As a college student sent to Cleveland, Ohio, to cover the Republican National Convention, I was, of course, nervous.
I still have a year left until I get my Bachelor's degree from the University of Florida in Journalism and had never covered such a major political event for the country. So I flew to Cleveland on Sunday July 17 with butterflies in my stomach, not knowing what to expect.
It's. Cleveland. Day. ✈️ Get ready for all the Tweets, updates and Florida politi-know how at the RNC this week! #caitiecoverscleveland
— Caitie Switalski (@caitielee0917) July 17, 2016
It was a fantastic experience to meet fellow reporters from NPR affiliate stations, and when I say that NPR and affiliate reporters worked as a team all week to help each other out bring their audiences the best stories - I mean it. Jackson, Mississippi public radio helped Gainesville, Florida public radio who helped WLRN here in Miami.
The Gator Nation is everywhere, even at #RNCinCLE @UF @MarieEdinger @WUFTNews pic.twitter.com/5butNhHtkH
— Caitie Switalski (@caitielee0917) July 19, 2016
On Day One of the convention, after hiking two miles from a parking space with forty pounds of equipment to the Quicken Loans Arena, a sweaty me turned around at the security checkpoint to meet CBS Sunday Morning's Mo Rocca.
Just got to shake @MoRocca 's hand in a parking lot by Media Row. You made me want to be a journalist thanks for saying hi! @CBSSunday
— Caitie Switalski (@caitielee0917) July 18, 2016
Dan Rather frequented Media Row, as I sat crisscross on the floor next to the NPR booth, cutting audio and frantically putting stories online about what the Florida delegates were up to.
I would look up and see Dr. Ben Carson just feet away, as I sipped on a few (OK, I admit it, it was rather one hundred) coffees a day.
Though I desperately wished a place to get my beloved cafe cubano or cortaditos close to the Convention, I am sad to report there was none in sight.
I was recording stories on the sidewalks of busy streets inside of the convention's security perimeter. Quiet space was hard to come by in the Media Row or the convention itself. By the end of the day, there was permanent background chatter in my eardrums.
Cameramen and other local reporters from the sunshine state kept asking me if I had covered the 2012 Tampa RNC. I was still in high school then, I told them.
Walking around outside of the convention, there were indeed protests, but none quite like the major TV media outlets were portraying them. I watched to see how TV reporters were covering the protests after I'd made my daily radio deadlines, and the large channels made the protests look larger than they were. Half the people in the camera's shots were journalists with cameras, just looking for a story.
"Hate loves Trump, but love trumps hate"- protesters signs read on 4th St. Outside Quicken Loans Arena #RNCinCLE
— Caitie Switalski (@caitielee0917) July 20, 2016
Cleveland was prepared to arrest up to one thousand people a day and by the end of the week only needed to arrest about two dozen protesters. This dichotomy I feel was not covered by the mainstream national media.
Throughout the week, as I went to interview delegates from Florida at their hotel each morning, I ran into two delegates in particular that said things I will take with me in the reporting I do from now on.
Bill Folchi, a jovial man, got emotional when he told me that Donald Trump can be the greatest president the U.S. has ever had. This was such a powerful interview, and one I will remember because of the sincerity.
Delegate from Miami Lakes Jessica Fernandez wholeheartedly supported Marco Rubio's bid for the presidency. Yet, she told me she came around to back Donald Trump because of her trust in her political party. As Florida's youngest delegate at 31 years old, her faith in the party system is what stuck with me.
By the end of my time reporting in Cleveland, I had learned that you can report anywhere, and in almost any condition. Public radio is made by moments that people describe experiencing, and the 2016 Republican National Convention was full of those.
The first thing I did when I came back to Miami on Friday July 22 was to go find some cafecito.
Lucky for me, I didn't have to go far.