Graduating Senior Allison Seaton Found Her Passion After Transferring to Rocky Top
Graduating senior Allison Seaton showing off her media credentials.
Transferring to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, turned out to be the right move for graduating senior Allison Seaton.
The East Tennessee native and School of Journalism and Media major may have started her collegiate career elsewhere, but Rocky Top is where she found her passion for sports storytelling.
“If I didn’t come back, I never would have found the field I wanted to be in,” Seaton said.
She enrolled to study political science and pre-law at UT with an interest in working in sports law. During her first semester, Seaton met fellow journalism and media major Dylan Becker, who worked on WUTK-FM’s Rock Solid Sports. He showed her the career opportunities available in journalism and media and she switched majors.
She also took advantage of as many hands-on opportunities as she could during her time at UT. She joined the Rock Solid Sports crew and helped produce and host shows and cover Volunteer sports.
Those experiences opened other opportunities with The Volunteer Channel’s Torch Sports and internships with local television stations.
Her internship with WATE-TV is what convinced her that sports journalism was the right choice for her. She said her internship experience was invaluable in introducing her to the industry but also for establishing connections in the field and learning from professional sports journalists such as Casey Kay, Sam Rothman, and Reece Van Haaften.
She feels fortunate to have so many great mentors willing to motivate and challenge her to be better each day. One of the most influential, so far, has been WVLT-TV Sports Director Rick Russo.
She recalls meeting Russo at a softball game. There was a rain delay so the two chatted in their downtime. He taught her new things about her camera, and she helped him set up his live shot. He would later convince her to apply for the WVLT’s internship program, which she did and has been a part of since August.
Seaton said telling stories is what really drew her to pursue a career in journalism and media. She especially enjoys telling local stories, which she got to do a lot of through her internships with the local television stations. She also enjoys the pressure that comes with reporting on sports from the sidelines.
Some of her favorite stories so far involve covering high school athletes as part of WVLT’s Varsity All Access segments this past fall. Even though she is good at writing, Seaton said she is more drawn to visual storytelling, which led to her interest in local broadcasting.
“Without these internships and these hands-on experiences, I don’t think I would feel as prepared as I am right now to potentially go straight into the workforce or go to graduate school,” Seaton said.
Seaton said, even though her time at UT was relatively short compared to other graduates, it was memorable, which makes moving on from Rocky Top so bittersweet. One thing she really enjoyed about being on Rocky Top is the camaraderie with her classmates.
She said through class work such as working on Rocky Top Rundown as part of her video sports production and performance class and student media she made some great friends, and everyone is so proud and supportive of each other despite how competitive the journalism field can be.
She also will miss professors such as Assistant Professor Shannon Scovel, Assistant Professor of Practice Michael Martinez, and Assistant Professor Guy Harrison. She will always remember how much they cared about her as a person as well as a student. Seaton said there were times when balancing school, work, and life overwhelmed her, and her professors were there to encourage her and help her through it. Her professors’ impactful mentoring is also why she is considering a graduate degree, as she hopes to add teaching as a future chapter in her professional career.
Scovel said she feels fortunate to have had Seaton in her sports courses, adding she loved watching Seaton find her voice, take chances, and chase big stories. While she is proud of so many things Seaton has accomplished, she is most proud of how she’s developed into a professional broadcast journalist.
“The best advice I can give Alli is to hold on to her confidence and believe in herself,” Scovel said. “She may face challenges, as every journalist does, but she has the talent she needs to make it in this industry, and I want to encourage her to trust that talent.”
Graduating Senior Allison Seaton Found Her Passion After Transferring to Rocky Top written by Ernest Rollins and originally published on the College of Communication & Information site.