Signing off for the last time at MNSU
Wes Huntington reflects on his final year accomplishments at Mankato
Well, another year has come and gone for me. Unfortunately for all of my friends, this is also the final year of my college career here at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Upon reflection, I have to say my two years here at MNSU have been filled with ups and downs. Overall, I know that my time here may have been brief, but at least I have made some fabulous memories and friends.
Obviously my favorite highlight is doing the radio station, KMSU/KMSK “The Maverick.” In February 2015, I decided to join KMSU as a student radio host, hosting the student-run variety show Radio a La Carte.
At the time I started, the show only lasted from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. every weekday, and I would host the show only on Fridays. Now, I’ve taken over the show-running duties, and I’ve also taken the initiative and also expanded the show from an hour to an hour and a half. So, instead of having the show airing from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. every day, the show now airs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. It was an experiment that station manager Jim “Gully” Gullickson and I decided to try during the Winter Break and succeeded brilliantly. Now, since January, with the occasional revert, the show airs for 90 minutes instead of 60.
I’ve also tried to improve the show by having a disclaimer that plays at the start of every broadcast, saying: “The views and opinions expressed on Radio a La Carte are not necessarily those of KMSU, KMSK, its underwriters, Minnesota State University Mankato, its staff, students or the public at large. Thank you.” I created that to save Gullickson and operations director Karen Wright some unnecessary headaches with that disclaimer, and I consider it the biggest change to the show.
The other big change is that I created a trivia segment in order to get the other co-hosts to get involved in testing their knowledge. At the start, I used trivia websites, but lately I have been using Trivial Pursuit cards. It gets the listeners excited, and also it gets me excited as one of my dreams in addition to being a broadcaster is a game show host. Maybe someday I could host The Price is Right or Jeopardy!.
I’ve made a lot of friends, and there are too many to mention. Finally, I just want to say thank you to many people. I would like to thank Karen Wright and Jim Gullickson at KMSU for taking a chance on me. I consider them my true mentors. I also want to say thank you to Tammy Dahlvang, the Crossroads ELCA pastor for being who she is. Finally, I want to say thank you to Nicole Schmidt, Matt Eberline, and Rae Frame from The Reporter for publishing my great articles.
Peace out, Mankato.
