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I'm working on my degree in broadcasting and I can say with all certainty that is going to be the toughest semester I've ever had to face.

I had my first production class today and much to my horror, I discovered that my class in order to pass, requires that I do three one-hour shifts as a DJ on the campus radio station.

This means I have to talk to listeners on-air. I'm so scared that I'll slip up and say something I shouldn't. And to make matters worse, I won't know when I'll be going on-air until a few hours before hand.

Our station only has a radius of about 20 miles, but for where we are, the signal can reach 300,000 people.

What have I gotten myself into?

wish me luck

Woah, that sounds like a high order.

With things like this, after I get over the initial learning problems and I know what to expect I can develop a system for interacting with people. I had problems at work when I first started placing orders over the phone. After a while I knew what to expect and what they were going to say, and what I was going to say back.

So I bet after a while it won't be that hard to do. Of course you are going to have to interact with people who could come at you with any sorts of questions...

Well you could look on the bright side... it is only three hours.

Here's hoping the best...

Good luck Scoots- look at it this way at least you only have to do it for an hour at a time Will you be doing this alone or will you have help?? Do you have any idea what topic you will be talking about???

As long as you prepare yourself you will be fine.

Mel

Most of my hour will be filled by playing music. All I have to do is intro songs, read the weather report, give station ID, and anything else that I might have to read.

The first time I'll be shadowed by an instructor so I don't make any major mistakes on-air.

But eventually, I'll have to do all this by myself.

I was going to point out that a lot of the airtime would be taken up by music but when you said you'd have to talk to callers I assumed it would be a talk show. Does the college know about your AS?? As they might be able to offer you extra support to get through it.

The program I would be DJ'ing is called "Drive-Time Jazz" which airs thursday afternoon from 3 to 6. If I don't get called up to DJ right away tomorrow, I will have to listen to it to get a feel so I can plan for my eventual turn on air.

As for my AS, there are only four people on campus who know about it.

- My former roomate, whom I finally told last november
- Another member of this board who attends UWO with me
- Dr Alterkruse in the counseling center
- My current counsler

I want so badly to get thru my final three semesters with out needing any help, or having a stigma attached to my name. For me it's a matter of pride. Sure I know there are limits to this, and if I need to, I'll seek help, but there are 11,000 other students on campus who are doing it with out help and so far I've managed to make 3/4 of the way with them.

On top of that, despite my quirks and nuances, all of my communications professors have had nothing bu nice things to say about me, and I would hate for them to have a stigma about me.

*EDIT*

Strike what I said earlier about listening in to the program to get a feel for it. I got a phone call tonight just before 6pm from the station manager.

Turns out I will be the *FIRST* one in my class to DJ which means what I do will set the tempo for everyone else.

All I can say is that I hope it goes well. If your in the Oshkosh WI area, listen to 90.3 FM from 3-4pm tomorrow (Feb 3rd).

I will keep my fingers crossed, Scott! I checked that station's website, but they do not stream on the net, unfortunately.

So, how did it go?

I just stumbled on this thread, Scoots. It sounds like it's a bit stressful, but good luck with it, and let us know how it goes .

Hope it went well Scoots and that you're not too stressed out from the experience.

I bring good new for all of you, despite being a wreck for most of the day due to built up anxiety, I managed to get through my one hour shift with out any major slip-ups

One thing I found out was that I was getting partnered up with another person so I split airtime with my partner. I ran the board because he didn't know how to do so. Being with a partner made me feel a little more at ease.

I had only one minor slip up where I was trying to pronounce John Coltrain and I pronounced his first name as "Gong". And one small technical error when I forgot to mute a CD player and it started to play the next track over the other song that I was playing.

I recorded the whole thing on my computer's hard drive and made a CD for my partner.

I feel so much better now that this is over. The next times I go on air will be March 3rd and April 7th.

If only I had someplace to post sound clips.

Glad it went will for you Scoots- I'm sure not be alone helped to take the pressure off some- will you be partnered up again for your other shows??

The great thing with doing a jazz show is that if you do mess up and play the records at the wrong speed, or backwards, or more than once, then nobody'll be able to tell, so don't sweat it!