Some people know what they want to do from the time they’re young. For Joe Dennis, it was a different story.
“I don’t want to write,” he said during his teen years, “That’s boring.”
That was Dennis’ response when asked to write for volleyball at his freshman orientation. His whole life had been defined by his many hobbies and different interests, and journalism never even came of interest to him until he realized he could cover his crush, Tara Fenske. He is from Naperville, Chicago and a proud sports fan as well as many other things to this day. Dennis’ many hobbies, interests, and skills are what shape him to this day.
Dennis grew up on the South Side of Chicago, originally wanting to be a baseball player. Even though he wasn’t good enough to get too far with it, his love of baseball never left him. He is still a passionate but disappointed White Sox fan to this day. He also supports the Chicago Bulls and Bears, but they haven’t had much success recently either.
If Dennis is in the vicinity, chances are a fedora isn’t far behind.
In 2012 while at the Peabody awards, Dennis ran into a street vendor selling fedoras that was looking to sell. When he was told he would look good in a fedora, a new door was opened for him. From that moment on, Dennis’ fedoras have become a part of his identity.
“I’m Filipino, Bruno Mars is Filipino, and he rocks the fedora, so maybe I can do it,” he said. “Now it’s kind of like part of my image.”
While growing up, the radio was always on for Joe.
“I loved listening to the radio every night, doing my homework in my bedroom,” Dennis said. “So I became a professional disc jockey, and emulated that energy that [radio hosts] had to their shows.”
He even chose North Central College with the goal of going somewhere with a good radio program. With that skill, Dennis finds himself the public address announcer for the Georgia hockey team. This has always been a passion of Dennis’ and something that helped him get to where he is today.
From Dennis’ obsession with Kesha, to the AP stylebook, there are so many things that make him unique. All of these have helped him get to where he is today in journalism.
“Every experience you have on this earth informs,” he said. “Makes you a better journalist.”
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