"I’m majoring in Communications and Media Arts, and I’m really big into music. I play drums in bands and I’m constantly around music. That’s kind of always been my thing.

My classes are things like television, radio, podcasting, and journalism. Journalism even helps with songwriting, so everything kind of falls into place. I’m supposed to have an internship at a radio station next year, and I think that connects really well with what I want to do because radio and media go hand-in-hand with music and promotion.

My dream job would be to be an audio engineer for concerts and venues, or to be a drummer in my own band and tour. That’s the dream. What I’m learning now might not be exactly that, but it all ties into it — understanding media, communication, promotion, and how things work behind the scenes.

My family owns a music venue called The Forx. My dad and uncles started it about five or six years ago on my grandma’s property. It started small and just kept growing. Now we have bands come in from all over, California, Tennessee, and we’ve even had some bigger names.

I’m included on emails with managers and our talent buyer in Florida. We talk about what shows we want to bring in — whether it’s tribute bands, touring acts, or something new like comedy. I help with hospitality, so I make sure bands have what they need — towels, water, food. Sometimes I get emails directly from band managers asking me to make sure everything’s ready.

During shows, I sit beside the sound engineers. I’ve made really good friends with them, and they show me what all the buttons do and how everything works. My old singer from my first band is actually our monitor engineer, so I’m constantly learning from him too.

It’s kind of crazy to think about being included in all of that as a junior, but it’s really cool. I feel like everything I’m learning in Communications and Media Arts connects directly to the music world and what I want to do in the future.”