If you had told me in my freshman year of college that I would be spending my summers working in the music industry and living in big cities, I would have never believed it. I would never have thought that my communication and writing classes would have opened doors for me to work in a field such as that, but it’s true.
Over the summer, I had an incredible opportunity presented to me. I was offered a position as an intern in the music programming
department at SiriusXM in New York City. This meant that once again, I was packing up my bags and moving to a new city for another summer. I scoured craigslist for an apartment, prepared myself for a new environment, and said my goodbyes to friends and family.
Working at SiriusXM gave me an opportunity to grow more than I ever thought possible. I had a chance to screen calls during live broadcast, sit in the studio during interviews, and assist in building shows for some of the rock channels. I walked into the office each day, looking around to see what celebrity would be in today, and on multiple occasions walked right past them. The experience I had at SiriusXM was nothing short of incredible, and I have to thank many people for helping me land a job there. One major place I need to thank is the University of Rhode Island.
In my first couple years at URI, I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. It wasn’t until the middle of sophomore year that I toyed with the idea of music journalism. I quickly learned that I wasn’t interested in that particular path, but I knew the music industry was the right place for me. I knew that getting a foot in the door is incredibly hard to do, so I took advantage of URI’s resources to build my resume as much as possible on campus. I began taking classes that gave me the chance to record and edit radio commercials, songs, and audio stories, which helped me discover a love for live studio work and audio engineering. I joined clubs at URI such as the school’s radio station, WRIU, as well as writing for the Cigar. I eventually joined the executive boards for these clubs, and was able to network with people within those communities.
URI offers clubs and organizations to fit every type of personality, and that is something I wish I had learned earlier in my college career. People always say that you should get involved on campus, and I completely agree with that advice. There are so many options within this school, and so many opportunities that are just waiting to be taken advantage of. These opportunities can lead you to do things you never thought you would do, all while creating strong friendships, and discovering who you are. With over 100 clubs on campus, interesting networking events hosted by the school, and a wide variety of interesting classes being offered for every major, it is important for students to go out and discover new opportunities.
If I hadn’t took the time and go explore the opportunities URI had to offer, I would never have been able to land the internships that I have. URI has helped me in so many ways, and I hope that it can help others in their future endeavours as well.