My spring break was unlike any other. I wasn’t partying on the beach or skiing down the mountains — instead, I witnessed arguably the greatest sporting event from one of the best seats in the house.

I had the opportunity to take photos on the floor during the second and third round games of the 2014 NCAA Tournament in St. Louis, where all three Division I Kansas schools competed. Working alongside photographers from Sports Illustrated, ESPN and USA Today, I experienced the behind-the-scenes world of college basketball and sports journalism.

How does an 18-year-old college freshman from small-town Baker University get a media pass at the NCAA Tournament? The process was not as complicated as I initially thought it would be. Because I have taken photos at Wichita State University basketball games in the past for the local Splurge! magazine, WSU approved me to photograph the games. The photos from the tournament were originally intended for Splurge! , but I was allowed to share them with readers of The Baker Orange as well.

A day before the first games, I texted my photography teacher from high school, who takes pictures for Kansas State University and has photographed many March Madness tournaments before. I asked him if he had any advice so I didn’t make myself look stupid. He replied, “Just respect the big dogs. They usually have big egos. It’s easily one of the most fun events to shoot. Soak it up.” And soak it up, I did.

Being so close to the court, I saw and heard various things that the average fan doesn’t experience. I heard how the players interact with their teammates, the other team and the referees. I saw the competitiveness and determination in every player’s eyes and even the type of shoe the players wear – something you don’t notice on TV (Kentucky freshman Julius Randle’s shoes looked HUGE).

Beforehand, I didn’t even think about how the photographers sit five feet in front of the team pep bands. Every single vulgar remark or cheer seems to be amplified, which can get incredibly obnoxious. Some photographers wore earplugs to block out the loud instruments, but I think they also used them to block out the harassing comments as well. I didn’t think some band members represented their schools well at all, with some comments along the lines of “You’re dumb*, you shouldn’t even be in school!”

I knew I would have an incredible seat for some great basketball, but I didn’t know I would witness two of the biggest upsets of the tournament, based on seeding, back-to-back.

Being from Wichita and having several Jayhawks in my family, I’ve been a big WSU and KU fan for much of my life. With WSU and KU boasting a No. 1 and No. 2 seed, respectively, I thought that this tournament would be something special. Both teams escaped their first games on Friday, but Sunday’s games were a different story.

The game between Wichita State and Kentucky has been discussed as one of the best round-of-32 games of all-time. The fact that I had a front-row seat to this historic game, which was full of back-and-forth punches and came down to a last-second shot, is something I’ll remember forever. It didn’t end the way I hoped, but I still enjoyed every second.

With my media credential, I had access to the team locker rooms after the games. I went into both the WSU and KU locker rooms after their losses. The atmosphere was quite depressing, to say the least. It just didn’t seem right. Here were some of the best college players in the nation after an unexpected loss, which for some was the last game of their college career. They were essentially forced to talk with the media almost immediately afterward.

Sure, the upsets make great news, but is it worth making players talk about their loss, as if the loss itself wasn’t bad enough? It was humbling to see the pain in the players’ eyes and to see how media members take advantage of that pain to get the quotes or photos they need for a great story. Given all this, I still found myself joining in with the rest of the media. It was a conflicting moment for me and I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it. I guess I wanted those cool photos, too.

I’m optimistic that this March Madness experience is only one of many down the road. I learned so much about media that goes unnoticed by viewers, and I want to experience that again. However, I hope that next time I’ll be able to follow one of my teams all the way to the Final Four.