Hello! My name is Robert Chambers Kolanz, but I go by Robby. I'm from Palos Verdes Estates, California and attended Palos Verdes High School. I'm the youngest of 4 kids, with siblings who are 30, 27, and 21 years old. I consider my relationships with my family and friends as the most important parts of my life. Without their support, I wouldn't be half the person I am today. I'm so thankful for their blessings and I do my best to remind them as much as I can.
Currently, I'm a junior at the greatest school in the world, USC. I'm a Broadcast and Digital Journalism major and also have a minor in Sports Media Studies. Other than my studies, I'm heavily involved here on campus. Here are a few of the things I'm involved with:
1. Wide reciever on the football team
2. Student Intern at the USC Sports Information office
3. Multimedia Journalist for Annenberg TV News
4. Trojan Athletic Senate Executive Board
5. Member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity
As you can see, I love to be involved in many activities outside of the classroom. This passion I developed to get involved really began in high school. In fact, an experience with a high school broadcast journalism team called "Live From 205" is one of the biggest reasons I'm a Trojan today.
I have been enamored with the broadcast journalism industry since a very young age. My grandfather worked at KTLA as a journalist for 63 years, so I was constantly around the industry growing up. When I found out that I didn't have to wait until college to try out broadcast journalism, I was ecstatic! My first opportunity to try out the news industry was amazingly right down the street at my high school.
Live From 205 is a student-run broadcast journalism program at Palos Verdes High School. I was fortunate enough to be a part of the 205 team from my sophomore year on through my senior year of high school. As a sophomore and junior, I was the sports anchor of the program. Then, as a senior I was honored to be the lead anchor of the program. During my senior year, we were recognized as the number one weekly news show in the nation. It was an awesome accomplishment to go out on as a unit.
My experience in 205 was nothing short of amazing. Thanks to a well-versed instructor and a great group of teammates, I grew up extensively and matured as a journalist. My passion for the industry grew immensely. I knew it was what I wanted to study in college. And yet again, just like in high school, the best situation for me to further my knowledge was just down the road 45 minutes at USC.
So now, I'm here. I'm here at the best undergraduate broadcast journalism program in the nation. I'm here with the most ambitious and inspiring classmates I could ever ask for. Best of all, I'm here in a place that feels like home.
I don't know what my future holds, but I do know that USC is the ultimate place for me to prepare for it. The most overriding passion in my professional life is and has always been sports. I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be involved with the sports industy. For this reason, sports journalism is something that is very attractive to me. To be able to combine two of my greatest passions would be an unbelievable blessing.
The path to a career in sports may well possibly be in broadcast journalism, so I'm very eager to continue to improve my craft. Whether it be a football analyst on ESPN or an NFL scout for the Denver Broncos, I'm going to continue to work hard here at USC to enhance my ability to enter the sports world.
So, there's a little bit about me. I hope you enjoyed my first attempt at HTML code and thank you for this opportunity!
