College Corner: Simon Williams '18, Arizona State
For Simon Williams ’18 of Wynnewood, there was never really another option for his career path. “For as long as I can remember, I answered the question ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ with ‘sports broadcaster.’” Williams says.
His love of sports broadcasting was pushed even further when he started at the Prep in the fall of 2014. Just a year before Williams started at 17th and Girard, a brand new club was getting off the ground. The WSJP Student Broadcasting Club was created in 2013, and since its inception, it has become one of the more popular activities at 17th and Girard. The club keeps the Prep community up to date on all things Prep sports, from scores and news updates to broadcasting games live over the internet and radio. Williams joined in the club’s early stages.
“Simon was one of the students who helped raise WSJP to another level,” says Bill Avington ’90, the club’s moderator. “His attention to detail, his love of broadcasting, and the time that he put into our club helped us move forward in a way that has made WSJP into something that other schools want to emulate.”
After graduating from the Prep in 2018, Williams packed his bags and headed west to Arizona State University to study at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “What ultimately made me pick ASU was the specifics to the journalism program,” says Williams. “[ASU] is the only college in the country that offers a bachelor’s degree in sports journalism. I couldn’t pass up the chance to spend four years studying what I have loved my whole life.” A sophomore at ASU, Williams has gotten to take a class taught by a journalist for The New York Times, and has interviewed the likes of golfer Phil Mickelson and ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
Williams has also had the chance to flex his on-air skills as well. “I have taken up on-air roles in a couple student organizations covering men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, football, hockey, lacrosse and softball,” he says. “I have also hosted studio shows, done stand-up reports and interviewed coaches.”
Despite the great access and opportunity that ASU provides, Williams still credits the Prep for a lot of his successes. “The staff at the Prep that inspired me the most were the ones that let me be me,” he says.
Williams is living his childhood dream, but still fondly remembers his days at Mother Prep. “I look back on high school with a laugh. We had so much fun,” Williams says. “I think what I like about it all the most, though, is that my brother, Lucas (’22), gets to experience it all for himself now.”
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