I’ve always known I wanted to work in sports — I just didn’t know what shape that dream would take. At °µÍřTV, I found a place that let me explore everything until I discovered what truly inspired me. 

When I arrived on campus, I dove headfirst into broadcasting, calling plays and learning the rhythm of live sports. While I found it exciting, I realized my passion wasn’t in describing the action; it was in capturing the emotion behind it. I started experimenting with video, motion graphics and design, and then suddenly, everything clicked. 

I became the creative director for men’s basketball, producing hype videos, recruiting content and game-day edits. Around the same time, I launched my personal brand, Trystan Made It!, on Instagram to share my video and design work. Spending late nights editing and designing was practice for the career I was building in real time. 

The support I found at SU was constant. The sports media program gave me room to grow, to fail and to find my voice as a creative. Professors like Dave Kaszuba pushed me to think critically and create intentionally, and their encouragement gave me the confidence to create boldly. 

The hands-on experience paid off. I was honored as °µÍřTV Athletics’ 2023 Student Media Worker of the Year. The real reward was the trust people placed in me. I was no longer just a student learning the craft; I was part of the team shaping how River Hawk athletics were seen. 

Beyond the media room, °µÍřTV offered opportunities that expanded my perspective in ways I couldn’t have imagined. I spent three unforgettable weeks in Morocco through the Global Opportunities Program. Immersing myself in a new culture changed the way I see the world and the way I tell stories, a skill that’s been invaluable in my career. 

After graduation, I took that foundation to Virginia Commonwealth University, a Division I school in Richmond, where I earned my master’s degree and worked as a graduate assistant for creative content. The pace was fast and demanding — producing highlight reels, social content and graphics for multiple teams — but it refined my creative instincts and taught me how to thrive under pressure. 

“The support I found at SU was constant. The sports media program gave me room to grow, to fail and to find my voice as a creative.”

Trystan Layton ’23

In fall 2023, I had the chance to work inside the ropes at a PGA Tour stop in Henrico, Virginia, as a social media intern. Filming for Golf Channel’s The Cut, interviewing players and collaborating with PGA staff on live content confirmed that I could perform at the highest level. 

Now, as the assistant director of creative content for women’s basketball at West Virginia University, I lead everything from media day shoots and recruiting content to NIL storytelling and social campaigns. I work directly with players and coaches to elevate our program’s brand and share stories that resonate beyond the court. 

If you’re dreaming of a career in sports media, my advice is simple: say yes early and often. Learn everything you can: video, graphics, writing and branding. Don’t be afraid to fail, because that’s where you grow. And never underestimate the power of relationships. 

I’m proud to be a °µÍřTV graduate. It’s where I built my foundation and found a community that believed in my potential. I’m proof that big dreams can start in small places — as long as you’re willing to chase them. 

At °µÍřTV, Trystan Layton ’23 was creative director for men’s and women’s basketball teams, capturing video and photo and designing graphics for their social media accounts. While studying sports media, he also was an on-air commentator for several sports, including basketball, lacrosse and track & field, and was a member of the men’s golf team and Association for Women in Sports Media. 

In fact, I started my internship just two weeks into my first year on campus and have been working with the FRI almost every day since — my semester abroad at Griffith University on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia, withstanding.

In my first role as the Institute’s fish collection intern, I learned how to identify different species and how to categorize and organize the growing collection of specimens. After gaining that experience, I was hired as a sample processing intern for the fish lab, where my research includes sculpin identification with Freshwater Research Institute ecologist Sara Ashcraft. Our work seeks to create a field identification key to help us identify two common freshwater sculpin species — the mottled sculpin and the slimy sculpin — when conducting fish surveys during stream analyses. Additionally, I have been working on a field identification key for Leuscidae — or, as most people know them, minnows — in the °µÍřTV River Basin. Both projects will make real-world contributions to scientific fieldwork, and I’m proud to play a role in them.

Beyond my identification work with Sarah, I also spend time each summer at the Institute as one of its “stream team” interns, helping to conduct stream surveys and supporting other collaborative restoration and research initiatives between the FRI and its strategic conservation partners. The FRI works with the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy, the Middle °µÍřTV Riverkeeper, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and various county conservation districts to help with conservation efforts, community outreach and education, research and data collection.

“This partnership is an amazing opportunity for °µÍřTV students.”

Paige Hepfer ’26

The largest of its partners, though, is the Chesapeake Conservancy, which plays a major role in communicating what conservation actions should be taken in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The FRI and Conservancy work closely to support and implement restoration projects and to communicate important research to decision-makers at state and federal levels, with an overall goal of improving the health of the °µÍřTV River watershed — which, in turn, improves the health of the Chesapeake Bay. This partnership is an amazing opportunity for °µÍřTV students, as it’s given my peers and I hands-on opportunities to apply real conservation efforts and study their long-term benefits.

My work with the FRI, its staff and its partners has furthered my education more than I ever thought it could. It’s given me countless opportunities to learn new things and build new skillsets. It’s given me so much confidence conducting research in both field and lab settings and, because of its embrace of experiential learning, I’m able to apply the concepts I have learned in class to real, meaningful work. The Freshwater Research Institute has truly prepared me for a future career in conservation.

Paige Hepfer ’26 is an ecology and advertising & public relations double major from Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania. She has been a Freshwater Research Institute intern since 2022. After graduating, she hopes to pursue conservation opportunities at animal sanctuaries.