Staff Notes by Jacob Tellers

Hi! I’m Jacob, and I’m interning this summer with the Albert Lea Tribune. I started May 27 and can’t believe three weeks have already gone by.

These first few weeks I’ve had the opportunity to explore the Freeborn County Historical Museum archives, cover and shoot photos for golf, track, baseball and softball as well as profile fascinating people like Sue Berg, who retired from Lou-Rich.

It’s been a blast so far, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer holds in store for me.

Besides three years of college spent out in Virginia, I’ve lived in Minnesota my entire life. I was born in Eagan, just south of the Twin Cities where I lived all the way through high school.

I haven’t decided for sure what career path I want to pursue in journalism, but sports reporting is what I’m leaning toward.

I’ve been a sports fan all my life, whether it has been playing, watching or reading about sports.

One of my first sports memories is the Minnesota Vikings 2005 playoff game at Lambeau Field when Randy Moss committed what announcer Joe Buck termed a “disgusting act,” pretending to moon the Green Bay Packers crowd after scoring a touchdown.

Being 11 years old at the time, I thought it was absolutely hilarious. Actually, I still do. I’ve been a die-hard Vikings fan since then, and I’ll also root for any team with a Minnesota connection.

The progression from watching sports to writing about them came about rather naturally, even if it wasn’t what I initially had in mind.

I played a whole assortment of sports growing up: soccer, basketball, baseball and track and field. Most of the time it was just in-house city league stuff, but I did make it up to varsity for track in the 300-meter hurdles.

Growing up in the Twin Cities area, my family subscribed to the Star Tribune, and I was a diligent reader of the sports and comics sections.

However, with three years of high school debate experience, I was initially interested in going to law school. I didn’t end up majoring in pre-law since it would limit my options going forward.

Because I loved both research and writing, I figured that journalism would be a good choice for my bachelor’s degree instead.

After graduating high school in 2011, I traveled to the far off land of Virginia to attend Liberty University, majoring in communication studies, with a focus on print journalism.

Once I got past my general studies courses and into my journalism classes, I quickly decided that journalism was the route to go. I spent my last two years of college writing for the sports, news and opinion sections of my college paper.

Because I had finished over a semester of college in high school through Minnesota’s post-secondary enrollment options, I was able to basically graduate from Liberty in three years.

The last remaining requirement for my degree was that I needed to complete an internship for academic credit.

I didn’t have any luck getting one the previous summer, but as I was looking through a list of Minnesota newspapers I decided to just give a few of them a call this spring to see if they were taking any interns for the summer.

I didn’t have any luck with the first paper I called, but the next one on my list was the Albert Lea Tribune. I saw Tim Engstrom listed as the editor and figured that he’d be the best person to contact. A few phone calls later, I was all set and the rest is history.

I’m excited that I’ve been able to jump right in and get some real reporting experience. I’ve learned a lot so far and the rest of the summer should be great.

 

Liberty University student Jacob Tellers is a summer intern with the Albert Lea Tribune.