(Editor’s Note: This is the 10th in a series of stories about internships being completed by students in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An injury during high school changed Andre Monroe’s future in sports, but he made sure it didn’t derail his dream.
Playing sports was a big part of the Philadelphia-born broadcast journalism major’s identity. When fracturing his back kept him off the football field and basketball court, he didn’t know the next play. That was until his high school creative writing teacher showed him a new path.
“I had this conundrum. No more playing sports for me, but how do I still stay in sports?” Monroe said. “I had a passion for writing that I never knew could co-exist with sports. Luckily, I had a teacher who encouraged me to start writing about it.”
By his junior year of high school, a career path in sports journalism emerged. Monroe got an early start writing for the sports blog “Insider Institute.” The next step was finding a college that would help him add to his growling list of journalistic highlights.
“I started looking at the best programs,” Monroe said. “Naturally, Penn State was always top of my mind. Even before I knew I wanted to do sports, I always liked Penn State, especially the school spirit and Penn State football.”
After receiving a Bunton-Waller scholarship and speaking with Gary Abdullah, assistant dean for diversity and inclusion, Monroe chose the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. During their discussions, Abdullah shared the many connections and resources the college offered. Monroe said the small school feel at a big state university was especially appealing.
“I think that’s one of the Bellisario College’s slogans, but it’s true. It actually feels like a close-knit community with all these resources you’d expect at a place like Penn State,” he said. “The school really puts students like me in a position to leverage themselves when it comes to summer internships, networking and resources.”
Summer in New York City
Monroe spent this past summer in New York City working as a production intern for House of Highlights, a social media sports network that’s part of the Warner Bros. Discovery Sports family. There were many aspects of the job from pitching ideas to meeting with industry professionals to going out and getting content.
“Whether it's a summer league game or the draft or NASCAR, it’s going out to these big sporting events and capturing content,” he said. “And that looks different in a lot of ways. It could be a fun interview, or it could be something short form, like 60 seconds, or rapid-fire questions or covering games.”
Monroe started at House of Highlights on June 3 and said the energy and welcoming environment made the transition seamless. From day one, he was ready to go.
“The second I got there, it was super impressive,” he said. “It was something almost like love at first sight … a team that feels like a family, not like co-workers. I got that feeling automatically.”
One of the summer’s biggest projects was hosting a five-on-five basketball tournament with Creator League, which is held at DreamCon, an annual gaming convention. Monroe said the event attracted some of the best content creators in the business, and it was the type of experience that got him interested in the sports content industry.
“About 50% of my job is content ideation,” Monroe said. “I love that because they trust me with that responsibility to pitch an idea. If they don't go with my idea, they explain to me why, but when they do it's very rewarding to see the idea get showcased.”
Monroe’s journey to his internship started with a simple email. He said House of Highlights was the type of social media outlet he wanted to work for, so he figured he’d introduce himself to the organization’s vice president. He admits he was a little surprised he got a response, but fortunately, he had built a resume that was too good to ignore — a resume that started in high school.