The Almagest

Issue date: 7/22/10 Section: OP/ED

Media Credit: proverbmusic.net

I've wanted to be in radio ever since I was six years old; nothing else ever mattered to me. There was something magical in the idea of being able to entertain an infinite amount of people with nothing but your voice and personality. To me, it's the only job in the world that is fun, lets you be yourself and gives you complete autonomy over your career path.

However, like most people in life, I chose to abandon my dreams. I gave into the perceived reality that being a successful entertainer is a one-in-a-million shot and I probably did not have what it takes to be great, or even mediocre, for that matter. So, I became a journalism major here at LSUS, hoping to find a career where I show up, do my work and get a decent paycheck; the idea of being a comedic genius on the radio gave way to the reality that I need to do something to pay the bills.

As part of being a senior here, you have to complete an internship. As fate would have it, I was able to land an internship at GAP Broadcasting. In the beginning, I only saw a chance to get a taste of a dream long abandoned; it was a chance to live out the dream of being an announcer on a radio station that people actually listen to.

Being a part of the Almagest, of course people view my work. Some of it is entertaining and some of it is straightforward. Through my written work, people do not get a sense of who I am. Journalists, unless you are Hunter S. Thompson or Truman Capote or someone like that, are faceless, obscure and really only hear from the audience when we have the smallest mistake on a story or do something completely out of the box.

Radio, however, is a completely different medium with different social effects. It is a medium in which you communicate directly with the audience. In stories, people just skim through the words, pick out the important or interesting details and move on. In radio, you deal with a captivated audience who want to be entertained or informed and with the knowledge of knowing you are playing for a mass audience, you have to bring your best material day in and day out.

After several weeks of interning, I realized that this is what I was born to do, that radio was my calling. After writing for the Almagest all this time and becoming accustomed to writing news in a formal and serious matter, I found it difficult to tell the news in a conversational matter that makes it entertaining and easy to listen to. In short, I sucked and I still do, but I'm getting better.

The main difference between newspapers and the nightly news and doing a break on a non-news oriented radio station is the delivery. The delivery is key. You have to tell the news as if you were telling a story to your friend or relative, not as if you are informing the world on a situation. "Sell the sizzle and not the steak," my boss pounds into my head daily to make sure I get the concept of what I'm supposed to be doing.

I guess the point of all this is to emphasize the importance of internships and following your heart. College is about learning, but it is also about experimenting with different realms of life.

My internship not only provided a valuable experience in the profession of my dreams, but gave me a chance to branch out into the world I once gave up on. They liked me enough to give me a job. I work hard everyday to improve my delivery and sharpen my skills. It's an up-hill battle, but I love every minute of it and I would not have had this opportunity if it were not for LSUS forcing me to do an internship before I graduated.

Radio was not what I studied in college; it was not even something I took seriously at first. It was something that looked interesting and something I always wanted to do. I got my foot in the door and am now on the highway to realizing all the things I wanted in my childhood. The one thing I have going for me is that when Howard Stern started, he sucked as badly as I do, and whether you like him or not, he went on to become one of the most powerful broadcasters in the history of radio.

Finally, I would like to end this piece by giving the Almagest and all the editors I've worked with, including Karen Wissing, Katie Ho and Christine Bradley, credit for helping me figure out that not only would I be miserable working at a newspaper everyday, but that I suck at meeting deadlines. I think I'm better off behind a microphone.

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