INTERN EDDIE – Hello WJTL listeners and supporters! It feels good to be back in good ole’ Lancaster County for the summer, and it feels even better to be given the opportunity to be one of the interns here at WJTL! About nine months out of the year for the past three years, I’ve been studying at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, pursuing a degree in music business and technology and am currently on track to graduate in December of this year. I volunteered with WJTL last summer and when it came time for me to choose the internship that’s required for graduation, I thought how exciting it would be to experience the radio industry and how it works inside and out firsthand. I applied in January, and in a few weeks, I was in!

I’m a native of Lancaster born into a family of five, growing up with an older brother and younger sister. My brother graduated from Evangel last year and is currently pursuing medical school in hopes of becoming a doctor, and my sister just finished her sophomore year of high school. My mother is a teacher at CTC, and my father owns his own painting and contracting business where I sometimes work during my summers home from school. When I’m not working or studying at school, I like to spend time with family and friends, write and listen to music, and fitness train at the gym.

If you’re wondering what a music business and technology degree entails, I’ll go into a little more detail of what my experience has been like at Evangel. When I first got there, I had no idea what I wanted to do (like most students), but I knew that I had a passion for music, and so I decided to take a step in that direction and start taking music classes. I also knew I wanted to be involved in worship for their chapel services; I had been leading worship at church since 8th grade, and knew that that was the ministry God wanted me to be in. So, I met a few guys who wanted to form a band, and we tried out. I became one of the chapel worship leaders my second semester, and I was blessed to be able to serve the school at that position for six semesters. Evangel has a worship leadership degree, but I decided that since I already had significant experience in leading worship, I would focus my studies in another area of music where I could develop new skills. That area ended up being recording and producing. For the past few semesters, my college experience has consisted of spending long hours in the studio recording and producing music, finding musicians to play for my tracks, and meeting tight deadlines while trying to complete other projects and assignments. It’s been overwhelming at times, but I can’t say that I regret choosing this degree. It’s been really fun, and I’ve learned an extensive amount about music and the industry in the past couple years.

WJTL has offered a great temporary change from the work that I’ve grown accustomed to at school, and they don’t mess around. On the first day, I was on-air within fifteen minutes doing the weather. Definitely not what I was expecting. Other than being a meteorologist, I’ve been able to work in the production studio, recording and producing a promo spot for the bumper sticker contest. So far that’s been my favorite part, considering I get to use some of the production skills that I’ve picked up at school. In addition, I’ve also been able to help set up and tear down stages for a couple of the concerts that WJTL has hosted and shadow the sound engineers behind the scenes. I’m looking forward to the rest of the summer here with the awesome staff at FM 90.3! It’s gonna be a blast!