Dan Gelston jokes that he got into sports journalism because he wanted to attend the games for free, but his start covering high school games in a small town launched an impressive career.

Gelston now works for the Associated Press. He's covered everything from the Kentucky Derby, to the Olympics in Beijing, to figure skating championships. In this episode, he shares some of the skills he started to develop as a high school and college journalist, and how those skill helped him reach where he is today. He also shares advice for aspiring journalists.

You can find Dan Gelston on Twitter at @APgelston. Contact the Behind the Byline hosts via [email protected].