Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Destiny Downie stands out amongst the thousands of people making their way around East Lake Golf Club on a busy Friday morning. A native of Jamaica, Downie, 17, is wearing a black polo and pleated khaki skirt. Not exactly golf attire, especially during one of the biggest tournaments of the year, the TOUR Championship.
Downie is a senior at nearby Drew Charter School, and like so very few before her, she was selected to be in a group of students that shadowed journalists during the tournament. Downie wants to be a broadcaster when she’s done with her busy scholastic life. She plays three sports at Drew: basketball, volleyball, and her favorite of them all, tennis. She has been playing tennis since she was a little girl.
Asked what she enjoys most about the opportunity to work as a Drew Charter School media correspondent, Downie said it was the people.
“We get to cover different people and go around the course with them,” Downie, who has been in the United States since she was a baby, explained. “I get to shake hands and meet people.”
The media correspondent program is made possible by the East Lake Foundation and the TOUR Championship. Upperclassmen at Drew Charter will spend the entire tournament covering it in various ways and then writing a blog post about their day. On Friday, Downie shadowed The Atlanta Voice for her post, but it was she who was the story in many ways.
She wants to be a broadcast journalism and has plans to study in Statesboro at Georgia Southern University. She doesn’t have any particular broadcasters she looks up to, but is following a trajectory similar to the one former Univeristy of Georgia volleyball standout and current NBC Sports on-air talent Maria Taylor has taken. When Downie was told of this, she quickly jotted the name “Maria Taylor” down into the notebook she carried around throughout the day.
During the day, Downie got to watch several PGA golfers hit from the tee box and put, including St. Simons Island native Brian Harman. She also took part in a radio segment on local sports station, 680 The Fan.
She was taking full advantage of a unique opportunity to be a journalist at one of the most important golf tournaments in the sport.
“I want to build up my leadership skills so I can get into broadcasting,” she said with a broad smile.
Asked where she sees herself in five years, Downie said she’ll be finished with college, Bachelor’s degree in journalism in hand and on to the next stage of her career.
“I want to get an internship somewhere and start working towards my career goals,” she said.
Destiny is destined for greatness.
