CHRIS GERMAN
“I always had a fascination with radio. My father and I would drive out on Saturday mornings, sit by the water, drink hot chocolate (his coffee always tasted a bit sweeter because of the extra dash of lovin' he put in his) and listen to the distant sounds of Miss American Pie and Cat Stevens. It mystified me that through the flip flop of the Pontiac's windshield wipers and cold mid-fall rain, that someone came through our a.m. radio with a voice sounding of early morning and a pack of Winstons and he could sound so...strong, so....wise...so cool. That was one of my fondest memories of my father and though they were few and far between, I carry the smell of the wet auto interior, the smoke-stained coffee smells and the din of the flickering a.m. radio with me always. When I was little I didn't think much of it, but now that I am older I think that is where it started, my love of radio…
As I said, the movie (“Pump up the Volume”) inspired me, so that when I came home I took every electrical appliance I could find…Unfortunately what I knew about electronics could fit on the ass of a gnat and when I plugged it in and tried to broadcast for the first time, the whole mess flashed in a giant blue blaze giving the basement the distinct odor of ozone that only comes with an electrical near-death experience. I also managed to pop half the circuits in the house and melt a plastic table cloth to an antique dining room table that was being stored in the basement and cost my mother more than my whole life was worth. Needless to say, I then chose to go to military school for college instead of technical school.”
Fri, 27 Apr 2001 14:08:46 EDT
Hey Phillip!
Did j'ever notice how some of the best stories have very little in the way of real world development? For example, "Watership Down". A bunch of bunnies do un-bunny like things and travel five miles to do bunny-like things in another part of the yard - not a major development if you look at it from a real-world perspective. I mean they don't build a giant ship and sail off to another galaxy or find the cure for a bunny-plague that threatens to destroy the entire bunny nation? In fact they take a bunny-powder and leave the rest of their clan to be taken down by a farmer with a sweet tooth for hasenfepper! Not what you would call the epic journey of ancient times!
And that is where my radio career comes in - not an epic journey. Rather one of very little real world development so far that if you look at it from real-world perspective seems even less impressive.
So I ask you, what's the point of an autobiography on this topic when even the author before kicking off says it's an unimpressive story of little noteworthiness? Truth is, I don't know. I could write it from the Dickens perspective of a down-trodden soul, desperately searching for a benevolent god to touch his life and lift him from the mires of modern day professional America. And although the imagery would be the stuff of sweet little Colette in revolutionary France, it would be little more than just that. A musical full of over-acting and dramatic motions telling a story that is not in fact true on it's face and is better left to those who love grease paint and over-priced lattes. As a journalist, I could not and would not tolerate such drivel.
Instead I will write it from the perspective of the first person in all its monotony and anti-climaticism because this autobiography is not the epic of a bunch of cute and fuzzy bunnies. And it's not the story of a warrior searching through the ancient world to find his way home to his wife after a long battle. Those are written when the journey is over and lessons have been learned. This one comes when the lessons haven't been taught yet and the journey has just kicked off. Here goes!
I always had a fascination with radio. My father and I would drive out on Saturday mornings, sit by the water, drink hot chocolate (his coffee always tasted a bit sweeter because of the extra dash of lovin' he put in his) and listen to the distant sounds of Miss American Pie and Cat Stevens. It mystified me that through the flip flop of the Pontiac's windshield wipers and cold mid-fall rain, that someone came through our a.m. radio with a voice sounding of early morning and a pack of Winstons and he could sound so...strong, so....wise...so cool. That was one of my fondest memories of my father and though they were few and far between, I carry the smell of the wet auto interior, the smoke-stained coffee smells and the din of the flickering a.m. radio with me always. When I was little I didn't think much of it, but now that I am older I think that is where it started, my love of radio.
After a couple of years, my parents’ divorce, and a new life without the constant domestic violence, I learned to laugh again and that is when I came back to radio. When I was in fourth grade I found radio again, but in a different way. That was when Dougie Fresh and Slick Rick hit the New York scene and rap stormed the nation. I was friends at the time with a kid who was a couple of years older and whose parents were way worse off than mine with chemical dependence, so they sent him from nearby Bridgeport to the suburbs of Stratford to live with his grandmother, so that he would not become a street thug. With him he brought the knowledge of New York and rap and I listened to his tapes of the New York stations with the black DJ's and the artistic displays of the F-word and was transfixed on becoming a DJ.
So that Christmas, I asked for and received a Run DMC tape and a "boom box". And on Christmas morning, with Run and Darryl stylistically belting out lyrics of inner city life on my relatively small but equally "fresh" boom box, I had become a middle-aged black DJ of New York City and thought I was the toast of the neighborhood. I played the tape for hours and imagined hosting a show in New York City where I would spin records of the great rappers of the inner cities of America and in between, charm the "dudes" of the neighborhood with my humorous radio antics. And in that glorious imaginary world of radio stardom, the idea hit me! It was as bright as the neon lights of the porn shops on Broadway and as powerful as messages shouted through my little black boom box. I would record my own tape of music and humorous personalities and become the DJ's of New York. That's what I'll do, and if it's any good I'll send it down to New York and get my own radio show hosting rap albums in Harlem! Yes I could see it now, a 50-pound white fourth-grader talking to the streets of Harlem- they'd love me I just knew it!
So I waited until my house was empty and set up the boom box with a Lincoln log console and a set of headphones from 1968 and started the Chris German Show's broadcast day. It lasted for about forty minutes and had all the best selections from my one and only Run DMC tape mixed in with colorful banter and all my humorous imaginary character's voices and I finished with a phone-in interview from President Reagan stating how much he loved my radio show and how he himself tried break dancing on a street corner in Washington. I was indeed the toast of the town, until I heard it.
Embarrassment kicked in and about five minutes into the second break between songs, I shut off my little black boom box and hoped I would never hear that tape again and went to bed. A couple of weeks passed and I thought less and less about the tape and used my boom box with my Bridgeport friend often, listening to tapes he would let me touch and play in my paltry excuse for a boom box compared to his 900-pound, spray-painted, 3-dozen battery boom box and thought he was my best friend for letting me use his tapes in my boom box.
All that went on for a couple of weeks and we were the most famous friends until one day I walked out to the corner to play ball with the other kids in the neighborhood. As I reached the corner, where we customarily joined up to pick teams, I heard a familiar sound. It was the sound of me and my version of Ronald Reagan discussing the merits of break dancing. The kid from Bridgeport had stolen it from my room and was playing it for the rest of the kids in the neighborhood. If not for the blood rushing to my ears and the boiling flesh on my face from embarrassment, I might have heard the jeers and taunts of all the guys in the neighborhood mocking me, including the kid from Bridgeport who I thought was my best friend.
I grabbed the tape from his boom box and received a prompt punch to the side of my head. Ignoring whatever pain would ensue, I managed to wrestle away from the group of boys and the Bridgeport kid who were pummeling me for disturbing their enjoyment at my expense. I ran back to my house with the tape and a heart full of embarrassment and shame. Radio would become a distant nightmare instead of the dream it once was, at least until my fragile 12-year-old ego could repair itself. With the boys it only took a couple of days and we were on to the next venture of the week. Radio took a bit longer.
In junior high I found radio again, this time in the form of a movie. Rap had died for me as quickly as it began and the rumbling of anti-social behavior, anarchy and contempt for the establishment was on the horizon. It was at this time when grunge began to rear it's flannel-clad head and the sounds of Pearl Jam and Nirvana were replacing Young M.C. and Tone Loc in my pop-culture oriented mind. It was also the time when Christian Slater rocked the teen world with his starring in the cult classic of the grunge world, “Pump Up the Volume”.
It was the girls that turned me on to this flick. They loved it because of Slater's dark withdrawn appeal to the directionless tail-end of Gen X. I liked it because he set up a pirate radio station in his basement which undermined the authority of the town and exposed a grade-fixing scam by the town Board of Ed. The movie inspired me.
My friend's mother (not the one from Bridgeport, I never talked to him again) wrote a book one time about gifted children. The book applied to me and my friend ‘cause round about fourth grade they put us in classes for gifted children. I never felt gifted but they told me I was, so I believed them. Guess I proved them wrong after all. Anyway in this book she wrote (and I'm paraphrasing), "You tell a regular kid to vacuum the rug and come in ten minutes later and the rug is vacuumed, sort of. But you tell a gifted kid to vacuum the rug and come in ten minutes later to find he's got the vacuum taken apart in twenty pieces on the dirty living room rug." That always made a lot of sense to me and that's why I mention it now.
As I said, the movie inspired me, so that when I came home I took every electrical appliance I could find, including my little black boom box, a transistor radio from 1973, a marine radio from Dad's old boat, a control box from a train set and a CB from my Dad's truck. I took them all apart and tried to build a pirate radio station in my basement so that I could speak to all the poor unfortunate souls lost in the confusing time of teenagerdom.
Unfortunately what I knew about electronics could fit on the ass of a gnat and when I plugged it in and tried to broadcast for the first time, the whole mess flashed in a giant blue blaze giving the basement the distinct odor of ozone that only comes with an electrical near-death experience. I also managed to pop half the circuits in the house and melt a plastic table cloth to an antique dining room table that was being stored in the basement and cost my mother more than my whole life was worth. Needless to say, I then chose to go to military school for college instead of technical school.
The rest is pretty pointless. I graduated from high school and went to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy for a year. In that year I learned how to polish shoes and brass, put a crease in a shirt that would cut a tomato and that I needed to have some fun before I became an adult. So after getting sick enough to die, two surgeries and the threat of removing half my colon, I transferred to the University of Connecticut where I majored in alcoholism and sailing and managed to get a degree in political science and journalism. I mention this only because my degree has proven worthless and the only good thing I got out of UConn was a smoking habit, a beer gut and a return to my love of radio.
It was during my senior year at UConn that I remembered my fascination with radio. I took a class in writing news for broadcast with a radio guy from a nearby station. He taught me loads about writing for radio and I enjoyed his class. In fact that was one of the only classes that kept me out of the bars. I managed to do pretty well in the class and he liked me so I asked him if I could do an internship at his station. He said sure and it was at that point I thought the rest of my life would be in radio.
I would show up there three times a week and listen to the morning jocks entertain and inform the morning worker bees on their trek to a job they hated, as I wrote copy for the news anchors. I enjoyed it, but I wanted to play with the stuff in the booth.
I wanted to know how they took a couple of carts, a sheet of paper and a board with more buttons than a 747, and make it sound like the guys I used to listen to in my Dad's car. Unfortunately, what they don't tell you in college is that when your four years are up and you get enough credits to graduate, you leave. My six months at the station ended and I learned to write and that's about it. I wrote pretty well, I think, and with that knowledge and a degree I set out into the real world trying to get a job in radio.
It's been three years since I graduated. I've had jobs in PR, print media, waiting tables, and most recently I got to play sailor boy for a year while I "found myself". All I found was a great drink recipe from the British Virgin Islands, a surefire way to get skin cancer, and enough salt in my veins to crust the rim of a great margarita. Not bad stuff and it was fun to do, all of it. But now is the time to get back to my passion, radio.
So that's it, not an autobiography of note. I didn't find the cure for cancer and I didn't fight in any wars for African independence. It certainly isn't an epic journey, cause like those cute and fuzzy bunnies, I didn't really go anywhere but the other side of the yard.
What this is is a great start. This is how I got to the beginning of my life and this is how I am starting my autobiography. Stay tuned for the remainder cause it's sure to be a bumpy ride and one lucky winner will get $10,000 – no, not really, but that's what they always say in radio to keep you listening. Anyway, wish me luck!
Chris German
…His tone was rebuking - but his words were encouraging - So I got really confused but pledged to show up there every free minute I have and follow directions - He says good because he was listening to my show over the weekend and I had some major mistakes that can't happen again-I leave with my tail between my legs.
Obviously I couldn't handle it well and made quite few mistakes. No problem right I'm learning? NO! I had five different people correct me for every mistake and me being a perfectionist who doesn't handle criticism well almost popped a neuron. Not a good day! I then decided I had done enough damage and went to the bar and got drunk and vowed I would return with a more positive attitude and less mistakes.
My question to you is- WHY THE HELL AM I PUTTING MYSELF THROUGH THIS??? It's stressful, not appealing to me at all and not what I am trained for at all-and besides there is no guarantee I will actually get the position in two months and I get no money for it in the meantime. I love radio- I have had only good experiences up until today (OK for the most part good experiences).
I'm just really frustrated- I haven't made any head way on getting a demo tape together- and (my mentor) said two months ago- "Oh we'll get to it". I have a degree in journalism and no mind for numbers and figuring out 45 second intervals for the next hour in 10 seconds really stresses me out. I don't want to run a satellite show and will move to East Nowhere to just get a job where I am doing a home based radio show- music or no music, news or no news- just as long as it doesn't bore me and doesn't drive me to drink cause I am no good at it!
I have had opportunities at several news stations as long as I can get a demo tape together- and two other possible opportunities- one working in promotion and one writing for a national broadcasting company, CRN. I interviewed for both of them yesterday and I am waiting to hear back.
I need some guidance- do I keep training at this horrible task - I.E. running the Rush Limbaugh show as Board op - without pay for the next two months to have the PM give it to someone else or do I take one of the other two positions. First and foremost- how do I get my mentor to actually be a mentor to me and teach me stuff, go over my stuff with me and help me figure out what to do.
I am feeling really lost, neglected, abused and taken advantage of- Please advise-Chris
Subject: (no subject)
Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 17:31:01 EST
From: Chrisgerman
To: contactus@getamentor.com
hey Phillip-
Just wrote you a huge email that says how really pissed I am, and deleted it no need to hear it all. It's the same shit from day one- got my first check- (my mentor) wants his money so I will be sending you a copy- not happy about it because he sure hasn't earned it but a deal's a deal I guess and this hasn't been the most expensive lesson of my life- It's almost as expensive as a free boat- Tried that once and it's an oxymoron- Next time I am just going to write a blank check and have someone kick me in the nuts. Got the job writing for the CRN International network and in theory doing some voice work (I'll believe that when it happens)- I write ski reports for Pennsylvania- I also got an inquiry from a news director in Arkansas and with any luck I can make that happen but I don't hold my breath anymore- turned blue waiting for this mentor guy to work out. Later-
Chris
Subject: (no subject)
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 17:46:31 EST
From: Chrisgerman
To: contactus@getamentor.com
Hey Phillip-
I have some stations that would be better than where I am at right now- IN fact Having my face glued to the inside of a urinal in grand central station while smothered with honey and fire ants is preferable to going back there- but I will be patient and endure:)-
…….
Thanks for everything and even if they are looking for someone to lick ashtrays- I'll do it just so I don't have to deal with this any more- I'd tell you the latest tales from Radio hell if you want but they are tedious and I develop a nervous twitch every time I utter the call letters _________.
Thanks-
Chris
Subject: (no subject)
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 19:47:04 EST
From: Chrisgerman
To: contactus@getamentor.com
Hey Phillip- you asked me to send you the detail about working at WNLK- I am operating a board on a part time basis. Not much money, but it's another rung up on the ladder to fame and fortune in radio. They have a great news department which the last station I was at didn't have and they would like me to get into that- In fact the guy who hired me wants to encourage me into that department- Not bad huh? well that's all for now It's WNLK in Norwalk about 30 minutes from me- and very cool place to work it seems-
Later-
CG
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 23:07:52 EST
From: Chrisgerman
To: contactus@getamentor.com
Hey Phillip-
Hope your feeling better! Had my first night at WNLK. I was training so I didn't do much but listen, but it went well nonetheless. Seems like a really positive step forward. I'll be keeping an eye on three different stations, but I'll also be getting a chance to play around in the news room a bit. Mostly catching stories and keeping an eye on the news wire, but you know me. I'll prove to them what a crack journalist I am and they'll have to see to it. Anyway- thought I would let you know how it went and that I think I am moving up the ladder to success- thanks-
Chris
Subject: Here's the plan- Read this when you have a half hour or so
Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2002 18:25:20 EST
From: Chrisgerman
To: contactus@getamentor.com
Phillip-Hope your the holidays treated you well and you beat that flu. I've Been quite busy and have become nocturnal. I work from 4 am to 9 or 10 am at CRN doing the ski watch show, then I go into WNLK a couple of nights a week and on the weekends. Tough on the sleep schedule, but it's worth it if it gets me a job doing what I want to do, news.
What a segue that is into my point of writing! I realize I have shot myself in the foot with (my mentor) as far as finishing this course. I would still like to finish and for that matter need to cause I am still quite far away from having a decent demo to send out. The demo I have right now is kind of amateurish and not really on the point for what I am shooting for, a job in news radio.
So accordingly, we talked about coming up with a plan for the last few lessons and finding someone to get me along to getting the FCC license as well as putting a good demo together. Ultimately that the goal here I gather. I finished up through 13 with (my mentor) and was working on 14 when this all came to screeching halt back in November. So I guess I have four final assignments. I would like to redo the # 13 cause quite frankly it sucked and I think I can do better. Of course this is all just my opinion cause I have not received any input on any assignment since # 3 from (my mentor).
…..So I think I have given a fair representation of the final assignments I need to complete, or in the case of 13 redo, to complete the course. I would like to complete the course for the reason that I feel these last assignments are the culmination of the first dozen assignments. Without these five, I would find it very difficult to put together a good demo which will get me job. In addition, I need someone to pass me so I can get the FCC license. So what to do now? Believe it or not I have a plan.
If you could find me another mentor for the last five assignments, I think I can make some recommendations about how we can make a silk purse out of the sow's ear I had as a mentor so far.
First and foremost I think these final 5 assignments really need to be honed as to be on the mark with the short amount of time I have left with this next mentor. Accordingly, I would really be pleased if I could be paired with a news person who would like to give me a helping hand in getting into that facet of the business. And to that end, the final assignments I believe should be tailored to news and making a demo for the purpose of getting a news position. In other words, demonstrating the qualities and skills news directors are looking for in prospective candidates. My problem is I have no idea what news directors want in a candidate or their demo. So to cure this seemingly incurable albatross that is inexperience, I would like to shoot the moon and team up with someone who shares my interest in getting me a job in that field. I would at least like to find someone who has some semblance of desire in doing their job and not just getting a paycheck when it comes to teaching me.
So for the final assignments I have put together a small syllabus which I feel are the things I am lacking and could really use in order to be the most attractive candidate when I try for that first job.
…..
#5 Demo- I take the demo I already have, use elements from it if possible, but chiefly use pieces of my work from this mentor. Give it some spit and polish and wait for the job offers to roll in Haha!
I know I also need to do a self evaluations, but I would like to wait to do that until I get some input from this new mentor. Right now I am not too positive on my abilities and I think a couple of good experiences with a new mentor might really change that.
So what do you think? Could we shoot for this? As far as your end goes- I don't know how much you paid (my mentor) for- but whatever money is left allotted for me I would like that given to this next mentor-if it is not enough we can talk about other plans.
I think that's all. As far as a mentor goes-I'll take any station around here-either at WNLK or WICC or news person in Fairfield County. You were thinking of someone at WNLK- I am afraid I don't really know anyone there yet in the news room-Mike Cella is my boss and he does morning news. He is an instructor at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting-so he might be a good teacher-but I am not sure if he has time or the inclination-and besides there is that employer-employee relationship thing. I don't know tell me what you think-
You can call me as I will be around in the evenings for the next few days or email me back- ________ if you decide to call-
Talk soon and I hope this letter finds you well-
Chris
Re: HOW'S EVERYTHING?
Date: Sat, 13 Apr 2002 17:19:42 EDT
From: Chrisgerman
To: contactus@getamentor.com
Mike is great- I am learning a whole bunch and he has taken me under his wing and got me into a little bit of reporting. Things are looking up- Thanks for everything-
Chris
April 28, 2002
Dear Phillip,
You asked me for a detailed account of my experiences so far and here it is:
Just about a year ago, I found myself between careers. I had a whole bunch of experience with a whole bunch of different things, but just hadn't found my niche. While driving around one day, I was listening to the radio in the car and remembered back to college when I interned at a local radio station and thought to myself, "Man I really enjoyed that, why didn't I ever get into radio for a career?"
The next day I sent resumes out to every radio station I could find in my area and couldn't even get a call back let alone an interview. The problem was I had very little experience in radio and any news experience I had was in print. I had bounced around to a few different things, house painting, public relations, reporting, and most recently sailing. So I really had no practical experience at a station, but I still had this desire to be in radio.
I checked out a few programs here in Connecticut that promised experience and education in the art of radio, but found they cost upwards of $10,000 and required six months in a classroom before I could even start getting real world experience. Being between jobs and not having much cash, I could not afford to take classes and still not have an income.
That's when I found the radio mentor program. It fit my budget, promised results and I could do it while I was searching for a job. It just so happens that I didn't really have any job prospects at the time, so after contacting Get A Mentor, they set up an appointment for me to meet with a news director of a local station near my home.
At the meeting I met the news director and we talked about what my needs were and what I wanted out of radio. We also set up a weekly meeting to go over assignments provided by Get A Mentor to get me on the way to getting some experience in radio so I could get that first and most important job.
After a month, I still wasn't making any money, but I was interning for a morning show. When 9/11 hit, I was still just finishing assignments but the news director really became too busy to go over them with me. He passed me on to a board operator and had me follow him around. The board op told me that if I wanted to get a job in radio I needed to first learn the nuts and bolts and so he started teaching me about format clocks, commercial break formats, basic tools of the trade like mini disks, digital editing and phone systems. He also showed me around and taught me a bit about the station's transmission signals and the basics to running a board for syndicated shows as well as live shows. To tell you the truth I hated it, but it was step in the right direction. I figured, "Yeah this sucks, but everyone else had to do this, so I guess I can too."
By the end of September, the board op had taught me enough that he thought I could handle a spot running some of the weekend shows. The first weekend in October, just six months after I signed up with Get a Mentor, I turned in my first time sheet in radio and was asking to be paid for work in radio. All in all that was the goal and I was thrilled. My first week I earned $15. NO, definitely not a fortune, but that paycheck meant more than money to me. It meant the start of a career.
The following week I reported to the station at 4 am on Saturday to sit in and learn how to run the board for a weekend sports show that was followed by a home shopping show. By noon that Saturday, my head hurt, I was nauseous, exhausted and felt generally abused. Each commercial had to fire at just the right time, I had to back time to catch a network news feed and each hour was different so I had to learn each one individually. The day really was horrible and to make matters worse, whenever I made a mistake, the station manager would call me on the hotline and yell at me. I swore this job had less charm than the guy who cleaned up elephant dung at the circus. But as he replied, whenever anyone asked him, "Why do you do it?", "What? And get out of show biz!?"
I showed up again the next week and it went smoother, but I still got yelled at and the hours still stunk, and I still felt like an air traffic controller. The following weeks got better and better and I decided it wasn't that bad if it got me a career as a radio personality.
In the meantime, I saw an ad in the paper for a writer for a national radio show. I applied and was hired because I had studied under my mentor, the News Director. The position paid about $400 a week and I had to be in at 4 am every weekday, and on the weekend I went in at 4 am on Saturday's. It wasn't a great schedule but it paid the bills and I loved it. Shortly after I started working for the national show, the lady who ran the show approached me and asked if I would like to do some voice work for them. I enthusiastically agreed as this was a step in the right direction to getting on-air.
By December, I had had enough of the program director yelling at me and the news director (my original mentor) was no longer evaluating my assignments or for that matter talking to me. Perhaps cause he was too busy, but I think more likely cause he really didn't have to. I would turn in my assignments to him and he would send them to Get A Mentor. He got paid, but never talked to me about them. I felt the apprenticeship was going nowhere fast.
So at the start of the New Year, I applied for a position as a board operator I saw on the web and asked Philip to find me a new mentor. He said he was sorry that it wasn't working out with my first mentor, but that I was absolutely right to want to switch mentors. He told me to keep my eyes open and if I met someone that I thought would be a good mentor to let Get A Mentor know and they would see if they could set it up.
To my surprise, for the first time in a long time, Mike, an operations manager for another station called me back about my application. He sat down with me and asked me again what I wanted to get out of radio. I explained to him my predicament with my mentor and how much I wanted to get out of the station at which I was currently working. Mike understood. Mike said he had taught radio courses for a different program and really enjoyed seeing his students advance in the field. He promised that I could grow as much as I wanted with his station and that if I wanted to work in news, (My current goal) I could play around with the production studio and put together some pieces for a demo. He also agreed to evaluate my on air work with the national show.
I accepted the position and started work right after the New Year. In my first couple of days of training, I met the other board ops and they swore this was the best place they ever worked. Our boss, Mike, was understanding, fair and eager to help us build our careers. I soon found out that they were right and after a few weeks there I asked Philip if Mike could be my new mentor. Philip agreed that Mike sounded like the right man for the job, but told me to run the idea past him first.
At the end of January, I spoke with Mike and he agreed to be my mentor.
It's going on five months now and I couldn't be happier. I still work some crazy hours but Mike is more than fair about it and I am happy just to get a paycheck. Mike has also encouraged me to work on my News skills and this past month I have had several stories included in our newscasts. I am also now the fill in sports anchor. All in all after one year, I am thrilled at my progress and couldn't be happier at the way my career is going.
It does have its drawbacks like small pay checks and crazy hours, but for me that is just fine. I am not a 9-5er, can't stand a standard 40 hour work week, and money, well that's for people who hate their jobs. I love mine, so the money will come when it will come.
Thanks again Phillip-
Chris German
