It’s World Radio Day

I have loved listening to the radio for as long as I can remember.  As a kid with a boom box, recording my favourite songs whenever I could. I would listen to a radio station when we lived in Mississauga that would count down the biggest songs of the year on New Years Day and I would keep track of every song with my notebook.

There is something so powerful about hearing your favourite songs on the radio. The days of calling in and requesting your favourite song.  The excitement of what was coming next.

I have always had a love of music and it’s because of music that I took the leap and decided to go to school to learn more about radio. I didn’t really think it through, because I was always the shy kid. The one who stayed at the back of the room and didn’t make a sound. I was the kid who passed out giving speeches in school. Every single time.

To make that leap into radio still doesn’t make sense to me today.

As the end of high school got close, I applied to three different colleges for three different programs.  The Radio, Television and Journalism program at Lambton College was the only one I responded to.  Again, being shy and afraid to speak in front of people, it made ZERO sense.

I went through the program and fell in love with radio. I loved everything about it. I love that you can lose yourself in the music and you can open up the mic and feel like you are connecting to people one on one, and maybe – just maybe – helping them get through their day. Helping them smile through a tough day, laugh at something stupid you said, sometimes on purpose.

Music – whatever the format – is a powerful tool. It can make you feel better on a sad day, or remind you of something that broke your heart. It can take you back in time. It can build you up. It can make you laugh. Music is powerful and I just knew I wanted to be part of it.

I started out of college – as the mascot of the station – Felix the Fox.  It was a tough job for sure.  Mascots take a lot of abuse! That’s for sure. But it got my foot in the door.

Nearly 28 years later, I have worked in a number of positions and dayparts. I have worked with different formats but I am back where I first started in May 1991. Fresh out of college. Looking for someone to take a chance on me.

Categorised in: Afternoons

This post was written by Carrie Buchanan