Driven By Dreams

Being a student-athlete is difficult, and it’s even harder to advance one’s career outside of sports as a student-athlete. However, Nyla Cherry, a Maryland track and field student-athlete, proves that passion allows one to be themselves and love what they do off the track.  

The junior is passionate about sports. From a young age, Cherry competed in and simply watched them. She always knew she wanted to work in sports, as some of her earliest memories were watching football with her family after coming home from Sunday church. Once she was a junior in high school, Cherry realized she had a particular interest in being on TV. 

“Journalism and sports journalism specifically, just found a way to combine all of my interests into one,” Cherry said.

Despite being a busy student-athlete, Cherry has made the most of the resources around her and advanced her passion for journalism. In March, she was one of 14 student-athletes chosen from each Big Ten institution to attend Minneapolis's CBS Sports Ambassador Program.  

Since then, Cherry has attended the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Convention and Career Fair, landed a summer internship, and formed a relationship with CBS Sports’ Vice President of Workplace Culture and Diversity Initiatives, Ndidi Massay. 

The NABJ Convention took place from July 31 to Aug. 4. Cherry became a member of NABJ, which is headquartered on Maryland’s campus in Knight Hall. Her mother influenced her to attend the convention in Illinois, seeing it as an excellent opportunity to network and continue growing her passion for sports journalism. 

Cherry credits her prior experience in Minneapolis and the Maryland Made staff for preparing her for the convention. 

“I’m really thankful to Maryland Made because them sending me to Minnesota prepared me for that,” Cherry said. “My older brother ended up traveling with me, but I was still navigating the conference alone. Maryland Made gave me the confidence to just go for it.”

At the conference, Cherry explained that she met and networked with many famous Black journalists. She even saw many people she met on her previous trip to Minneapolis. She also saw the production of ESPN’s First Take with Stephen A. Smith. 

“That was the first time, I'd say, where it really felt like my dreams were real,” Cherry said. “Talking to so many people who are doing what I aspire to do, especially people who look like me, honestly meant everything to me.”

One moment that stood out to Cherry was when Donald Trump spoke to the media in attendance. Many journalists withdrew from the conference because they were outraged against the former president.

Cherry believes she learned a valuable lesson in minimizing her opinions and interacting with people with whom she may disagree. Although she disagrees with many things Trump has done or said in the past, she remained composed and objective  — a core tenant of journalism.

The track and field athlete interned with Pepco Holdings Incorporated — an electric utility corporation — over the summer. Although outside of sports journalism, the experience opened her to new ways of communicating with people from various backgrounds. 

“The utility Corporation allowed me to learn new things, specifically how to communicate with different people of different backgrounds,” Cherry said. “It just helped me become more versatile as a journalist.”

Cherry also grew her relationship with Massay after the CBS Sports Ambassador Program. She utilized Maryland Made’s mentor program and has since remained connected with her. 

“A lot of people can be intimidated, seeing people who do what they want to do and feel a little less than others, but Maryland Made has taught me to just ask questions,” Cherry said. “I've realized that most of the time, people want to help you.” 

Cherry’s new experiences and career developments since attending the CBS Sports Ambassador Program allowed her to kick her career endeavors into high gear, focus on internship selection, and get her name out there in the world of sports journalism. 

“I live by the motto of YOLO,” Cherry said. “A lot of people told me I wouldn't be able to be as advanced in my career as I am because I’m a student-athlete, and it’s hard. But I'm a big believer in not telling myself No. I'm always going to find a way to do it.”