UMass Amherst alum Alexandra Francisco ‘17 returned to campus on March 5 to headline an Alumni series event hosted by the Journalism department.
Francisco visited professor Steve Fox’s Sports in Film, Journalism and Literature (JOURNAL 328) class before giving a guest lecture in the Communication Hub. She gave sports journalism students great insight on what it takes to break into a challenging industry. Following her talk, she hosted a networking hour for journalism and public relations students where they could ask questions and pick her brain about her experiences.
This event is the third official journalism alumni series talk, where UMass graduates come back to their alma mater and give advice to students looking to follow in their career paths. In December, Hilary Allard ‘90 and Brittney Feudo ‘14 returned to campus to give insight on their careers in public relations. Before that, Brian Gormley ‘95 kicked off the alumni series with his guest lecture titled “The Art of the Interview” in November.
Francisco said her visit back to campus brought an immediate wave of nostalgia and a very specific first stop.
“The first thing I did was I went to the Hampshire dining commons and got myself an omelet,” Francisco said. “Sadly, Joanne the omelette lady wasn’t there. I did reach out to her ahead of time but just from that omelet this morning and being back in the ILC and talking to journalism students, it brings back so many amazing memories. I love this place so much.”
Francisco shared her path from student media to becoming a team reporter for the New England Patriots. While describing her journey from her time at UMass to working with the Patriots, she noted that her interest in sports reporting started long before college. She said that when you are a young girl growing up in Massachusetts, you are thrown into the culture of Boston sports and winning.
At Ludlow High School Francisco had her first experiences in sports media writing for their newspaper and soon after realized that her interest in journalism could become a career. Although her initial exposure to journalism started in high school, Francisco credits UMass for helping to build the foundation of her professional career.
“I would not have made it to the level that I am at in my career if I did not come to UMass Amherst, and I say that with no reservations,” she said.
She also mentioned how her career path was unconventional and did not follow a straight line. After graduating, she took two months off to take time to reflect on what she wanted, while working multiple jobs and gaining internship experience.
“When I graduated from here, I was working as a bartender and on the beer cart at Cold Spring Country Club in Belchertown,” she said, later adding that she began with part-time post-graduate internships at MassLive covering high school sports before working her way up.
Throughout her presentation, Francisco encouraged students to fully take advantage of the resources available to them and to keep pushing through an intimidating industry. Francisco pointed to resources that immensely contributed to her growth during her time at UMass, such as the state of the art broadcasting studio.
“Taking advantage of everything, all the resources that UMass has to offer, directly translated into my success within my field,” she said.
Isabel Krasner, a public relations concentration student, said that her biggest takeaway from Francisco’s visit is that you have to challenge yourself and to not be afraid of doing things that make you uncomfortable.
“My biggest takeaway is that you have to push yourself to get your foot in the door, and then once you have your foot in the door, use your personality and your experiences to your advantage,” she said.
From what started as an interest that grew during her high school years, Francisco’s inspiring career path left many students feeling confident in their resources and academic pathways here at UMass.