My 15 Minutes of Fame!

So I've been wanting to start a blog, but I was having trouble thinking of the perfect first post, but then it happened.  A video from my UF reporting days went VIRAL, thanks to the awesome (and maybe a little awkward) Kristin Giannas.  It was December 2008 and the Gators had just beaten Alabama, helping them earn their place in the BCS National Championship game against Oklahoma.  The campus was buzzing about ticket sales so I decided to do a story on the student lottery system.  


It was my last day reporting for my TV2 class, and I was super nervous because the producer asked me to do a newsroom live.  I had only gone "live" a handful of times, and since it was my last day, I wanted to nail it.  The intro went great and the story played without a hitch, but then things got interesting.  One of my TV2 classmates, Kristin was working on our final TV project and went to the printer to get some papers.  Little did she know, she had walked into the shot.  When she noticed the camera light blinking, she froze, and then, well, take a look for yourself...

I could tell people in the newsroom were giggling, but I had no idea why!  My first thought was "Wow, Kara, you really bombed this."  Despite being extremely puzzled and a bit worried, I continued reading the prompter (while breaking out in a cold sweat, of course).  As I signed off with a confused, "Live from the newsroom, Kara Manelli, WUFT News," I did everything in my power to hold it together, but I had to dart my eyes around. 


After watching the newscast back, I couldn't help but laugh.  Kristin was so apologetic that she "ruined my liveshot," but she didn't ruin it.  She made it awesome and hilarious!  Little did we know that over three years later the clip would re-surface and become a YouTube sensation.  "Awkward Kristin"  was also shown on Good Morning America, Anderson Cooper's "Ridiculist," Tosh.0's blog, local news and radio stations and more!  I can sure say one thing...even though the video is funny because of Kristin and her "deer in the headlights" moment, it's cool to be a semi-internet star.  That's all for now!