Gaining Real-World Experience to Build a Resume
George Muha (third from left), founder and owner of Morris Sussex sports, with part of his CCM team of workers (l-r) Matt Givone, Caitlin Langan, Julia Gosden, Cadence Bernstein and William Dienes.
As Morris Sussex Sports continued to grow as a business, covering local high school sports, it found it needed more people to provide live feeds of games, serve as commentators and create content for its website, newsletter and social media channels. Its answer was to turn to County College of Morris (CCM), the founder’s alma mater, to hire students to fill those roles. Today, a total of 15 CCM students, including several dual-enrolled high school students, serve as employees of the organization.
“We’re covering about 30 games a week, so we needed a lot of talented people,” explains George Muha ’96, founder and owner of Morris Sussex Sports. “Students are meeting that need as they are getting real-life experience.”
Along with hiring CCM students, Muha, in association with Broadcast Professor Ray Kalas, makes use of the college’s professional TV studio where CCM students enrolled in broadcasting courses and his student employees produce a weekly show.
“The energy that comes from the students working together is electric and provides our student workers with experience that allows them to easily transition to the real world,” says Muha.
For the students, the experience has extended beyond gaining camera, video production, writing and social media skills. Some have discovered the career path they want to follow, and all have gained professional skills that will serve them well regardless of the profession they end up pursuing.
“It’s been a great learning experience and it helped me to learn what I want to do with my life. Before this, I never gave a thought to sports commentary,” says Matt Givone, of Flanders, who hopes to work as a sports commentator as a result of serving in that role for Morris Sussex Sports.
William Dienes, of Mt. Olive, a dual-enrolled Morris County Vocational School District (MCVSD) high school student at CCM, shares a similar experience.
“When I was at Morris County Tech, I had no interest in sports,” he recalls. “Then when I came here to tour the studio, George said, ‘Come and get some experience.’ Basically, it changed my life around. It opened up doors.” Those doors for Dienes have included working as a freelance video editor. “The life skills you gain cannot be underestimated,” adds Dienes.
Julia Gosden, of Rockaway Borough, also discovered her passion as a result of working for Morris Sussex Sports.
“I learned about working with a camera and about audio, and then I fell in love with sports anchoring,” she says.
Caitlin Langan ’13, of Rockaway Township, a graduate of CCM’s Broadcast Arts and Technology Program and now associate producer at Morris Sussex Sports, explains the approach she and Muha take with the student workers.
“It’s not just about coming here and learning skills like how to use a camera. It’s also about learning how to troubleshoot, how to work with others and how to solve problems,” she says.
Cadence Bernstein, of Montville, another dual-enrolled MCVSD student, sums it up well.
“They are true mentors. You learn so much, not only about the business, but you also learn how to function professionally.”
Kalas notes, “Our Broadcasting Arts and Technology Program here at CCM, and specifically our Television Production and Media Aesthetics design courses, prepare students to hit the ground running as they begin to work in the industry. Having Morris Sussex Sports with us on campus is an extraordinary and unique opportunity that helps provide students with the real-life hands-on experience they’ll need.”
To learn more about the Broadcasting Arts & Technology Program at CCM, go to https://bit.ly/CCM_Broadcasting.
