Kassi Luja
kassiluja.md@gmail.com
A whirlwind.
That’s how journalism senior Hope Hanselman describes her time at college.
Entering her freshman year as a modern languages and literatures major — and then contemplating a switch into dairy science — Hanselman eventually found her passion for broadcast news which led her to land a job at the NBC affiliate, KSBY-TV, her junior year.
“I think it took me a while to figure out what I really wanted to do and what I was really excited about,” she said. “I always have loved to write so I wanted to do journalism because of that.”
During her time at Cal Poly, Hanselman felt herself living out the Learn By Doing philosophy when she took the Advanced Television News Production class (JOUR 353) where students produce newscasts for Cal Poly TV News (CPTV).
“I didn’t know anything going into that class and had to learn everything by trial and error,” she said. “It was a good learning experience. It was such a close-knit group of people and we were just all in it together trying to figure things out and trying to make the station better together so I loved that.”
Through CPTV, Hanselman found a great mentor and close friend in journalism lecturer Patti Piburn.
“Taking a class from her, I got the feeling that she was hard to please but I was so dedicated to wanting to please her,” Hanselman said. “I wanted to make her proud of what I did.”
Another influential character in Hanselman’s life is her father who she said has built a really successful life for himself and came so far from nothing.
“I have always been trying to model my work ethic after him, trying to do something that would make him proud, that would impress him, because he’s always impressed me,” she said.
Rommates and reflection
In her last weeks as an undergraduate, Hanselman has been reflecting on her time at Cal Poly dating back to her freshman year in Yosemite Hall, Tower Eight.
“I still live with the girls that I lived with in the dorms,” she said. “That freshman year was probably the best out of all of them.”
Environmental management and protection senior Bridget Lillis, Hanselman’s roommate, describes Hanselman as “really motivated and determined.”
“She knows exactly what she wants to do,” Lillis said. “She has her goals set.”
Sharing many memories through the years, including having ’90s dance parties at their house, Hanselman described a time their sophomore year when she and Lillis got rid of an old couch. Hauling it downstairs from their apartment in Cedar Creek, they left the couch outside to one day find it gone.
“We were walking on campus one day and saw (the couch) in the middle of campus,” Lillis said. “We don’t know why or how it got there, it was really bizarre.”
Knowing Hanselman since their freshman year, Lillis said Hanselman is a lot busier now than she was a few years ago.
“You don’t see her that much,” Lillis said. “She’s like in and out all the time.”
Lillis said she sees her roommate getting a job right after graduation and being really successful.
Intern to multimedia journalist
After landing an internship with KSBY in Fall 2011, Hanselman eventually turned the experience into a job when she was hired as a part-time multimedia journalist this past April.
“I had a class with (journalism professor) Richard Gearhart who works there as an anchor and told him I was interested in (working at KSBY),” Hanselman said. “He gave me the email for the person to talk to. I emailed her, interviewed with her and it all went well and I came in as an intern probably the next week.”
KSBY News Director Doug Barden said Hanselman’s time at the station has been unique in comparison to the average intern. Barden said interns don’t usually end up on air.
“She’s kind of a rare breed,” Barden said. “She has a lot of raw talent. I would put her in the top 5 percent of reporters graduating college in the nation. I think she has that much talent. I expect to see her (go) very far in this industry.”
Hanselman, who said sports reporting is what initially got her interested in broadcast journalism, found herself in that exact position this past month doing sideline reporting — without another reporter — for KSBY at the Cal Poly football game against Idaho State.
While she said she doesn’t think she’s cut out for sports reporting, she was lucky to have the opportunity.
“Being there on the sidelines this year reporting just felt like everything had come full circle and it felt so amazing to see what you can accomplish in a year,” Hanselman said. “Gearhart always says, ‘Luck is when opportunity and preparedness come together.’ I worked really hard to be ready for that.”
In her time at KSBY, Hanselman has been thrown into several stressful situations, including covering a fatal high-speed chase in Santa Maria.
“(I) didn’t know anything at the time when I got out there (and) didn’t have anyone else with me,” Hanselman said. “I had to get whatever video and sound and information I could at the time. It was exciting. That kind of news doesn’t happen a lot around here.”
Hanselman said it was hard to see the reaction of the family who knew it was their son who had died in the car crash.
“But we couldn’t confirm it,” she said.
Full circle
For students wanting to land a job right after graduation, Hanselman said the key is a combination of finding what you’re passionate about, putting in the effort and working to be better than anyone else applying for that job.
“If you take everything as an opportunity and you look at every place you’re in as a chance to make a difference, then I think you’re going to be broadening your options for having success,” she said.
It goes without saying that Hanselman found a place to call home in broadcast journalism.
“I just love this job because you get to meet the most amazing people and get to be there for those moments that no one else is there for,” she said.
With her final days at Cal Poly coming to a close, Hanselman has been applying for jobs all over the country. She recently landed a job as a multimedia journalist for KVLY/KXJB, a CBS and NBC affiliate, in Fargo, N.D. She will move right after the beginning of the year.
“I would be shooting, writing and editing my own stories,” Hanselman said. “I’m so unbelievably excited and scared at the same time. I’m relieved and I feel so fortunate and I feel like this is the perfect opportunity for me right now. I want to be in a place that’s completely new to me.”
Hanselman said she will take all the memories, experiences and pieces of advice she received along the way with her.
“I’m so grateful for what I had here,” she said. “I love this place and I love that I can still, four years later, walk down through campus and look around and still be amazed. It was all worth it.”