"Fall 2014""Republished with permission from Student Affairs News.""Emmy-Award winning TV producer recounts lessons learned during student employment."Story by Angela Dahman ; Photos by David Freyermut

Dahman, Angela

English

University of Missouri: MOspace

https://mizzoumag.missouri.edu/2014/09/network-connections/index.html 4/28/2021, 9:25 AMhink about your time here not just as a job butas a paid internship in the lessons of life,”Emmy‐Award winning TV producer JenNickels, BJ ’05, urged at a rally for about 400MizzouRec student employees Aug. 24.“My experiences, the people I met, the things I learned[from working at MizzouRec] have defined me asmuch or more than my degree,” she said.While a journalism student at the University ofMissouri, Nickels logged four years as a member ofTeam Mizzou, the MizzouRec student staff trainingand development program. During that time, sheprovided administrative support to senior leadership,wrote press releases, helped plan events andeventually produced a documentary to commemoratethe opening of the renovated and expanded StudentRecreation Complex in 2005.“At first it was just a job,” Nickels said. But as shefielded questions from MizzouRec professional staff,she realized “it was just as important to my managersthat I learn from this experience and that I grow fromit.”In an interview after the rally, Nickels credited theMissouri School of Journalism for giving her the toolsand strong foundation to succeed as a journalist. Butshe says experiences outside the classroom —including Team Mizzou, Greek Life and studenthttps://mizzoumag.missouri.edu/2014/09/network-connections/index.html 4/28/2021, 9:25 AMgovernment — prepared her to balance life and workin the real world, while also allowing her to observedifferent styles of leadership up close.“You can’t teach poise, you can’t teach confidence,”Nickels said. “You learn that from watching otherpeople.”In the latter part of her employment, Nickels workedclosely with MizzouRec Director Diane Dahlmann.More than a manager, Dahlmann became a mentorand friend. Most important, Nickels said, is that “shetrusted me. When you are 22 years old and someonetrusts your ideas, initiative … it made me feelempowered and ‘adult.’ ”Upon graduating in 2005, Nickels took the lessonsshe learned — conflict management, timemanagement, creativity and confidence — and appliedthem as a producer in a Cincinnati newsroom. Afteronly two years on the job, she was promoted tomorning executive producer at age 25. Five yearslater, she moved to Cleveland, where she crossedpaths with fellow Tiger Russ Mitchell, BJ ’82.Both received Emmy Awards in June 2014 for theirwork covering the news of three Cleveland kidnappingvictims found alive May 6, 2013.“When I look at the Emmy, I remember what it waslike to be in the control room and see the storyunfold,” Nickels said. The journalists saw “manyunforgettable things that never made the air,” shehttps://mizzoumag.missouri.edu/2014/09/network-connections/index.html 4/28/2021, 9:25 AMreflected.Nickels’ team chose to focus on the positive. “WhatI’m most proud of, what made us stand out, is that wefocused on, ‘They are alive, and it’s a miracle.’ ”It wasn’t until a couple of days later, when she wasable to go home and decompress, that the tears came.“You can’t help but be swept up in the emotion of thestory,” Nickels said. “Stories like that make us allhuman.”Now a nightside senior executive producer for Wave 3News in Louisville, Kentucky, Nickels displays herEmmy next to a stone from Rothwell Gymnasium. It’sa reminder of lessons learned where she leastexpected it.“The stone is a reminder of the foundation I built hereat Mizzou, the confidence I developed here thatenabled me to walk into a top newsroom in thecountry and succeed,” Nickels said in closing at theTeam Mizzou Rally. “But it’s also a reminder of thepeople who helped me build it. The people whobelieved in me, who pushed me to be my best, myfellow Team Mizzou members and some of the leadersin this room today.”https://mizzoumag.missouri.edu/2014/09/network-connections/index.html 4/28/2021, 9:25 AMhttps://mizzoumag.missouri.edu/2014/09/network-connections/index.html 4/28/2021, 9:25 AM

Network Connections

https://mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/bitstream/10355/82726/1/MIZZOUMag-NetworkConnections.pdf

Network Connections

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