#wzip

Last night fellow intern Chris Beeble and I had to sit through what I would call one of the worst outings of Indians baseball I have seen in my life time. The Indians lost to the last place Minnesota Twins 14-3. 

While Beeble and I sat through last nights terrible game I got to thinking about how many opportunities not only my internship at ESPN Cleveland have given me, but also how much the University of Akron has done to ensure my career path in the field of journalism.

When I was a freshman I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I was going to come to UA for four years and earn a degree in Athletic Training, however all that changed once I took my first english class. I learned that I liked writing and that it wasn't as bad as I use to think it was in high school. This realization made begin to question my career path. 

I did however know that I wanted to stay close to sports so I thought long and hard about how that could be plausible. As winter break came my first semester in college I went home and thought it over and when I came back to school I had decided that I would be switching my major. 

While in speech class that semester an announcement for WZIP and ZTV was made in class and that was the day that changed my life completely. I went up to the third floor that day in Kolbe Hall and applied to the station and within two months I was working for not only them but also the Buchtelite. 

If it wasn't for WZIP, ZTV and the Buchtelite I wouldn't have my internship at ESPN Cleveland, but if it weren't for the University of Akron to offer those types of programs I may have never really figured out what it is I wanted to do. 

It's probably safe to say that on a Saturday morning the last thing a college student wants to do is wake up at 5:45 a.m., but that's exactly what I did this past Saturday morning. 

A lot of my friends think I'm crazy for always working at my internship early in the morning or working late at night but really I have a drive, and that's to try and make myself as marketable and ready for the professional world as possible. 

With the help of my internship I can say that I have improved and learned so much in the world of radio compared to last year when I only just worked at WZIP. 

Now this is no knock on WZIP which is The University of Akron's student ran radio station. If it were not for that station I would have never gotten an internship at ESPN Cleveland, but what I'm trying to say is that I get to interact with a lot of professionals in the world of Cleveland Sports, that I wouldn't be able to interact with at WZIP.

With the good comes the bad at ESPN Cleveland, but like all places you have to work hard in order to prove your worth and your self, and that is exactly what I have strived to do while interning here. 

WIth that hard work I have been rewarded in learning the board, which is the most important thing when it comes to producing a radio show because that's where all the sound comes from. 

Now some may say that working on learning how to run something isn't much fun, however this is a big deal because not all interns get to reach this type of level. In the early stages of my internship I had to prove that I was worthy of reaching this point by achieving goals that were set forth by mentor at ESPN Cleveland. Once I achieved those goals then I was able to start board opping, which in all took about five months to reach and achieve. 

So now every Saturday morning I wake up and try to learn how to produce a radio show. My trainer, Mr. Ben Toplek is very willing to teach me and shows a tremendous amount of patience, as sometimes I tend to ask too many questions.

With every slider on that board means there's a specific function that applies to the radio show we are producing. Now I will say that not every slider or pot is used in every show, but when first running the board it can be a little overwhelming. 

This past Saturday I spent a total of seven hours learning how to produce and run the board, and when it is all said in done I will need a total of 50 hours on the board to take my test, which would certify me to run this alone. That's the ultimate goal.

I would be lying if I said it wasn't a long day, because it was, however it was a very good day when it came to learning just because we had so many shows to produce and not every show is ran the same way.