Budding Broadcaster – Diary of a Transfer Student
By Kelisha Abad
August 2017 – I finally move down to Santa Barbara from the Bay Area after being accepted into my dream school. While scrolling through Free & For Sale on Facebook, I stumble upon an ad for a broadcast journalist for UCSB TV. “Well,” I think to myself. “Not only is this an opportunity to see if I truly did want to get involved in broadcast media, but it is also a way to get involved with the campus right away.” I click the link and submit my application.
October 4th, 2017 – Fall quarter classes have just started and I am trying to figure out where all of my classes are on this giant campus. Today is my interview, and I’m incredibly nervous. It doesn’t help that I couldn’t find the Annex (which is were the UCSB TV studio is) right away. But when I finally find it and sit down for my interview, I immediately feel like I belong there. There is no doubt in my mind that I am supposed to have this job.
October 30th, 2017 – Today is the first day of recording. I’m a big ball of terror and excitement wrapped up in one. I’ve never had to talk on camera before and I have no idea what to expect. I am going to meet the rest of the crew. I am the only new journalist and my coworkers have been working for UCSB TV for a year already. Not only am I a new student at a large university, but I am now a new member of something that is going to be posted online for everyone to see. When I sit down in that chair in front of the camera all feelings of fear completely disappear. It helps that my coworkers are incredibly supportive.
Kelisha Abad speaks for the UCSB TV cameras.
Spring 2018 – It has now been almost eight months since I joined UCSB TV, part of the Creative Media Unit (CMU) which is run by UCSB Associated Students. We work with the Media Unit to help publicize AS programs and events that are occurring on campus, such as speakers coming to campus, updates on campus sports events, and news from UCSB and its neighborhood, Isla Vista. The CMU offers different technology-based workshops throughout the quarter, which are completely free to UCSB students. For some these workshops, media professionals come in to help with photography and PhotoShop skills, videography, and even journalistic writing for websites.
Working with UCSB TV and attending a few of these workshops has really helped me find my niche. It can be difficult for transfer students to get involved with campus events, learn about the different free services that are available on campus and even find friends. While I might have eventually stumbled across workshops such as those hosted by different departments, or the AS Food Bank for example, it was having to research our television stories that has familiarized me with the campus and all it has to offer. Coming to a new school, where you don’t know anyone, can be terrifying. But throwing myself into UCSB TV made the transition so much easier. It gave me a small, close-knit family that I wouldn’t change for the world.
Kelisha Abad is a third-year UC Santa Barbara student, majoring in English.
KEYT News producer, Jim Lemon, gives the members of the UCSB TV staff pointers for their show. UCSB TV producer, Celie Mitchard, sits at the studio desk.
Photo courtesy of Celie Mitchard