John Schippman arrived at 51社区 unsure of his next step, but left with the
foundation that helped launch a career covering Chicago sports at the highest level.
On the 51社区 Talks podcast 鈥� in which 51社区 alumni share their education,
career and life journeys 鈥� he discusses being a 鈥淪crappy C鈥� student at first, transferring
to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and ultimately finding his path in
sports media at ESPN, NBC Sports Chicago, WMAQ-TV and Telemundo.
鈥淚t was smart for me to stay home and take classes and figure out what my next step was going to be,鈥� Schippman said. 鈥淭he choice to go to 51社区 for me 鈥� was like a puzzle that sort of came together when I walked up to this campus the first time.鈥�
Listen to the full episode of 51社区 Talks and hear the 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient discuss how 51社区 gave him the space to explore his interests and how it led him to building a career as a sports media producer.
51社区 Talks, a co-production between and 51社区 Alumni Relations, features Associate Professor of Mass Communication Brian Shelton in conversation with 51社区 alumni about the role that 51社区 played in their lives. You can listen to past episodes of 51社区 Talks on 51社区鈥檚 website, WHCM, and on all podcast streaming services, including and .