During my junior year here at Cabrini I was faced with a decision. I knew that I was going to have to take audio production as an elective to help me work towards completing my major. I also had an opportunity to take radio as well. In my head, I never saw myself taking radio as a class, let alone talking on the air for two full hours every week. Little did I know that this was only the beginning.
When I first walked into the radio class I didn’t know what to expect. I also didn’t know a thing about radio. I was told that before having a show we had to train with the assistant operations manager for 5 weeks and then take a test that shows we’re fit to manage on our own. I was extremely nervous and was worried about the training and test portions. I wasn’t sure I was going to do so great in the training sessions, especially after hearing that I was going to have to actually go live on air and speak. Contrary to popular belief, I was a little shy. When it came to the speaking portion of training I stuttered and slipped on a couple of words but I stuck with it and ended up passing the test to have my own radio show.
Around the middle of October, it was time for WYBF (Cabrini's on-campus radio station) general staff to pick our show names and time slots. My classmate and I decided to co-host a show and called it “Griff-X Da’ Switchup.” Our show started off rocky but by the time spring semester came around, we were beginning to come into our own. We took the radio waves by storm. We would pride ourselves on having new guests every week to switch things up, (like the name of our show) and to play the hottest, most current music. We also would strive to talk about topics and issues that many people would shy away from like cultural appropriation, Interracial relationships, colorism, and police brutality. In fact, we would give ourselves the moniker of “one of the most controversial shows on Cavalier Radio”. It was apparent that having the radio show boosted my confidence and alleviated any nervousness.
At the end of the spring semester, I was told that there would be openings in the WYBF Executive staff. At first, I wasn’t thinking about applying for it because I was content in where I was at, but it dawned on me that I fell in love with radio and would love to do more for the station as a whole. I decided to apply for the Assistant Operations Manager position and after a thorough application and interview, I was granted the position.
Now as the Assistant Operations Manager this year, I am able to make an impact on new general staff members as it is my responsibility to train them in what they should know. Me, the same person who was so nervous during my own training! In the beginning, I wasn’t too sure of my public speaking ability, now after doing radio for quite some time all the hindrance and nervousness is behind me and this is all thanks to WYBF Cavalier Radio.
To get involved with Cabrini's on-campus radio station visit their website here or listen live!