Finding my voice

Since my internship at the radio station is drawing to a close, my station manager asked me to do a write-up on what I have gained from my experience. I thought it would be nice to include it here (minus names of people and places, for privacy's sake), since it is applicable to an overall growth I have gained this summer:

When I began interning at X, I knew nothing about radio. I had just spent the last four years of my life getting a college degree in biology. After graduating in December, I had trouble finding a job that was relevant to my academic experiences. After a few months of luckless job-hunting, I expanded my search to opportunities outside of the scientific sphere. I applied to jobs and internships indiscriminately, hoping that I would get in somewhere. I applied for an internship at X. Less than a week later, I received an email from the Station Manager expressing interest in me. I was stunned, thinking that I would have to apologize for my lack of experience and inapplicable academic background.

Nothing of the sort happened. The Station Manager and the other people working at X welcomed me with open arms. It did not matter that I was inexperienced with broadcasting; all I needed to do was show up, eager and ready to learn. Surprisingly, I found that I grew comfortable with the methodology quite quickly. I discovered the immense satisfaction that stems from creating a news story, beginning to end. Not only could I give a voice to issues that I felt deserved airwave recognition, like the city’s first gay pride parade and the mysterious colony collapse disorder affecting the nation’s honeybees, but, in the process, I could find my own voice as well.

 I have always been shy. I struggle with talking to new people, both in person and on the phone. A big part of creating news stories, however, is interviewing. Although it was very difficult at first, I discovered that my shyness diminished after making numerous phone calls and conducting several in-studio interviews. Over and over, I was able to prove to myself that I can introduce myself to people I have never met and converse in a professional manner. In no small way, losing this anxiety has been life-changing for me.

I am now used to the sound of my own voice. Strange though it may sound, after hearing myself on-air several times, I realized that the way I actually sound is far more flattering than the way I sounded in my own head. Many of us lean towards self-deprecation when we imagine how we sound to others, I think. But listening to how I objectively sound improved my self-concept. I did not sound silly; I did not sound stupid. I sounded like a young woman who has something to say and who can say it in an eloquent and thoughtful way. I hope that I can take this lesson and apply it to the rest of my life, no matter what I end up doing.

Final lesson learned: Take every experience that comes your way. You never know where it will take you.