On October 17, I had the opportunity to work in different areas related to my field

of study; communications. I decided to fulfill my course requirement by focusing on

working in radio. Currently, I am an announcer on a radio program at the Universidad del
Sagrado Corazn called Sagrado News. As part of my one-day experience, I contacted
different professors who teach radio broadcasting so that we could set a date in order for me
to complete my practice. However, later on, I decided to stay the whole day in order to see
the various tasks that are performed at a radio station. It is important to know about all the
different elements involved because employees are required to know how to carryout all the
tasks even if it is not their responsibility.

My day started at 5:00 a.m. with the program Noti Uno en la maana with Luis
Enrique Fal. I worked in the control center, where I was handling all of the sound
equipment, including microphones. This program was not very interactive because it was
more about politics and economics. However, the next program, called Pelota dura with
Ferdinand Prez, was more active and fun. I was there as a guest to talk about important
current events that affect the country. In the program, I had the role of guest analyst, and I
had to do my research, read the newspaper, highlight the most important news, and give my
opinion from a students point of view, which made the the program different.

After finishing Pelota dura. I went to the writing area; the most difficult part of
the radio industry because you have to do a lot of things at the same time. I had the chance
to meet the news producer, Glendaliz Vlez, who gave me a tour around the radio station.
After that, I spent two hours writing articles with her and using the editing software called
NewsBoss. This program provides a newspaper format in which one can arrange

headlines and news in order of importance. By doing these tasks, I learned a lot about the
editors role. Editors have to be fast thinkers in order to summarize the news in a short
period of time and to then send it to the announcers computers so that they can deliver the
news on time. Later that day, during the afternoon, I was at the Hot 102 radio station,
specifically on the program Happy Hour with Rafael Jos and Tita Guerrero, working as a
DJ and announcer. These last afternoon programs were really exciting because I got to play
80s music using two computers and a sound console, talk about the program, and make
announcements during commercial breaks.

Something that amazed me was the commitment that people working on the radio
must have. First, if there is an atmospheric phenomenon, all the employees have to stay at
the station to work on the news and keep Puerto Rico informed. Also, if an employee is in a
family vacation and he or she is called to cover an event, that employee must stop whatever
he/she is doing to cover it. This part is really difficult to manage for most because it
requires a commitment that goes beyond the established work hours.

This was a learning experience that I also used to create contacts for the future. I
learned that theory is important, but practice is vital to doing a better job after graduating.
In addition, this activity lets one see how a specific work environment truly is and that not
everything is how it seems. Not everything is perfect, synchronized, and passive; there are
thousands of mistakes and problems that work pressure causes because of the need for
information. However, I love the radio industry and this experience reinforced a lot of
techniques that I learned at the university. It gave me the opportunity to meet different

kinds of announcers and professionals, so that I could learn the best from each of them ,
and I can become a better professional in a not too distant future.

Universidad del Sagrado Corazn

San Juan, Puerto Rico
Department of Communications

Shadow the Experience Essay

Mikhail Prez Martnez

#201-00-2811
Prof. Ferrer
CMU- 480 Sec 1
October 22, 2014