Sherwood graduate Abby Isaacs (right) poses with snowboarder Jamie Anderson who won a gold medal in Women’s Slopestyle Event.

By Michael Natelli ‘14

For many newscasters (specifically, sportscasters) around the world, covering the Olympics is considered the pinnacle of their journalistic career. While she’s not quite there yet, aspiring newscaster and Sherwood graduate Abby Isaacs (‘12) did have a gold medal-worthy experience at the 2014 Winter Games interning with NBC. Now a sophomore at Syracuse University, Isaacs is studying as a broadcast/digital journalism and political science dual major.

Every two years, NBC runs an internship program (largely through Syracuse) that allows college students to intern at either the Summer or Winter Games, and after she was accepted into the program, Isaacs found herself in Sochi, Russia as an NBC Olympic guide at the Sochi Winter Olympics. As a guide, Isaacs assisted tourists with getting on and off buses, in and out of hotels and venues, and answering tourists’ questions about events and athletes.

“[I met] so many amazing and talented people,” said Isaacs. The former Warrior newspaper staffer and host of the Sherwood morning show “Warrior Wake-Up” said she hopes to host a show like “Good Morning America” in the future, and had a brush with fame when she met with renowned newscaster Matt Lauer.

Isaacs also had the chance to meet several  Olympic stars like former figure skater Kristie Yamaguchi, current figure skaters Meryl Davis, Charlie White and Gracie Gold, and Team USA Hockey stars Zach Parise, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Quick. Additionally, Isaacs attended the Opening Ceremonies and seven different events. “My favorite parts would [have] to be the Opening Ceremonies, getting a tour of Olympic Park and meeting so many people,” stated Isaacs.

While much was made in the media about questionable hospitality conditions for athletes and reporters, Isaacs wasn’t too inconvenienced. “The only issue was that the water was undrinkable and you had to let the water in the shower run for a few seconds before using it,” Isaacs said. “I didn’t have any bad experiences as far as housing. I stayed in the Heliopark in Rosa Khutor, by the mountain cluster. The facilities were great, [and had] good food.”

Now that the Olympics are over, Isaacs will be spending the rest of her semester studying abroad in London, but is making sure to visit sites before classes start in March. “NBC takes a lot of applicants from Syracuse University so [Syracuse] … made a special study abroad program [in London] for us so that we could intern in Sochi and then take classes,” said Isaacs. “Starting March 2, I’m taking four classes. Until then, I’m traveling around Europe.”