The return of Transatlantic Storytelling is officially underway as 16 Ball State students have been selected to participate in the second iteration of the award-winning project with Cardiff Met University in Cardiff, Wales.
The highlight of the project will be a 12-day cultural immersion trip to Wales in late February and early March 2024. While on the ground, students will collaborate with their peers in the Cardiff Met Sport Broadcast course to produce feature stories, live sporting events, studio shows and podcasts.
Jordan Klimes (Junior)
The Transatlantic Storytelling project is one that interests me for several different personal and professional reasons. Starting with the personal reasons, the trip would do a lot to aid my knowledge of different cultures and would be a huge leap in stepping out of my comfort zone. I have traveled to different countries before, but I have never had a cultural experience that I could remember quite like the ones I will have on this trip.
The history and culture present in Wales will make me gain respect for so many aspects of my life, and they will humble me to a new level. Additionally, this trip interests me because it would drastically take me out of my comfort zone in a positive way. College has been a great experience to help me become more independent, and a trip to another country would further that independence even more. Beyond the personal gain that this trip brings, there are also many professional reasons in the trip that would be monumental to my sports production career.
My name is Jordan Klimes, and I am a junior at Ball State University majoring in media with a concentration in sports production.
My first concrete step into sports production was the creation of a football YouTube channel. During my junior year of high school, I joined the school TV program, LTTV, as a sports announcer. This led to my acceptance into the Sports Link program.
One of my major accolades in Sports Link is being the SL Digital Radio director. I oversee our radio‚ scheduling, communication with athletics, weekly social media show, day to day operations, and the development of our talent. I also work as an announcer myself.
In addition, I am involved as a feature storyteller producer, audio engineer, studio show host, and live broadcast worker. I have produced six major feature projects, and I have been involved in various other storytelling roles.
Additionally, I have been the main audio engineer for Sports Link’s monthly studio show, Sports Link Stories. Another role I am involved in is a studio show host, which includes hosting last year’s Transatlantic Storytelling telethon.
Finally, I am heavily involved in live broadcasts at Ball State. I have worked as a cameraman, color analyst, graphics operator, repay operator, associate producer, and producer. My hard work and dedication in life has proven not only to improve my professional life, but has proven to make me a better person every day.
The goal I am most excited for is to plan out stories to create and watch them come to life as we go through our adventures in Wales. This will be through talking to new people, seeing new things, and stepping up as a leader to help others have the greatest experience that they possibly could.
I am also hoping to enjoy the experience of being in a new country. From meeting new people to living in a new culture, I believe there is so much that I could learn. I also believe I can provide a new perspective to the people living in Wales by sharing my own personal experiences in life and in media. I also want to prove to myself and to my peers that I am capable of taking on challenges through pre-production, production, and post-production.
Jordan Klimes