My "Grad School"

When I first stepped foot onto the OU campus, there were many things running through my head. Everything from how small my room was to the amazement of how many empty beer cases there were in every dumpster. I came into OU with a big goal: graduate. There were smaller goals but none bigger than that. But I also came in with a few guidelines for myself. One was to not aim for the Dean's List and add more pressure to myself. Well, I didn't do that and somehow still got on it (Scripps is not THAT hard). Another one was that no matter what, there would be no grad school and that this would be my last time in school. And that one is holding true.

But as I sit here in Augusta, I kind of came to this idea that you know what, these 2 years in Augusta are my "grad school". In case you don't know, I signed a 2-year contract so I'm here in Augusta for sure until those years are over, unless something crazy or opportunistic happens. So far, the job has been a lot of fun and challenging at the same time. But it has a lot of similarities to grad school, or what I think I know of grad school.

One of those things is that most people who go from undergrad to grad are doing it to make themselves more marketable in the working world. Well, that's the case for me as well. By working two years in a market this size, I am preparing myself to work in a larger size market.

People also go to grad school to learn more. Well, that's definitely the case for me too. Just in the two months I've been here, I've learned a lot about how the TV world works once money is involved, and by that, I mean sponsors and sales and such. For example, I worked at WOUB, a PBS station that is funded by well, the public. Even Gridiron Glory, which had financial backers such as Follett's, was unknown to most of us because we didn't have to say their name on air. But for my high school football show, I have to mention sponsors like crazy, saying who paid for this scoreboard or who supplied these drinks or how this is the (insert company) Player of the Week. It's just a different world and one that I learn more about everyday.

In undergrad, the amount of work is sporadic. Sometimes large, sometimes small. No matter how big though, there's always time to play hard. But in grad, there's not only more work, but more responsibility. It could be that you are a GA, TA or just knowing that the grades really will suffer. Same deal for me. Maybe not the suffering part but with me being known by face to a fair amount of people, being seen as I had been seen in college just can't be done. In other words, it's more work and less fun.

And finally, like grad school, it means yet another beginning. That could mean new friends and a new location. New schedules and new expenses. While some do the grad school thing at the same place as undergrad, most move, even if just a couple hours away. It just makes for one more transition. It's not a huge one though, since you are still around people your age and interacting with people with the same interests as you. Well, same goes for me. I work with people my own age and many with around the same experience. I moved away and came upon many new things, among them, a new climate (still too damn hot).

So what do I want to get out of my "grad school" experience? Well, as of now, I can tell you I want to improve. Diction, creativity, on-air presence, wardrobe, likability, etc... There's a lot. I also want to make a lot of friends while here. I honestly don't know if after this job, I will ever live this far south ever again so why not make some friends down here? Plus, just like my friends at BHHS and OU who are all over the map, there could be some great connections later (or places to crash at). I also want to move on to bigger and better things. You know, the great thing about my "grad school" is that I can make mistakes and yet, not be punished extremely for them (unless I make a HUGE mistake). And the same can be said for real grad school. It kind of represents your last chance to make mistakes. But once I move on to bigger and better things, something tells me those mistakes won't be handled the same way.

So am I counting down the months like I did in undergrad? Not gonna lie, yea. Kind of already picturing my "graduation" from small-market television in July 2010. I'll only be 23 years old and will have the world in front of me (again). But I still have a little more than 22 months left so right now, I'm just soaking it all in. I may be far away from a lot of my friends but hey, it's only 2 years of "grad school". And just like undergrad, in this "grad school", they're paying me.