By Jonah Peterson
Ooks women’s volleyball rookie Mia Hildebrandt joins the NAIT Nugget as the online sports editor.
Student life is stressful enough without the obligations of being on a sports team and working for the school newspaper at the same time; Hildebrandt is about that action.
“It’s a lot. Some days I’m at school all day, with classes until four, sometimes a Nugget meeting until seven and then Volleyball practice right after that,” said Hildebrandt.
With her full schedule, Hildebrandt says she tries to keep everything together by planning her diet, time for assignments and making sure she has everything she needs ready before the long days start.
Photo by Railene Hooper
Hildebrandt has been playing volleyball since grade 5. She said she started playing because of her parents love for sport and continued with it because of the friends she made.
“My friends were playing it, and they were having a lot of fun, so I decided to stay with it,” said Hildebrandt.
The Ooks Women’s Volleyball team is now glad she stuck with the sport. She has been a strong competitor for them this season, gaining NAIT’s Athlete of the Week honours for the week of Feb. 11 – 18.
Hildebrandt’s love of sports has translated over to the realm of broadcasting. She is currently in the second semester of the Radio and Television program with plans of working in the sports industry.
“I’ve always loved sports, whether it be playing them or talking about them. I’d love to be a sports reporter or work in the sports industry in any kind of way, and so I thought going into radio and television would give me a good opportunity to pursue that,” Hildebrandt said.
Hildebrandt started off as a contributor for the Nugget, coming to pitch meetings and picking up articles. When the chance came for an official position at the paper Hildebrandt was excited, but wasn’t sure she would be able to do the job she wanted.
“I originally applied for just the general online editor, because typically the sports editor is going to games and posting about it,” Hildebrandt said.
When Hildebrandt went to her interview, however, they asked if she wanted the sports position anyways, and they could change the responsibilities.
“It’s finding people who can create content for me on the teams or running contests… It’s been cool because it’s been sort of making my own position within it, since I can’t be at the games,” said Hildebrandt.
With the volleyball season in full swing, homework piling up in class and Nugget work keeping her busy, Hildebrandt is a proponent of getting tasks done ahead of time. With so many other responsibilities in her life, finishing items on her do to list early helps keep herself organized, and leaves more free time to catch up or simply relax, which can be equally as important.
Procrastination has never been a problem for her and it has helped her be able to take part in lots of exciting opportunities, at school and in life.
