52 hours and 13 minutes

Blog by: Josh Shelton

I knew there was going to be a fair bit of driving involved with our trip down to Florida.  I just probably shouldn’t have added it up.
 
52 hours and some change?!? That is just insane.
 
That is literally two full days (and then some) of sitting in a car.  Over an eight-day trip less than six of those days were not spent in a car.
 
Now don’t get me wrong, I loved covering baseball in Florida.  I was on the field for crying out loud.  I highly doubt I’d have this kind of experience before college at any other university.
 
I got to talk to Washington Nationals prospect and Terre Haute native Derek Eitel, New York Mets manager Terry Collins and even some fans that traveled to spring training from as far as Rochester, Minnesota.
 
I produced content that has the potential to be published throughout the Midwest region on professional news outlets as a sophomore in college (well, an advanced sophomore).
 
One cannot put a price tag on the amount of experience I am taking away from this trip.  My butt sure is sore though.
 
Granted there were obviously breaks in between (otherwise that would probably count as cruel and unusual punishment) so we had the chance to stretch our legs and relieve ourselves.  But 52 hours? Yeesh.
 
Besides the work experience and resume booster that this trip was, I made some friendships I didn’t think I would make.
 
I don’t know why I didn’t expect to make any sort of friendships, but I should have considering how much time we were going to be with each other.  Plus, 52 hours in a car, kind of hard not to get to know the people around you.
 
Either way I will walk away from this trip with new friends, new experience and new memories; all of which I hope last a lifetime.
 
Ball State Spring Training class: 12/10 would recommend.