Note: Alumnus Jose Rodriguez recently visited NECC as a special guest for the Speechpalooza event. This is the speech Jose shared with attendees.
I would like to thank Mary Jo for inviting me here today. As an alum of Northern Essex Community College (NECC), I want to share my journey from NECC to where I am now. I hope that my speech will motivate each student in this room who has a passion for something.
I began my time at Northern Essex Community College in the fall of 2020, during the challenging period of the pandemic. The academic calendar year was conducted entirely online, but by the following year, in 2021, things slowly started to return to normal.
During the fall of 2021, I attended a fair outside the Lawrence campus parking lot, where I met Mary Jo. We talked, and when I asked her if the sports editor position was available, she informed me that it was open. I accepted the position, and it was an excellent opportunity for me.
I committed myself to covering every home and away game throughout the academic year, covering both men’s and women’s sports.
I conducted pre- and post-game interviews and wrote game recaps for the student newspaper NECC Observer.
Additionally, I wrote season preview articles and feature stories.
I also took on the role of PA announcer for NECC Athletics and became the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, later on. By the end of my time at NECC in the fall of 2022, all my hard work and sacrifices paid off when I was named the runner-up for the College Rising Star award from the New England Newspaper Association.
After graduating from NECC, I immediately transferred to Salem State University to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Media and Communication. During my time at Salem State, I worked as an assistant to the Sports Information Director, transitioning from writing for the school newspaper to writing for the athletics website.
Like at NECC, I wrote most of the game recaps and attended every home game, as well as many road games, including trips to Vermont and the Bronx, NY.
Additionally, I hosted a sports talk show on WMWM for two hours every midday, twice a week, discussing everything happening in Salem State athletics while inviting athletes and coaches as guests.
I also produced a podcast, interviewing various athletes and coaches for in-depth discussions about their careers, and I served as the play-by-play announcer for Salem State baseball.
In the summer of 2023, I interned with the Newport Gulls of the New England Collegiate Baseball League in Newport, RI. I served as a staff writer, writing game recaps and conducting pre- and post-game interviews during home games.
When I wasn’t writing, I provided color commentary in the broadcast booth. For road games, I wrote recaps for every single road game, traveling from Connecticut to Vermont.
I graduated from Salem State University in the spring of 2024. Last summer, I wrote game recaps for the Brockton Rox, part of the Future Collegiate Baseball League, as well as for an independent professional baseball team in Brockton called the New England Knockouts.
I completed all 96 game recaps for the Knockouts during their long season, which ran from early May until the end of August. The playoff is the first two weeks of September, and unfortunately, we didn’t make it last year.
Once the Rox season was over, I attended most of the road games for the Knockouts, whenever they are playing games in New York and New Jersey. However, when the team played in the Midwest and in Canada, I wrote the recaps remotely. A
dditionally, I wrote 22 home recaps for the Rox during their shorter season. In total, I wrote 118 game recaps in just 17 weeks, as well as doing pre and post-game interviews.
Fortunately, the Brockton professional team has since been renamed the Brockton Rox, and instead of having two teams, we now have just one team in Brockton.
Currently, I am pursuing a master’s degree in Journalism at Boston University. This is my second semester of three.
So far, I have been working as a sports writer for the Daily Free Press, the student newspaper at BU. I am also the field hockey and softball beat reporter for another BU publication, WTBU Sports, where I frequently broadcast their games.
Additionally, I host a sports talk show with friends on Fridays from 6 to 8 PM on 89.3 FM, BU’s student radio station.
I am in two sports shows, doing a segment for each episode on Offside and Terrier Nation for BUTV.
I also completed an internship with Hockey Night in Boston, where I was assigned to cover various boys’ and girls’ high school games, write game recaps, and conduct pre- and post-game interviews.
As a 24-year-old living with epilepsy, I understand that managing a medical condition while juggling numerous responsibilities is not easy. It takes a lot of hard work and sacrifice, but I believe that the effort will pay off in the end.
Always believe in yourself, stay positive, and fight for your dreams, because it will all be worth it.
