Rhoden Fellowship brought Morgan State student into rooms she once only imagined

Somewhere between seeing the blinking red light on a camera and hearing the quiet hum of a control room at ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut, I realized I was no longer daydreaming about being a Rhoden Fellow — I was one.

Yet that moment in the opening weeks of the Rhoden Fellowship last June kept taking my mind back in time.

It took me back to the winter break of my sophomore year at Morgan State, when I filmed the first version of my sports blog, “The Rai Report,” in the basement of my family’s home in Chicago’s south suburbs. At the time, it felt small, but starting the blog became my first public step toward my journalism career.

Then my mind rewound again to Aug. 2, 2024. It was the second day of my first National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) annual convention, and I had one goal: convincing anyone wearing an ESPN badge that I belonged in that space. Suzanna Camacho, a recruiter with The Walt Disney Company who works with ESPN internships, listened closely while I spoke quickly about my résumé and how I wanted to add the Rhoden Fellowship to it.

I had wanted to be a Rhoden Fellow ever since I was a senior at Homewood-Flossmoor High School. I was introduced to the yearlong program, created to develop the next generation of sports journalists from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), when I stumbled across the Instagram page of Cayla Sweazie, who was then a Rhoden Fellow and graduating senior from Morgan State. I reposted her announcement of her postgraduation plans to my Instagram story with the caption, “Mark my words, this will be me in four years.”

Fast-forward to September 2024, when the fellowship application opened during my junior year at Morgan State. I sat in front of my computer screen, trying to put years of ambition into words. The application provided a prompt to interview my oldest family member, my grandmother. The process took two weeks, not because I struggled to write, but because I understood what it meant to share something personal. I submitted the application and prayed.

In December 2024, I received an email requesting my availability for an interview. After the interview, I focused on finishing the fall semester strong and began my winter break.

In January 2025, I was hanging out with a friend, celebrating my new job as a server at the Cheesecake Factory when my phone lit up with a Gmail notification that read, “Congratulations! You have been selected for the Andscape Rhoden Fellowship.”

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It is a strange feeling walking into rooms you once only imagined.

When I met the other Rhoden Fellows in June 2025, we began training, and our days were filled with workshops, writing sessions, and conversations with executives. Each moment built on the last. Guest speakers shared their insights and experiences, filling us with wisdom and clarity.

When we toured the campus, the red ESPN sign stood out immediately. I had seen it in pictures; now I was standing in front of it.

That same week, I attended a taping of WNBA Countdown. The next day, I met Jay Harris and Elle Duncan, prominent sportscasters I have watched on television for years. Shortly afterward, I was invited to watch a live SportsCenter taping. Yes, all this occurred within the first week of the fellowship, and I realized — I was no longer imagining these moments.

Later that month, I received another opportunity of a lifetime to attend the 2025 NBA draft at Barclays Center in New York. Soon after, I attended another WNBA Countdown taping, this time for WNBA legend Candace Parker’s jersey retirement. At this point, you couldn’t tell me anything! I was asking questions to anyone who would listen and trying to see everything!

July 2025 granted me more opportunities.

I participated in a production meeting. Words moved quickly: pacing, tone, structure. Someone asked how we should open, and I heard my own voice respond. We were building something that would eventually live on a screen much bigger than ours. Later, it would become part of a First Take special — polished and complete. But at that moment, it was still being developed, and I was part of that process.

I attended a taping of Hoop Streams, visited NFL training camps and rotated through different roles involving graphics, audio and direction. I began to understand the full process behind what viewers see on television.

By the end of the summer, everything came full circle. I attended my second NABJ convention, where First Take aired content I had worked on for weeks. One year earlier, I was in the audience; now, I was part of the production team.

Fall semester arrived, and the pace shifted. I returned to campus with a new perspective and continued writing and producing podcasts. I focused on stories that might otherwise go unnoticed. As a campus correspondent for Andscape, I covered HBCU athletics, producing digital stories and social media content that highlighted the voices of student-athletes.

That work included coverage of the Coppin State women’s basketball program and on-site reporting at events such as the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) basketball tournament. My CIAA content generated more than 220,000 views and over 20,000 engagements on Andscape’s social media platforms. The pace of it all often felt surreal.

The spring semester marked my final chapter as a Rhoden Fellow, and I approached it with confidence, building on everything the fellowship had given me. In April, I attended the HBCU All-Star Game and covered the NCAA Men’s Final Four championship game, each experience reinforcing the growth that defined this stage of the journey.

At some point, I realized something important: The dream never ended. It grew.

Achieving each of these stages during my dream internship required the most important decision: choosing to show up for myself every chance I got.