MARK KRUEGER
“Recently, I began to do some soul searching and web searching. I began to look for a career change. As my search continued, I realized that I needed to find something that I loved to do and had a real passion for. I wanted to get up in the morning with anticipation of what I was going to get into at work. Right now I am lucky to get the energy to get out the door…. I realize that this experience does not a DJ make, however, I believe it shows my extreme passion for this career. Since this is a new career for me, I realize, that it will take hard work and starting at the bottom. I have talked to my wife and I have her support in this pursuit.”
When you reach a point in you life when you have accomplished as much as I have personally, you begin to realize that you have not necessarily done what you wanted to do that will make you happy. I have it all basically, a wonderful wife, two great kids, a very nice home, money, cars, etc. All of the things that freedom in America allows us the luxury of pursuing, however, you will notice that career satisfaction is not in that list.
Recently, I began to do some soul searching and web searching. I began to look for a career change. As my search continued, I realized that I needed to find something that I loved to do and had a real passion for. I wanted to get up in the morning with anticipation of what I was going to get into at work. Right now I am lucky to get the energy to get out the door.
My search leads me to the Apprenticeship Mentor Association. My search led me to Phillip Trout because my desire to change careers kept leading me back to what I love most, music, DJ’ing, and radio.
Let me explain my journey to this point. I grew up in the middle of middle class America, in Lutherville, Maryland. I remember as a kid my mother listening to WCAO in Baltimore, and WBAL with Lee Case. I began to listen to the Oriole games with a transistor radio under my pillow. The voice of Chuck Thompson and Bill O’Donnell would take me to dream land. I became an Elvis fan in 1972 and never stopped buying music and listening to the radio since.
At fifteen, I bought a Marantz receiver, top of the line, and began my FM radio listening. When I finally got a turntable, I began to play music for our gatherings in my basement around the bumper pool table. I set the mood for our most enjoyable time of being a kid. I went to college at Auburn University, in Alabama, where I was exposed to all kinds of new music. I began to DJ the dorm parties. This is where I really began to see the impact of what a good DJ could do. Each dance or party we had required me to assess the mood and tone of the crowd and determine what music and in what order I needed to play the music to keep the party going on well into the night. If I could not attend a certain gathering, I would lend my equipment to others in the dorm. When I got back, all I heard was how lousy the party was and how it ended at 10:00. They had the same music and the same equipment but they did not have the ability to tailor it to the situation. I have continued this into my adult life where I have become the DJ of choice at my church, my neighborhood and at my friends’ houses.
I realize that this experience does not a DJ make, however, I believe it shows my extreme passion for this career. Since this is a new career for me, I realize, that it will take hard work and starting at the bottom. I have talked to my wife and I have her support in this pursuit.
Please let me know if I can supply any further information.
Thanks,
Mark M. Krueger
