I am a 24 year old soon to be graduate of Washburn University.  I will graduate with a degree in Mass Media and Communication. I have spent my entire collegiate career in the mass media department and have been exposed to several areas.  My emphasis, however is in the Electronic field. 

Washburn gives their Mass Media students the option to complete an internship or participate in one of two campus activities that provide students with hands on experience in the field they wish to go into.  I chose to spend 3 semesters participating on the WUCT News show, the Washburn student produced news show.  This was an incredibly valuable experience for me and really allowed me to come into my own as a mass media major.  The show airs once a week on KTWU and contains  news, weather, and sports segments.  The show is produced entirely by students with the supervision of our professor.  I spent my first semester as the weather producer and anchor.  I was in charge of putting together an informative weather segment that distributed information regarding the weather to those in the in capital city and surrounding areas.  My weather segment featured video of the current weather conditions as well as several graphics.  Many of the graphics included three to four different local and or national maps, it would vary depedning on the forecast that I was giving.  

My second semester participating in the show I was in charge of producing the sporst segment as well as acting as the sports anchor.  My duties as sports producer included managing content from the classes that were assigned with the task of providing us with Washburn related sports stories and video.  Every week I had to decide what was good enough to go on air, do any editing that needed to be done, and insert those stories into my sports report for the week.  As the anchor I was in charge of delivering an entertaining as well as informative sports segment.  My broadcasts included highlights from Washburn athletic events as well as a weekly update of the Washburn sports scene.  On occasion I would feature other newsworthy sports stories and scores from other local outlets.  During slow weeks at Washburn I would use national stories from all accross the country, including videos and highlights.  All of my broadcasts featured video as well as graphics.

During my third and final semester of the WUCT news show I chose to stay behind the scenes so I could gain some experience that I did not have prior to that semester.  My last semester on the show I spent most of my time on the production crew.  I was in charge of making sure that the studio we filmed our show in was set up for the broadcast.  All cameras had to be turned on, focused, and in place.  The lights had to be tested to see if they needed adjusting.  The set had to be checked over to make sure that it as well as the anchors were camera ready.  Microphones need to be plugged in and tested.  Two different television monitors were used for the weather, so I had to make sure they were not only on, but in place for our weather person to see them.  Once the show began I ran one of the two cameras that filmed the show.  I filmed not only the anchors at the desk, but also the weather person in front of the green screen during their segment.  After the show was completed I participated in the breakdown of the set.  Breakdown of the set includes, shutting of the cameras, the monitors, the lights, and returning the studio to its dormant state.