"Welcome South, Brother" : It's Getting Real

On May 19, I attended the intern orientation for WSB-TV at 9 a.m. I walked into the building full of nervousness and excitement but became relieved once I met the other 10 interns. To start off our day, we met with human resources and our supervisor. In addition, two former interns, Maranda and Chelsea, joined our supervisor to give us a student perspective of WSB-TV. After talking with our supervisor and the former interns, Maranda and Chelsea took us on a tour of the building. This was the moment I had been waiting on since I first watched WSB-TV as a young boy. We started on the bottom floor where the radio stations are held. While touring the radio stations, we passed on of my favorite radio personalities on Kiss 104.1 ,Sasha The Diva, as she was broadcasting live. As we walked by, I waived at her, and she waived back! After we finished downstairs, we went to the third floor see the WSB-TV studio and newsroom. When we walked into the studio, my heart dropped. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life. As we were looking at the set, Jocelyn Dorsey walked by us and greeted all of us. I was in complete shock because I did not expect to see one of the journalist so soon. Everything from the camera equipment to the news desk looked so cool. Afterwards, we walked across to the newsroom, and I tried to regain my composer. We walked into the newsroom and I lost my composer all over again, internally, of course. I saw Erica Byfield, Dave Huddleston, Erin Coleman, Aaron Diamont, Craig Lucie, Karen Minton, and Fred Blankenship.I could not believe it. I saw standing in the same room with the people who I have watched and have admired for years. Everyone was very nice and welcoming. After leaving the newsroom, we went to a conference room to meet with our supervisor to go over our schedules and expectations for the summer. In addition, our supervisor gave us the option of coming in on Friday, May 20, to attend the morning meeting where anchors and reporters pitch stories.

The next day, I attended the meeting and was fascinated by all of the stories being pitched and the fact that I had the opportunity to hear about the stories before they were shown on television. Before the meeting ended, the interns and I left early to get our badges and become "official." With our badges in hand, we walked to the news room to learn how to put together the scripts for the anchors. Before the noon broadcast, the producer began to send the anchor's scripts to the printers and we got to see Maranda put the scripts in order. In a matter of moments, we met one of the men who work in the studio, and he offered to let us sit in the studio during the noon broadcast to watch the anchors LIVE. Again, I internally lost my composer. It was an amazing experience to watch Fred Blankenship, Carol Sbarge and Brad Nitz LIVE! Before we left for the day, we ran into Blankenship and Sbarge in the hallway and Blankenship gave us some great advice about staring off in the news business and finding a job after college.

This week, I learned a lot about myself and the importance of getting out of my comfort zone. My supervisor talked about being aggressive and not waiting for reporters to ask us to shadow them. I have to take the initiative and ask them myself. If they say "no," say "thank you" and ask someone else. Hearing her say that put a fire in me to go above and beyond. In addition, God is teaching me trust. After coming home after orientation, I became very anxious and overwhelmed with everything that I had experienced that day. In that moment, one of my favorite people, Taylor Wilkerson, texted me and asked me about my day. She reminded me that this experience would as another testimony of God's love and faithfulness. What would I do without Tay-Tay?

I am stocked for the road ahead, everything I will get to experience and all of the people I will have the opportunity to meet. I know that I will leave with more skills and a greater passion for journalism. Greater than that, I am still in awe that God blessed me with this extraordinary opportunity.