just to feel less alone in your senior year chaos, thanks for looking through the lens with me.
Next stop: Graduation. But first, we have a season to capture.
