Gina Carlson ’14 took her love for sports, turned it into a career and ended up at Target Field.
Carlson always had a passion for sports, but never thought she could turn it into a job until she came to St. Cloud State University.
In June, one short month after graduating Magna Cum Laude, Carlson began working with Major League Baseball (MLB) as a real-time correspondent at Target Field.
When the Minnesota Twins hosted the Chicago White Sox on June 19, Carlson was there reporting for her first day of work.
It’s her job to find content for social media use during games. She reports anything interesting and unusual happening at Target Field regarding the game of baseball. Some of her favorite stories to tell are fan celebrations, interesting posters, amazing catches and poses with the mascot.
From the field to the fans Carlson uses only a phone to capture pictures and videos to post on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and the MLB Cut4 webpage.
“My favorite part is interacting with the fans and hearing their passion for the game of baseball,” Carlson said. “I always enjoy chatting with the away fans about their trip to the game and talking to them about Minnesota.”
Considering herself a workaholic, Carlson said she learned skills at St. Cloud State and 88.1 FM KVSC that prepared her for a job after graduation.
“All of those experiences helped me for the MLB gig, it’s a lot of small parts that means lots of work, it’s not sitting at a desk all day.”
During her collegiate years, Carlson enjoyed studying journalism, marketing and human relations; these interests helped her earn a degree in mass communications. She specialized in radio broadcast and spent much time working for KVSC.
“I worked a lot at KVSC as the sports director, then marketing/radio traffic director, I also hosted news shows and filled in on whatever needed to be done,” Carlson said.
Carlson’s dedication and involvement at St. Cloud State prepared her for life after graduation.
“SCSU helped teach me how to time manage and prepared me for what the real world could be like by offering a place that was a real work opportunity, covering sports at KVSC,” Carlson adds. “You’re right there with the ‘big boys’ doing exactly what they do and gaining real work experience, it’s a great chance to find out if it’s what you want to do.”