From graduating over 10 years ago from Hillsborough Community College (HCC) to covering the 2023 commencement for Fox 13 Tampa Bay, HCC alumni Ryan French shows the inspiring stories that first started with him.
French, a first-generation college student, enrolled at HCC in 2010, two years after graduating from high school. Since he was in middle school, he knew that he wanted to go into production and television. He was nervous about attending a four-year university and ending up in debt. “A big campus experience comes with a price,” he said. “I was recommended to go to HCC, received a grant and had no debt by the time I graduated.”
Ryan took his core classes on the Dale Mabry Campus but moved to the Ybor City Campus to pursue his art and television classes. There, he started the broadcasting club and was appointed as the first edition secretary. The club operated as a networking organization for students to form relationships with peers, inspire one another and take extra initiatives. During his time, he discovered old live-streaming gear in a closet. Ryan and his club decided to live stream a men’s basketball game and it became HCC’s first streamed sport. It was an uphill slope afterward as the club spearheaded further live-streaming of official HCC events.
During Ryan’s time in classes, he worked alongside HCC’s Radio TV Broadcast Programming Department Chair, Nerissa Lamison. When Ryan first started at HCC, he was already doing freelance work and believed he knew everything. Professor Lamison challenged his knowledge on what he didn’t know and helped him learn to take criticism and apply his efforts to future projects.
“I think with smaller class sizes, instructors have the opportunity to know you as a person. I was blessed to have a professor who not only was a news anchor, but was one at FOX 13. Nerissa challenged me and helped me get a job, well after I graduated,” he says. “She even checks in with me to this day. Those of us alums call her our ‘broadcast mama.’” Ryan was thankful to have a mentor who identified what he needed to work on. He said, “It’s invaluable. If it wasn’t for HCC, I wouldn’t have been as developed as I am now.”
After graduating from HCC, Ryan was able to start his career at ABC Action News, where he worked for five years before his current position at Fox 13 Tampa Bay. He currently works the overnight shift, tracking crime and traffic reports. He hopes to move to long-form content during the day shift, covering uplifting and inspiring stories and utilizing his trained work in drone piloting.
Looking back on HCC, his favorite memory came after he had already graduated. He didn’t walk at his own commencement ceremony, instead, he offered to help Professor Lamison record the event for others. Ten years later, in May 2023, he was asked to come back to do it again, and he felt as if he was able to relive his experience. He covered one of the Class of 2023’s oldest graduates, Richardene Caso, to showcase her inspiring story. Afterward, it reminded him of his own HCC experience, “Don’t give up,” he said. “Go in with an open mind and be prepared to work. You have to form relationships, get out there, do the work and hustle. It doesn’t end with a degree. You have to be willing to put forth the work to get people’s attention.”
“I’m really glad I gave HCC a chance. The program I went into was incredible and I don’t think I could recreate that experience anywhere else,” he said. “It really changed my perception of community colleges. It’s a pathway for people who may not have a path anywhere else. You just have to go in with an open mind.”