Commence ladder climbing: Now.

On Saturday night, I covered my very first professional hockey game. After months of applying for jobs and internships, weeks of trying to iron out details for this position, and more frustrated tears than I care to admit, I finally wrote my first game recap...and the experience was everything I always hoped it would be.

First of all, the game was awesome. The Cyclones won their regular season opener, 4-2, and the crowd was great. Anthony Luciani scored two goals and got in a momentum-shifting fight, so I had plenty of story material (if you're interested in reading my story, click here). I was pleasantly surprised by how easily the words came to me, despite the loud sound of the crowd, the excitement of the game, and the nerves of my first night on the job.

I have spent years dreaming about this job (or one like it). But as the first game approached, I started to worry that it wouldn't be what I expected or that I would feel too stressed out to enjoy it. I was wrong.

I'm beyond excited about this internship. This is exactly what I want to be doing and I'm so lucky to have this opportunity in my hometown. I'm prepared to work hard and improve. I have so much to learn and this is the perfect place to grow as a writer, reporter, and interviewer. In a couple weeks, I get to write some feature stories and I'm really looking forward to working on that type of writing.

I know that some games will be more challenging than others. I'll struggle to find a good storyline and have to pry for a decent, usable quote. But, even with all the new things I learned on Saturday (from where to park to how to appropriately write about a hockey brawl), the one thing that motivated me the most was something I've known all along: I love hockey.

Seriously, this is exactly what I want to do. While watching warmups from the press box, I had the same excitement and love for the game as the fans around me. I may not always like the outcome, I may struggle to find the right words, and the novelty will eventually wear off. Some nights will be worse than others, but nothing will ever change how I feel about hockey...and if I can convey an ounce of my passion for the sport, I think I'll be just fine.