SOMO News
’18 Team Missouri: Allison D’Agostino (Talking Shop)
These posts come from our first-ever athlete-leader PR assistant, Allison D’Agostino. They were originally posted on her personal blog and re-posted here with her permission. They are unedited.
I’ve noticed my vocabulary is not always the best. The reason I’m saying that is because I can’t seem to come up with good sentences to start my blogs. I don’t think you’ve noticed. If so, do let me know and possibly give me some suggestions. I’m always looking to improve any skilled area.
Anywho, I had a blast and rough day simultaneously. I focused on bocce and track & field today, which was nice. This helped me familiarize that area of UW campus. UW is University of Washington. Each sport location has a media section, and every media section gives a set of rules what we can and cannot do.
Bocce was a good place to start. The lighting gave the right amount to balance my camera’s lighting. I could get close to the athletes by using the track around their matches, but could not step on the grass.
“Get off the grass!” The announcer from Princess Diaries would say. But seriously, I made sure not to break that rule, unlike Princess Amelia.
During my time at bocce, I managed to befriend a few media people. I even had a decent conversation with the media volunteer in charge. Most of the conversations had the same questions. “What state are you from?” “What do you think of the Games so far?” That kind of stuff. It was just as fun when I went to track, and then back to bocce.
I think track & field might be my favorite part of the day today. The weather kept changing, and I didn’t always get the best shots, but I met this nice photographer from Mississippi. We chatted for a while, since it was clear it would take a long time for my fellow athletes to get ready for the long jump. We talked of several topics, even shop talk.
I noticed he had a Nikon camera, which was the same brand as my camera. We ended up discussing the cool features on his camera. He mentioned something about an app that synced to his Nikon. That way he could download the photos to his phone. How cool!
I managed to stay at the track until I had a few more photos of Mary McManus. At that point, it was pouring. I not only worried for the camera equipment, but for my backpack as well. The laptop my boss let me borrow this year was in there. I, fortunately, dried everything up after I hurried to bocce.
The rough part of the day was when I was drying the equipment, as well as heading back to the dorm. I forgot to bring sunscreen and my poncho. I also had trouble returning to the dorm. I couldn’t remember which way to go. Fortunately, with my troubled past of getting completely lost, I made certain to look for a standing map or a campus employee and ask for help.
Long story short, I went from bocce to the east campus and then to west campus. Suffice to say, that was a long trek, and my feet sore from the walk. I am happy now, though. I asked for a map when I reached the dorm and marked the familiar spots. At least I got plenty of walking exercise. I’ll be able to sleep tonight!
That is… if we can finish the recap video before midnight. I’m hoping. Fingers crossed!