Amber Lynn Carroll had aspirations of becoming an actor when she joined the staff of her high school TV station.

“I was the kid that would wear plastic heels to the grocery store, all decked out in a dress. And I was always theatrical,” Carroll said.

But when no one wanted to cover sports at the station, Carroll took on the challenge and teachers noticed how her face lit up on camera, noting her natural talent in sports broadcasting.

Her dreams took on a new shape as she grew to love journalism, she told an audience as a keynote speaker for TASTE, an annual event that matches professionals in the media field with Fresno State students.

TASTE is a student-run, biannual event hosted by the Media, Communications and Journalism department where professionals “take a student to eat,” which is what the acronym stands for. Sponsored by the College of Arts and Humanities and the Fresno State Alumni Chapter, the event was held at the Smittcamp Alumni House and is the first in-person event since 2018 due to COVID-19.

“The college is always happy to support events that celebrate our students and their futures. And we were really delighted when MCJ reached out to us because we want the best for our students,” said Honora Chapman, dean of the College of Arts and Humanities.

Students, faculty and TASTE mentors networked and socialized at the beginning of the elegant, colorful event, which was decorated with purple and yellow flowers.

Everyone then gathered in one room to listen to Carroll’s speech.

Carroll idealized women in the journalism field, like sportscaster ​​Erin Jill Andrews. She also grew up watching Patricia Susan Summitt, head coach for women’s college basketball at the University of Tennessee. She then became a student at that college, covering Summitt and the Lady Vols herself, and graduated in 2013.

Her career quickly grew, reporting on baseball in Savannah, Georgia, and then Baltimore, Maryland. But in 2019, Carroll suffered a traumatic moment in her life, losing her younger brother, Jake Pennycuff.

“My brother was 22 when I lost him to suicide, and that age is so crucial for me. He and I had so many talks about careers and what he wanted to do,” Carroll said.

She thought it was important to share the highs and lows of her life when talking to Fresno State students as a keynote speaker for the TASTE event on Wednesday, April 12. She said her struggles with depression and anxiety were crucial for students to hear.

She said those kinds of conversations helped her brother at the time, listening to his big sister’s problems and being vulnerable.

“Being open and transparent with what I was going through and talking to him always helped him, so I just wanted to be me today and be open with all the students,” Carroll said.

“I can relate in some way with what I’ve gone through because I wish that somebody would have opened up to me when I was younger and just starting out, saying, ‘It’s OK to not be OK,'” she added.

Carroll is now a broadcaster for MedWatch Today and a founder of Team Jake, a nonprofit organization spreading awareness of suicide and mental health.

“I’ve seen a lot of success stories and heard a lot of success stories. And the common theme of most of those stories is that there’s always an individual that gave them an opportunity, and they capitalized on the opportunity,” said Cedric Bridgewater, an MCJ student who helped organize the event.

Carroll said she wants to be an individual that provides job opportunities and mental health resources, emphasizing a work-life balance.

Coming from a religious family in Nashville, Tennessee, those topics were not discussed or prioritized, saying those issues would be “prayed away.”

Her advice to students is that it’s OK to take a break and say no to work to focus on oneself. That life will have ups and downs. She noted, especially in the journalism field, every day is a different schedule and there will be people who criticize or tell reporters who they should be.

“I think my mental health is something I struggle with every single day. So it’s always a battle. Some days I just wake up, and I don’t know why I feel the way I do. I’ve learned to just embrace that and take it in,” Carroll said.

Carroll was one of the many professionals advising students at the TASTE event. Three weeks before, students were assigned a specific mentor in similarly situated fields as their majors.

Bridgewater said it’s great to see the early stages of the event come to reality, and it’s essential to have these mentors to propel his and fellow students’ careers.

“I’m a visual person. Seeing is believing, so I like things that are tangible. I like people that are tangible and stories that are tangible… So I think this would be helpful for a lot of people,” he said.

Jim Boren, a Fresno State MCJ professor, was one of the TASTE mentors. He said it was great to see the strong turnout, with 45 students and 31 mentors enrolling.

He highlighted Carroll’s speech and the energy students brought to the event.

“I always tell my students to get people’s names. Get their connections. You never know, a year or two years from now, they might be a hiring manager,” Boren said.

When he was a young journalist, Boren said mentors like those in TASTE were crucial because they “showed [him] the ropes.”

Emily Crabtree, an MCJ student with an emphasis in broadcasting, said she heard about the event through social media and thought it was an excellent opportunity to network. Skylar Karle, an account coordinator and social media specialist at JP Marketing, mentored her.

“She had really good insight into [advertisement] PR because I know nothing about that field,” Crabtree said.

“It was really nice to see how the marketing firm works and how they worked with clients to get a product out there,” she added.

Crabtree doesn’t go to many school events, but said it was nice to see her peers and other mentors. For her, it was great the entire MCJ department was “meshing and working together.”

Carroll said seeing the students Fresno State has to offer was great. She didn’t know if her speech impacted students, feeling “imposter syndrome,” until they approached her at the end of the TASTE event.

“We’re all just trying to figure out what we’re supposed to do and who we’re supposed to be,” she said.

She said her best advice at the event was to know your worth and make time for self-care. Like many youths she helps at her nonprofit, Carroll said she sees her brother in the students at the TASTE event.

“I just want to be a big sister to everyone,” she said. “I want to take everyone under my wing and give them a big hug and just let them know it’s OK.”