Growing with College Radio

By Sami Dugdale
Blog Content Contributor

It was the beginning of my senior year of high school when I was accepted into Texas State University. I was so psyched when I got my acceptance letter in the mail, and I immediately started looking into all of the clubs and organizations the school had to offer. I was interested in organizations like the Quidditch team, Feminists United and The University Star. I had been the editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper for two years, so I was pretty sure I was going to try to do the same at Texas State. However, one day I was discussing this idea with one of my teachers and she said to me, “Why don’t you try something new?” She told me to stay in journalism, but branch out and see what other programs Texas State has to offer. I discovered KTSW’s website and started listening to the station and explored all of the volunteer positions it had to offer. I then decided that KTSW was definitely where I wanted to spend my freshman year.

I applied and after a couple interviews was accepted into both the Web Content and Programming departments. With Web Content, I am required to post a certain number of articles a week over a topic of my choosing. This formatting was very different to me, considering all of my professional writing experience was more news writing and not opinion, but I enjoyed this change. It was refreshing to be given tasks that required me to write about things that I actually liked. In the Programming department, I was given a two hour shift once a week to DJ, something that I’ve always wanted to do ever since my mom started calling me an “NPR girl” because of my quiet voice. I was super nervous at first going on air, and was worried that I would say the wrong things or sound nervous–  which I did the first couple of times. After awhile, it became more and more like a reflex and going on air felt like I was talking to a friend, which it kind of was thanks to that fact that I was paired with an amazing co-host.

I am a relatively shy person, and working at KTSW has really forced me to come out of my shell and get involved in my community. I am so thankful for the friends that I have made so far and for the fact that I am working in a program that constantly challenges me to do better and makes me feel like I am part of something bigger. I cannot wait to continue my career with KTSW and see what paths and opportunities it has in store for me.

Featured image by Courtney Castillo.