How Thomas Cook Created His Career from Scratch

By Jose Lopez Bernal

Engulfed by thousands of lights and fans, the slender 25-year-old 6’7” Kalamazoo College alumnus Thomas Cook ‘21 appeared on thousands of TV screens around Western Michigan as the Detroit Lions played the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1992.

Cook was able to fulfill his childhood dream to cover the Lions in front of tens of thousands by the age of 25. As the brand new sports director of Grand Rapids’ Fox 17, he was flown out to San Francisco to report on the game.

“It was as picturesque as it gets,” said Cook.

Born in Grand Blanc, Mich., Thomas Cook has put sports at the center of his life since he first stepped foot on the basketball court at age 5. Growing up about an hour north of Ann Arbor, Cook watched Michigan State basketball religiously and dreamed of one day playing college ball himself.

Cook played basketball all four years of high school, and he was such a strong player and student he was noticed by a couple of coaches at the collegiate level. Around this time, Cook developed an interest in sports journalism, specifically sports broadcasting. He felt that the best decision for his future was attending Kalamazoo College began of the academic rigor. He said that the academic rigor of K really helped him in his future.

“I felt that I could really create my own path at K—which ultimately, I did,” said Cook.

Starting college, Cook was unsure what he wanted his future to look like. Although he had an interest in sports journalism, he was not certain he wanted to pursue it as a career yet. He took both documentary classes offered at K in his first year due to his interest in the film & media studies concentration. He also took business courses at the time because many of his teammates were also taking those courses.

Cook ultimately majored in business and completed the film & media studies concentration as well as took all the journalism classes offered and earned a minor in English.

“What impressed me about Thomas was that he knew what he wanted from the start,” said Marin Heinritz, the journalism professor at Kalamazoo College. She explained that Cook’s motivation and drive were admirable, he was eager to learn and do anything it took to pursue the career that he wanted.

That determination was evident as early as his freshman year, when he searched for internships and emailed the sports director at WJRT, an ABC-affiliated radio station in Flint, as a shot in the dark. The station responded quickly and Cook interned there the summer between his first and second year.

It was his first exposure to broadcasting. “I was just a fly on the wall,” he said. “I was just trying to grow and learn.”

While he did not get as much experience being on air or reporting stories himself, shadowing the reporters gave him hands-on experience that clued him into the work that goes into broadcasting. He learned some invaluable hands-on skills such as writing for broadcast, shooting games, and even some experience editing for the station.

“Loved it, loved it,” Cook said about his time at WJRT. “After that, I kind of knew, okay I want to go into sports broadcasting and television,” Cook said. “I just wanted to go start working if I could have.”

Cook used his connections to gain more experience in broadcast. The sports director from WJRT connected Cook to a station in Lansing, Mich., where he filmed high school sports games and edited videos for the stations. He also had a friend working in Detroit covering the Detroit Tigers whom he was able to shadow as well. While shadowing, he was able to see the process of shooting and editing in the large market of the MLB.

At this point Cook was certain that this was what he wanted to do with his life, and even though he had opportunities to just work full time, he opted to further his education first. He applied to graduate school in journalism and was accepted into Syracuse University. At the time he was skeptical, but now he realizes “it was the best decision of my life.”

At Syracuse, Cook participated in a sports media program that involved shooting and covering games, he also learned writing with a focus on broadcast writing. College he worked on his writing intensely, but this was the first time he was taught specifically how to write for TV. He learned so well at Syracuse he earned a student award of excellence for an article he wrote about the school’s goalkeeper who had recently returned from an injury.

The award was a big deal for Cook because it really helped him believe in himself. “That was a really cool moment because it was the first time that my hard work was really being noticed by other people. It told me that I was good enough and that I belonged,” said Cook.

While in Syracuse, one of Cook’s peers told him about WKTV, a station in Utica N.Y., that was understaffed and needed a sports reporter. Every weekend, after a full week of classes, he made the hour-long commute from Syracuse and worked at 5 or 6 in the morning.

“I was a college student, but I wasn’t out on Friday nights, you know? I had to be at the station the next morning,” Cook said.

WKTV was Cook’s first job as an on-air reporter. At the station, he did everything he’s doing now. In his internships, he would often simply be observing and taking notes on what the people around him were doing, but now he was doing all the work himself.

“That was a grind,” he said, though it was well worth it. “Getting that real-world experience was super valuable, really fun, and really prepared me for the real world out there.”

Following grad school, with the experience he gained at WKTV, he applied to nearly 40 jobs and after only hearing back from a few, he secured a position as a sports reporter at Fox 47 in Lansing.

In Lansing, he covered high school, collegiate and professional sports. Cook was now working as a sports reporter full-time, finally getting to use all the skills he had been training before.

As a reporter in Lansing and a lifelong Michigan State basketball fan, his time in Lansing was special. He specifically notes that covering Tom Izzo was a very special experience since he had grown up seeing him coach the Spartans.

After nearly two years in Lansing, Cook stayed with Fox but moved to Fox 17 in Grand Rapids where he became the sports director at the mere age of 25.
But it didn’t just happen. He was hungry, making sure that get the job that he wanted. He was driven, and that was his biggest asset throughout his time in school. He is grateful for his time at K because he believes that his time at K taught him to handle high rigor and high workload. From his freshman year, he was constantly looking to make new connections to get “his foot in the door” easier.

With so much passion and desire to improve, it’s often easy to get lost in the work and not pay attention to all of your accomplishments. Cook claims that with the work cycle of constant reporting of games, he sometimes gets “numb” to his situation. What now is a regular workday for him, was just a dream he wanted to pursue not even 5 years ago.

When he takes a step back and reflects on his quick progression, admires all of his accomplishments. He thinks back to late nights filled with work and writing, his classes with Dr. Heinritz, compares it to where he is now, and is thankful for how K helped him carve his own path exactly how he wanted.

“Whatever drives you, whatever your passion is, follow it, there’s a path to do it. There’s a support at K to do it.”