What did I learn in college radio?
I was reading a few comments about college radio and was thinking about my college days at WWCU 90.5 FM, in some of the best days I ever had at Western Carolina University. From then to now, having worked with/for several radio stations, and even a couple of television stations, I look back to think what I could tell someone who is in college looking for a career in radio. What did I learn while in college?
Morally, I learned to value every second you have in college, it was to me the best years of my life (so far). But in that, I also met a group of people while at WWCU that helped me to prepare for every facet of personality you could deal with in radio. I bumped heads with some of them, as we disagreed on several things, but not one of them would be somebody I would put on my “don’t like” list.
And this is very important, because lots of times people who work in radio are stereotyped for having a big ego. I mean, our station was one of the few you could get in the valley of Western NC, so any student on the air could well be a small celebrity. Some took it that way, most were cool about it.
I learned how to not let a microphone change your personality, because whether a student was the Program Director, News Director, Sports Director or whomever, he or she still was just a student. The moment people take radio positions as a source to make themselves great, they fail the purpose of radio. Lots of guys inside of my 3 and a half years at WWCU went that route, thinking they were the greatest thing since sliced bread, and it made it difficult to be around them. There has to be some level of humility when being a “radio star”.
The first lesson I got from it, I will never forget. I was about to do my first shift alone, and I was sitting in with a couple of guys, trying to learn everything. He asked me if I had any questions and I told him, “I just don’t want to make any mistakes”. He told me right off the bat, “I promise you, you WILL make mistakes”.
Maybe at first I saw that as a sign of weakness, but I understood that what he meant was that we are not perfect, and we all make mistakes, but to be good in radio, you have to roll with it and play it through. I remember doing a late night program on Friday, and while talking to a female on the phone, my foot hit some switch that apparently turned EVERYTHING off in the studio. I quickly flipped that switch back on, but I had a record (dates the time, doesn’t it) on, and the record started from a stopped position…you know the sound when you turn it off, then back on. I was so embarrassed. But I played it through, it’s all you can do.
I learned a lot in radio, certainly more than I can talk about here, but I think humility was one of the most important. It reminds me that no matter what you do in radio, don’t ever let a position fool you that you are better than others. If you can take that with you after college, and be willing to do what it takes to make the station better, you will be a very encouraging and promising talent to a station looking for character.
I was reading a few comments about college radio and was thinking about my college days at WWCU 90.5 FM, in some of the best days I ever had at Western Carolina University. From then to now, having worked with/for several radio stations, and even a couple of television stations, I look back to think what I could tell someone who is in college looking for a career in radio. What did I learn while in college?
Morally, I learned to value every second you have in college, it was to me the best years of my life (so far). But in that, I also met a group of people while at WWCU that helped me to prepare for every facet of personality you could deal with in radio. I bumped heads with some of them, as we disagreed on several things, but not one of them would be somebody I would put on my “don’t like” list.
And this is very important, because lots of times people who work in radio are stereotyped for having a big ego. I mean, our station was one of the few you could get in the valley of Western NC, so any student on the air could well be a small celebrity. Some took it that way, most were cool about it.
I learned how to not let a microphone change your personality, because whether a student was the Program Director, News Director, Sports Director or whomever, he or she still was just a student. The moment people take radio positions as a source to make themselves great, they fail the purpose of radio. Lots of guys inside of my 3 and a half years at WWCU went that route, thinking they were the greatest thing since sliced bread, and it made it difficult to be around them. There has to be some level of humility when being a “radio star”.
The first lesson I got from it, I will never forget. I was about to do my first shift alone, and I was sitting in with a couple of guys, trying to learn everything. He asked me if I had any questions and I told him, “I just don’t want to make any mistakes”. He told me right off the bat, “I promise you, you WILL make mistakes”.
Maybe at first I saw that as a sign of weakness, but I understood that what he meant was that we are not perfect, and we all make mistakes, but to be good in radio, you have to roll with it and play it through. I remember doing a late night program on Friday, and while talking to a female on the phone, my foot hit some switch that apparently turned EVERYTHING off in the studio. I quickly flipped that switch back on, but I had a record (dates the time, doesn’t it) on, and the record started from a stopped position…you know the sound when you turn it off, then back on. I was so embarrassed. But I played it through, it’s all you can do.
I learned a lot in radio, certainly more than I can talk about here, but I think humility was one of the most important. It reminds me that no matter what you do in radio, don’t ever let a position fool you that you are better than others. If you can take that with you after college, and be willing to do what it takes to make the station better, you will be a very encouraging and promising talent to a station looking for character.