Director of Sports Media, Lauren Bullock, consistently finds ways for her students to use what they have learned in the classroom and develop those skills into real-life content. 

When she found out the Nancy & Donald Resnick Academic Support Center for Student-Athletes was hosting their annual Student-Athletes Academic Showcase on April 7, she saw a great opportunity for her students in her SPME/PR 3403: Digital and Social Media in Sports course to capture content in real-time.  

Throughout the semester, the students analyzed social media trends, typography and storytelling in sports. They have spent time learning about strategic communication plans and practicing social media captions.  

“There’s only so much you can simulate in a classroom,” Bullock said. “Case studies help, but they’re not the same as being in the room, reading the moment and making decisions on the fly. This experience pushed them to do that.” 

For the Student-Athletes Academic Showcase, students were placed into groups to create one pre-event post and two to three post-event posts. The content ranged from TikTok videos to Substack articles.  

The students had the chance to attend the event and create their content there. Some students utilized their time taking videos and photos, while others interviewed athletes, coaches and academic advisors.

Once completed, the students presented their content in front of the class. They explained their reasoning for their strategy, content decisions, platform and caption choices.  

“It was really rewarding to have the opportunity to apply what we’ve been learning in class to real social media content,” said Lillian Prieto, a junior media studies and production major. “At times, I felt challenged, but I was able to draw on the concepts and skills we developed in class to create my content.”