Story by Andrea Perez. Edited by Alyssa Fedorovich.
If you’re sitting across from 22-year-old Nicole Sawyer, in a classroom, or a café in downtown St. Petersburg, and ask her to talk about herself, you’ll be surprised and honestly, quite enthralled.
Although Nicole is currently seeking a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Media Studies, from the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg, she has also been training as a professional wrestler since 2014.
“Wrestling is my true passion and what I hope to do with my life. I work around the state wrestling and usually my weekends consist of traveling from one end of the state to the other,” expresses Nicole.
As she tackles with journalism assignments, Nicole still manages to train four days a week at the Tampa Bay Pro Wrestling ring owned by Jay Lethal, a former trainer and professional wrestling champion. She adds, with a matter-of-fact tone and relaxed attitude, that a typical day for her consists of classes, assignments, training, and wrestling shows.
The balance she’s able to maintain in her daily life allows her to continue developing journalism skills. Last semester she worked for The Crow’s Nest as a writer, and was even asked to write a profile on herself, which the undergrad describes as one of her favorite on-campus assignments.
“It was cool to kind of explain my story to people, because it’s almost like having two lives. Being a college student, and then being a professional athlete, so it was cool to explain that the two worlds come together,” she explained with a candid smile.
Her passion also comes with responsibilities. While being interviewed, Nicole holds poise that gives away discipline.
As a newly Neighborhood News Bureau (NNB) reporter, Nicole expects to learn more about Midtown. She’s particularly interested in working on a story regarding food accessibility issues the community of Midtown could be facing, following the decision Wal-Mart made to close down one of its stores, located on 22nd Street South.
She realizes that her journalistic intention, combined with the knowledge she has obtained so far from reading “St. Petersburg’s Historical African American Neighborhoods” makes her enjoy NNB very much.
“I’m learning about an entire race and culture with a significant background that as someone foreign to the area, I didn’t even know was a thing,” the Palm Harbor resident adds.
Nicole also want others to learn what she is learning in NNB. “I’d like my fellow classmates and friends to get to know more about Midtown, given what I’ve learned already. I feel it’s a very stigmatized area with no real reason to be such,” she said. “I’d like my friends to know it’s a perfectly fine area with nothing to worry about. To educate yourselves on a significant history is important and crucial to our development as individuals and as a society,” Nicole added.
This semester you’ll find the longtime athlete reporting on social issues, and still arriving on time for her classes. It’s possible that weekly training enhances speed walking. Just ask Nicole.