Collegiette Makes Childhood Dream a Reality
While many of us college girls are preparing to hit the hay, Lauren Visin is awaiting the sound of her alarm clock. With the bright-and-early wake-up call of 2:00 a.m., Visin most definitely puts a whole new spin on the term “rise and grind”. Visin is required to be at work at 3:30 a.m., where she must develop forecasts and design graphics all before 5:00. While most of us can’t conceive being anything but PTFO then, Visin is dressed in full makeup, ready to present part of the morning news to the people of Tallahassee.
Visin, 21, was given the opportunity to serve as a freelance forecaster for news station WTXL ABC 27. She is a senior here at FSU double majoring in Meteorology and Media and Communication studies. If you’re still not convinced that this is a handful, she is also working on an honors thesis on tropical meteorology (a fancy word for hurricanes), and is an active member of her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. This mother load of work also translates into 40 work hours a week, and 21 school hours this semester.
What does Visin have to say about her ambitious workload? “I know it’s all going to be worth it in the long run,” she said. “This is truly my dream job”. Visin’s love and fascination for storms and weather began when she was just a little girl. “When I was little I was really scared of thunderstorms because I didn’t understand them. My dad inspired me to learn about their systems and how they work, so I did. I studied storms and fell in love.” Visin remembers developing a concept of weather changes when her home in South Carolina felt the effects of Hurricane Fran in 1996. After learning about the effects of Hurricane Katrina, Visin developed a passion to save people’s lives by weather forecasting.“I was the kind of person that knew what I wanted to do by the time I was 5 or 6,” Visin mentions.
Visin has been working at the 4FSU news station doing weather since freshman year. She had also previously interned at WTXL, which helped her land her current job. When they needed a fill-in morning meteorologist, they encouraged her to send in an audition tape. Visin encourages girls trying to pursue careers in meteorology to start networking, and looking for jobs and internships early in their school career. “The internship I had at WTXL sophomore year ended up blossoming into a great opportunity,” Visin said.
While some of us might dream of a day where we can watch ourselves on TV, Visin thinks a little differently. “I hate watching myself, it makes me so uncomfortable. I see every single thing I do wrong.” The only reason she watches herself is to help her learn from her mistakes.
So what advice does Visin have for fellow collegiettes that are desperately trying to balance work, school, and a social life? “If it’s important to you, you will make time for it. Find “hidden time” in your day, and utilize it.” Visin added that she spends the eight minutes she has in-between Good Morning America cut-ins doing homework. She suggests learning how to transition well between tasks and to never doubt yourself. “Don’t be afraid of lack of experience; there are so many people that will be willing to help you.”