Eric Braley is currently in his 18th year as a professor in the Communication and Media department at the University of Northern Iowa. After leaving his hometown of Nevada, Iowa to attend UNI out of high school, the university has made a huge impact on his life. A lot of that can be traced back to his time spent as a sports writer for the Northern Iowan.

Braley was a sports writer at the NI from 2001 to 2003, where he had the opportunity to cover a large variety of different sports while working with plenty of talented student journalists.

“What I loved about it was that’s where I made my closest friends,” said Braley. “I still keep in touch with writers and editors that were at the Northern Iowan when I was there.”

“I have vivid memories of Sunday night, us all working on our own stories,” Braley continued. “As far as student organizations are concerned, one of my favorite memories of UNI was working at the Northern Iowan because of that bond I had with the other students.”

Braley’s time at the Northern Iowan has also impacted his adult life and career in ways he couldn’t have possibly imagined at the time. After graduating from UNI, Braley wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted to do, and he spent a summer backpacking across Europe. While in Italy, Braley received an email that would change the course of his life.

“I check my email, and they offered me a graduate assistantship to work in the Sports Information/Media Relations office, because they know of me as a sports writer,” Braley explained. “They knew that I could write, and they wanted me to write for UNI Athletics.”

This opportunity was only made possible by the connections Braley made throughout his time at the Northern Iowan. While attending graduate school isn’t something that was previously on his radar, Braley was excited for the opportunity.

“I hadn’t considered grad school,” Braley mentioned. “I said sure, let’s do it, and because of that, it put me on this trajectory to teach at UNI, and this is my 18th year of teaching, and to do all of the production and video for UNI Athletics.”

On top of his work teaching classes at UNI, Braley also owns Around the Corner Productions in Cedar Falls, a video production company that makes promotional videos for companies around the country, and also works closely with UNI Athletics to create team hype videos and other online video content, as well as produce a large percentage of their television broadcasts. Braley is also an announcer that can be seen on sports broadcasts around the state, but none of this would’ve been possible without his time spent at the Northern Iowan.

“Had I not worked at the Northern Iowan, made that connection, that door would not have been open, and I know for a fact that I would not have the current professional career that I have right now, both as an instructor at UNI, and with the sports journalism and broadcasting.”