I'm a modest person by nature and don't talk too much about myself, but I will say this. I'm John Asante. I'm originally from New Jersey, but have lived in Georgia for about 5 years. I'm about to start my senior year at Georgia State University, located in the heart of Atlanta. I'm double majoring in journalism and speech and I'm using this summer away from home to see if telecommunications (moreseo which branch - radio or TV and what type of job - reporting/ anchoring, producing, etc) is my calling.
In order to get a good scope of what kind of career I want to pursue after I graduate next May, I decided I'd try out more of the field of radio...and intern at XM Satellite Radio. Even before I go into what my duties are as an intern, I must say that XM is an amazing place. Located on the corner of NY and FL Aves., and only a 12 minute metro ride from my apartment, the company is forward thinking and innovative. Everywhere I went on my first was an enigmatic inundation of music, news, talk, technology, and the like. The people are real chill as well, and that makes any job enjoyable.
Now to my internship. Probably one of the coolest things about my job is that we (my coworkers and I in our office) don't have to dress up in button-up shirts, ties, and power suits. Seeing as we're in the program department, "as long as you have a shirt on" is our motto day in and day out.
I am serving as a programming intern for The Bob Edwards Show on XM's Public Radio Channel 133. If you're a bit unaware of who he is, you can check out his impressive career here
and click on the link to the show. In short, he does long-form one-hour interviews with noteworthy people in news, politics, music, entertainment, movies, sports, etc. The pre-recorded show is aired five times a week and played four times a day. Plus, there is a weekend show...aptly called Bob Edwards Weekend.
Since I don't want to sound too long-winded, here's a brief explanation of what I do, courtesy of Facebook:
"Editing pre-recorded interviews, researching noteworthy people, booking guests, creating podcasts, and learning to form effective interviews for one of talk radio's finest, Bob Edwards, on his daily program, The Bob Edwards Show.
All from the convenience of my desk (phone included), overlooking the busy streets of D.C. Booyah."
All of this is surreal, but true. I have a pretty sweet view out my window and I'm learning a lot about public radio and formulating interviews with a radio legend and his crew.
Now, I'm trying to stress the motto of "work hard, play hard" this summer. It goes without saying that I'm looking to explore D.C. in all of its glory as a fresh, new 21 year-old. I've visited this city a few times in my youth, but have never adventured on my own past the National Mall. D.C.is such a different city from Atlanta; from its NYC-like grid system, to its crazy hustle and bustle each day, it's quite an experience. The city seems so health conscious. Virtually everyone either walks, bikes, roller blades, uses a scooter, or some form of transportation more than a car. Around any given corner is a healthy eatery with 'fresh vegetables' and 'organic products.' D.C. is so historic too. The fact that I can walk to the Lincoln Memorial at night, see the Washington Monument out my window AND take the train to the Smithsonians is amazing.
Now that I mention sightseeing spots in the nation's capital, check out this video I took of the tour guide at the FDR memorial:
However, if there's one thing I noticed right away about D.C. is the HUMIDITY. And I'm from Atlanta, but it gets unbearable. It'll take me a while to get used to working up a sweat while walking to the metro.
Speaking of which, the train system here trumps Atlanta's any day. Five color-coded lines? Genius. Paying fares by distance? Brilliant. A chart showing the approximate ETA for any station. Remarkable. There are so many stops that are available...and it only takes me 12 minutes to get to work on the metro. Basically, I can leave my room (on the corner of 20th and E streets) at 8:30 AM and make it to work by 9. Awesome.
Living in a new city for about 11 days has already started to change my views on life mentally and physically. I'm so much more willing to just walk or take the metro to a favorite destination. The real world is becoming...a reality. Being around grown people with deadlines and lots of work, but who love their jobs, is a great experience. Everyday, I come up with new ideas of what I should do after college. Should I go into radio? What aspect? What can I do online? In addition, my social interactions with strangers has changed. Less than two weeks ago, my roommate was this random kid from upstate New York. Today, we are chillin' as if we've been buds for years.
The same goes for the people in the SIWJ program with me. We come from a myriad of walks of life, but have come together for one main purpose - to learn more about journalism. Our class is pretty intensive. We've gotta read three books, complete a five or six projects (a 3-minute video, a 300 word story, and a website), meet people in the journalism world with a good head on our shoulders AND attend our internships, all in 8 weeks.
My classmates and I are learning a lot - especially Final Cut Pro. Many of us spent countless hours in the editing studio and out in the field capturing footage, planning our videos and editing. But I can proudly say that I know how to use another program that will be beneficial to landing my dream job(s). I've also learned to multi-task like never before! At my internship at XM, I've booked three future interviews for Bob Edwards this summer and I have the challenge of creating interview questions and editing the pieces for air. The first couple of days were a rather large overflow of information...I got tutorials in about 8-10 programs that I may only use for all but 2-3 applications. Overall, I'm enjoying every minute of it.
In my free time, I've been scoping out the cool areas of D.C. and taking advice from everyone I meet. The other half of the people in the program are Ivory Tower, another nice and relatively new dorm building. Those are some nice (and expensive) apartment-style dorms. There's also the monuments and memorials, of course. I went to the Benihana in Georgetown the second night I was here with a fellow classmate and that was a trip. It was my first time in a Japanese hibachi restaurant, so I had to get some footage of the cooks' sweet skills behind the grill:
There are many places on my list to go to:
- explore more of Georgetown
- possibly check out the Film festival happening closer to Maryland
- Artomatic, before it finishes up on my birthday
- Chinatown
- Adam's Morgan (the night of my 21st!)
- Howard University
- the Smithsonians (especially the new ones I've never been to)
- Washington Memorial at dawn (to recreate one of my favorite scenes from "Wedding Crashers")
The list virtually goes on and on.
So, I guess I'll end with an ironic (maybe not so funny story) of my first week on GW's campus. I had to move apartments twice. The first time was due to water damage on the wall of my bedroom from the sprinkler that went off the month before due to the fire in someone's room.The second time was due to ANOTHER placement mistake by housing. Then, I got a wrong key. Then, I got locked out...with only a towel on...
My summer so far has been fast-paced and so is the real world, so I'd say that the program is also teaching me about how quick we have to act in the journalism world to stay on top of our game. We all laugh and cry together, during parties, classes, homework, and outings. I love being thrown into a new element and finding a way to deal with it. The last couple of summers have been a drag at home, so I wouldn't have it any other way this May-August.
As with most blog posts that I create, I feel as if I've said too much. My mind races a mile a minute, but I wouldn't have it any other way. There's that feeling in the air that this summer is going to be the most rewarding, challenging and creative experience of my life, to date.
That's all for now,
John A.
