“BMB on 3. BMB on 3… 1..2..3.. BMB!!” The long awaited California STN trip finally arrived. With months of competition prep, chocolate selling and community dinners, it was finally time to experience the trip we had all waited for.
On Thursday March 14, the entire team participated in the Crazy Eight’s competition. Everyone had their roles previous to the competition but allowed each team member to help each other out and step out of their comfort zones. At 11 o’clock, the prompt dropped, “It Takes Two.” At this moment and for the next 8 hours, it was go time.
This competition was not “I did this, I did that,” but rather, it was about working together as a team. The 2023 BMB news director had always told me, “It is never an I, it is always a we,” and this competition was a prime example of that. As the product began to come to life, every person showed their skillset and was able to build them together and work as a team.
In the last hour of the competition, we came to realize that we were a minute over the eight minute maximum time limit. At that point, junior Anthony Ciuffo knew it was time for senior Liam Osborne to jump in and work to his strengths. In the last ten minutes everyone gathered together to hit the submit button, and it was amazing to get to share that moment with the entire team.
Friday, March 15 started bright and early with opening ceremonies. To start we got to hear from keynote speaker Casey Neistat, a YouTuber, filmmaker and vlogger. After opening ceremonies, we broke into smaller competition groups to participate in the six hour competitions: News Story, Arts & Culture Feature, Short Film, Sports Commentary, and the NAT sound package. While these events were going on, the students that were not participating either helped out other groups or attended pro sessions. These sessions consist of professors and other professionals who work in the field alongside STN schools that also run workshops. Also taking place on Friday night was the Broadcast Excellence awards. BMB placed in all four categories they submitted for, three silvers and one bronze for Morning Announcements, Midweek Update, Sports Talk and Sheep in the Meadow.
This convention wasn
’t about winning or losing; the only thing that mattered was working together as a team while taking the opportunity to learn from each other.
