APSE remains committed to recruiting and sponsoring college students as members of the organization.
For a $25 fee, students gain access to the minds and events that will shape the future of sports journalism. Sponsoring editors are asked to help mentor the students as they prepare to enter the profession.
To sponsor a student member, go to the How to Join page.
Several APSE members have answered the call. To recognize them and the new members they've brought into our organization, we're posting bios of the latest wave of student members.
Today, meet a Florida State University senior sponsored by APSE President Tim Stephens.
Heather Biltoc
College status: Senior at Florida State University, graduating in spring 2014
Sponsoring member: Tim Stephens, Deputy Managing Editor at CBS Interactive – Sports
Experience: Reporter for Seminole Productions from August 2012 until October 2013 working on feature that air every Saturday on Fox Sun Sports. Currently a production assistant for Seminole Productions. Currently a Florida State correspondent for ESPNU:Campus Connection. Currently a reporter for Yahoo! Rivals Warchant.com covering Florida State Athletic events including live game day coverage, press conference coverage, player interviews, and writing/producing features and videos for the website. Currently an associate producer for WCTV6 Tallahassee.
How did you become interested in sports journalism? I have always been an outgoing individual spending a lot of time near the field growing up as a dancer and cheerleader. But it wasn’t solidified until the Florida State vs. Oklahoma game in 2011 that I realized sports journalism was my passion-to-be. I wanted to spend my life on the side of the field, talking to athletes discovering stories and sharing them with an audience both on camera and in writing. I love interacting with people, but interacting in the wide world of sports is like no other, and I knew it is where I wanted to spend the rest of my career.
What’s the most important thing you've learned? The most important thing I have learned is to be yourself. It is a life lesson that is always preached to you growing up, but it really hits home when you put your work out for the public eye to see. When people see my work I want them to see me, to get to know me through my work, and like me for me. Rather than trying to be someone else, I have learned to watch those who are successful and apply their traits to my work to develop my own style rather than trying to be them. It’s vital in the world of media to stay true to yourself and not get lost in who you are.
Dream job? To be a sports multimedia journalist. I would like to be on camera for the first part of my career, writing and producing my own feature along with sideline reporting. Later in life I would like to be a producer or director of a network such as ESPN, CBSSports and Fox Sports. But my biggest and most important dream is to be happy and a role model to those around me.
Hobbies/interests/activities: Dancing, singing, acting, talking, researching, reading and watching HGTV.
Heather’s work appears on: Fox Sun Sports, ESPNU: Campus Connection, www.warchant.com, www.seminoles.com, http://hbsportstalk.wordpress.com, www.heatherbiltoc.com.
Follow Heather on Twitter: @HeatherBiltoc
Like Heather on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hbiltocsports
To get your student member bio posted contact Loren Nelson at loren.nelson@sportngin.com
