I do everything from sifting through hopeful contestant applications to doing a small portion of the show's writing, from recording and audio-editing Karl Kassel's voicemail messages to researching our interview guests. I attend every writing and brainstorming meeting, and I'm getting more responsibilities as time goes on.
Working at Kenyon's radio station WKCO was a huge deal for me. Radio was never a part of my life until I started getting involved at Kenyon, and now it's one of the biggest pieces of who I am! The English Department was open enough to let me do an audio-based project for my Senior Capstone, and that was perhaps what drove home for me that fact that radio could be totally related to my other biggest passion (writing) and that I could do both. Professors Sarah Heidt, Miriam Dean-Otting, Drew Kerkhoff, and David Lynn, among others, so encouraged the idea of mixing media and genre that it was at all points extremely easy for me to incorporate this seemingly disparate interest into my major and my life.
Obviously writing, always and everywhere. Being able to effectively and creatively express myself is endlessly useful. Other than that, having taught myself to audio edit with the software in Storer Hall has meant that I'm a quick study here, and simply having the work ethic that Kenyon gave me has been helpful.
I really love the people I work with here. They're some of the smartest, funniest people I've ever met, and they really know how to get the work done. They're driven without being self-centered or competitive, in a way that, to me, is very Kenyon. I love being challenged by my coworkers, and love that they make me want to operate on a higher level.
Getting a voicemail on my cell phone from the White House Press Office. Oh, no, wait. Once after the show, I went with the staff to get drinks at the Four Seasons with Henry Winkler on a Thursday night. I received a hug from the Fonz that night. Nothing will ever top that.
I continue to write at home, which is deeply important to me. I'm trying to be disciplined about writing in my free time, no longer having seminar due dates to meet. I'm also in the habit of writing letters regularly-I've found that folks within the Kenyon community are the best and most enthusiastic in responding to actual paper letters. Oh, and I'm also currently trying to find an urban/suburban farm to work at on weekends, which I'm only qualified to do having taken the Sustainable Agriculture class at Kenyon and subsequently worked on a local farm.