PA Cyber student Blog: My future career
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PA Cyber graduate Edwin Minguela (above) poses with WISH 99.7 on-air persoanlity Cris Winter during a recent internship at the station. (See more of Edwin's photos on our Facebook page.)
My Future Career by Edwin Minguela
On July 14 &15, three PA Cyber students --Edwin Minguela, Sarah Blahovec and Katie Sprague--interned at Pittsburgh radio stations WISH 99.7. Here, Edwin, who graduated this past spring and plans to pursue a career in broadcasting, writes about his experience.
Approximately three months ago my IS told me about a radio internship that was going to take place in Pittsburgh, PA. I recently was interested getting into the broadcasting field, so my IS knew about my interest in broadcasting. What I really want to get into is to become a sports radio talk host or just a general talk host. I thought to myself that this would be the perfect opportunity to actually see the broadcasting field first hand. I called up my supervisor when I found out if I was able to attend that I would love to go to Pittsburgh. I couldn’t wait to go to Pittsburgh and do this internship that I was always thinking about it when the days came closer and closer.
My mother and I left for Pittsburgh on the thirteenth of July. The ride was about 6 hours coming from the Philadelphia area to go to Pittsburgh. The very next day the internship was going to take place twelve o’ clock p.m. I went to radio station and met with my IS and Erica (the one who organized the internship). There are three radio stations in the building and they are: WISH 99.7 FM (the most popular one), WJAS 1320 AM (A nostalgic station), and Money Talk WMNY FM (a money talk station). All three are owned by the same company. There were only three students who took advantage of this internship (I was the only boy, figures…).
When everyone arrived, we met with Mr. Chris Sholvin; he is a host of WJAS and WMNY, but works for all three radio stations. He gave us a little intro about himself and about the radio stations as a whole. He also gave us a little tour of the station which was just one floor that wasn’t that huge. After the tour, Mrs. Imbriale(my IS) and Erica has left for another trip they were attending that day. It just left the two others and I to be with Mr. Sholvin the rest of the day. We started off by going into the WISH 99.7 studio with Cris Winter; she was the host at the time. While she was working and on-air at the time, she was talking to us when songs were playing and commercials were on. She basically talked to us about the broadcasting field and some cons about it as well. I got a lot of information by talking to her about broadcasting. After we finished with Cris Winter, Mr. Sholvin took us into one of the empty studios where he was going to record his three o’clock show for the day at two o’clock. It took him, literally, about thirty minutes to record a four hour show. All he had to do really was do his speaking parts because the songs and commercials were already set-up and ready. I actually listened to that show while back on my way to the hotel and it really sounded like it was live (quite cool in my opinion). After he recorded the show, he let us go for the day and asked us to return following day.
It was at 8:45 in the morning I returned back to the station the following day. I went into the studio where Mr. Sholvin was in the middle of doing a live show. I happened to find out that I was the only one going to be there that day. Both of the girls couldn’t make it to the station, so it was like a private session for me. I basically sat through his live show. While the songs were playing and commercials were on, he explained how to work things in the studio. I felt it would be much harder than what was presented to me. I’m guessing how technology has involved; it makes the broadcasting field a little easier. After his live show had finished, we talked with Chilly Billy Cradile for a little bit (a legend in Pittsburgh I hear) who was going to do his show next. Chris then took me to his office and talked about some of business side of the broadcasting field which he does a lot more than when he hosts his shows. Really after he talked to me a little bit about the business side of it, I was done for the day and the internship as a whole.
Doing these two days of the internship really opened my eyes about the broadcasting field a little more. I’m really glad that I was able to take advantage of this opportunity because it only helps you what you’d like do when you take a closer look at it. My plan for the future is to take a look more with the broadcasting and do more research about it. That plan can happen because my brother-in-law has a cousin who works in New York as a radio personality and more that’s willing to give more a look into the field. That’d only help me even more about if broadcasting is the career for me for the future. Tough decisions awake me very soon. I’d like to thank PA Cyber and Mr. Chris Sholvin for giving me this opportunity. I’m not sure if I’d even take a look at broadcasting even more if not for this internship. On a random note; before I left Pittsburgh, I went to Primanti Brothers for the first time and I have to say, I give a A+ on the sandwich. :)
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