Playbook Review - Rewinding the tape
- cheyennetrent3
- May 9
- 4 min read
Being a WVC warrior
As a 26 year old graduating college, it's a strange feeling to watch others I used to attend classes with start to branch out, get married, grow families, firmly plant themselves in their chosen fields and paths without looking back, all while I'm still attending college courses. It gives me this feeling of uncertainty - for lack of better words. I'm not jealous, I'm not angry or unhappy, but it is concerning. I feel like I'm falling behind in life, or did for a long time.
I'll admit that a fear lodged itself deep within me when I chose to return to classes, knowing I'd be one of the oldest - if not the oldest - in all of my classes. Something I'm not used to in any setting I've found myself in throughout the years.
To be honest, and to my horror - I found myself being older than one of my professors upon returning this year. This unleashed a whole new level of depression and fear that I didn't know existed until now.
Despite this, I was welcomed into every setting here at Wabash Valley with open arms, just as I was when I was 18 years old and fighting through my first year of college. I'm a Radio/TV Broadcasting Major who was focused on the radio and social media aspect of the industry when I entered college, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I was convinced I would be a radio personality that would be nationally syndicated without any issue - that is before I realized that I live in the real world, and the real world has too many dreamers.
I completed my first year of college and stepped back for a break after my third semester, opting to throw myself into a more... elusive type of work online. I excelled at this, meaning it ended up leading me away from returning for quite some time - as you can tell.
I returned only because of a request made by my mother, who ended up passing about three months into my first semester back. Without the support of not only the administrative staff of the college, but my professors and peers as well, I probably would have given up again.
I truly owe a lot to this school and those who keep it running. They have managed to nestle themselves and this school into a homely little town, and somehow created a family that welcomes ALL walks of life, while managing to help them excel and grow in ways we have never imagined.
I've personally done a lot of people-watching this year, and experiencing the growth of the kids from over seas, the out of state jocks, and even the homegrown, corn-fed, hicks from local towns close-by, I can see how much happier and outspoken they've become, how many friends they've amassed here, even in just a year. Wabash is a place built for one to grow into their own skin, learn about their passions, and cultivate a career from literally nothing.
When I did manage to return (after being pushed by my professor for years) I knew I wanted to maintain my degree in Radio/TV Broadcasting, but I wanted to focus more on social media this time around. Unfortunately, this changed throughout the year as I started calling games to "work on my voice." I fell in love with doing play-by-play and color announcing. I found myself looking into more job options down that avenue, and if you aren't already privy, being a female in a male-dominant field like sports announcing can lead to lots of big money deals, or being ostracized by male equals for just being the opposite gender, but Wabash was able to provide a safe, judgement free environment for me to grow next to my male peers at the same rate. This has allowed me to look for jobs of all sorts within the industry all over the United States, as I plan to leave our little square of towns here in Southern Indiana/Illinois.
I believe that the professors who teach here, the admins who go crazy keeping everything in line, and the students who attend these courses have created a safe haven for one to learn and expand their chances of success in the future. I've watched so many find themselves, their passion, and their purpose within these walls, myself being one of them, and that is simply because this school has provided every possible tool and resource you can imagine to help these students reach their dreams. I know how much work Kyle Peach (News Anchor for NewsChannel15 & Radio Professor) and Jill Winter (Writing/Speech/Debate/Etc. Professor) do here for their students alone, not to mention the countless other professors who've thrown their whole lives into their work. I think the success of our alumni and our current students is more than enough proof of this.
Being a dumb 26 year old in college has its perks. My frontal lobe is fully formed now, so I'm able to comprehend and understand the information I'm being given at a different level—meaning that this time
around, I have the ability to actually learn and remember this stuff that is being thrown at me. Not to mention, I'm able to understand how important my time here is, and I've been so lucky to be here at Wabash while doing it.
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