Greetings! My name is Stephanie Byrne and I am a multimedia journalist in Gainesville, Florida. I anchor and report for WUFT’s First at Five. While this will be my crash course in blogging, feel free to keep up with my adventures in storytelling in The Swamp!

A Journo Heart From the Start

If you’re reading this, you’ve made it beyond the landing page and I thank you for that. I don’t have much of a rags to riches origin story, but I can tell you about my humble beginnings as a reporter for my elementary school newspaper, The Cougar Chronicle. At the tender age of eight years old, I decided it was my duty to serve my fellow elementary school peers by bringing them the latest information about school clubs and the most thought-provoking word searches. By ten years old, I fell in love with television broadcast. I anchored and worked on the production side (and by that, I mean I stood behind a camera on a tri-pod) for Limestone Creek Elementary’s morning newscast. I received my first harsh lesson of being a public figure after a career-threatening jump rope accident in P.E., leaving me with a scratched cornea and a short stint behind an eye patch. Embracing the nickname “Pirate Girl,” I continued to deliver the weather forecast.

Brief pause and shameless plug: if you are interested in my professional resume site instead of my blog, please click here.

After three years of soul searching, also known as “middle school,” I returned to my journalism roots in high school. By my senior year, I was the editor-in-chief of the “War Cry” and anchoring the morning news once again. After the anxiety of college admissions, I was admitted to the University of Florida, my dream school..

Which brings me to the present. It’s difficult to even describe how thankful I am to be here. As a freshman, I wanted to immediately submerge myself in campus life. I joined the Florida Visual Ensemble (UF’s colorguard with the Gator Band) and served as a studio camera crew member. After a few years (that went by way too fast), I am an anchor Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for WUFT’s nightly newscast, the president of UF’s Journalism and Communications Ambassadors, and one of the captains for the Florida Visual Ensemble. The in-between includes reporting for radio and television, technical directing, audio operating, internships in Gainesville and Orlando, and so much more. My hope with this blog is to talk about my past and current experiences to influence decisions I make in the future. Did I mention I’m graduating Spring 2017? Graduation to me is still some metaphysical phenomena that I have yet to come to terms with. I appreciate you visiting my blog and hopefully my “about me” didn’t scare you too much!

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