18 | STEPS 2023 “The biggest thing I took away from Lancaster was confidence,” he says. “The degree is important, but everything else is equally important.” For him that means the whole package - a psychology degree that has fed his ethical approach to his sports journalism career, learning the broadcasting ropes at Bailrigg FM, competing in sports including the Roses competition, developing leadership skills through college activities and establishing a huge network of friends. The evidence of his professional success has been shown through several industry awards, such as those bestowed by the International Sports Press Association and Sports Journalists’ Association in recent years. “I could not have done what I am doing now without my time at Lancaster,” he muses, as he reviews his many current roles with sports bodies such as the International Olympic Committee, BBC Breakfast, World Aquatics, Team GB, Channel 4 and the Women’s Sports Alliance. His vocal support for Lancaster, as well as his career achievements, have also gained him a LU Alumni Award in 2022. It was the Open Day which decided the sports-mad teenager from Wigan that Lancaster was where he was going to study. Nick finds it hard to believe that his first-year self came to Lancaster lacking the confidence to pick up a ringing phone in an office, whereas the young man who left three years later was able to address crowds of hundreds, and already a dab hand at radio presenting to a virtual audience of thousands. Now a well-established freelance radio and TV sports broadcaster with 14 years at the BBC under his belt as well as 23 Olympics, Paralympics and Commonwealths, Nick ascribes his transformation to the whole experience of being an undergraduate at Lancaster: How I Found My Confidence at Lancaster University NICK HOPE | PSYCHOLOGY, 2005, GRIZEDALE Award-winning sports journalist and presenter, Nick Hope tells how he went from a shy first-year student to establishing a career in broadcasting across the globe.
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