Name: Pat Kernan
Major (s): Broadcast Journalism and English Double Major
Grad Year: 2016
Hometown: Scranton, PA
Broadcast Journalism and English double major Pat Kernan took some time out of his busy day to sit down with HerCampus in The Wood Word office at Marywood to talk about his Marywood experience and goals for the future.
Her Campus Marywood: Firstly… why did you want to be Campus Cutie?
Pat Kernan: Because I thought it would be funny if we did this interview.
HC: Why did you come to Marywood?
PK: I decided to come to Marywood because I am cold and afraid of the world and I did not want to go too far out of my comfort zone and leave Scranton.
HC: Could you define that comfort zone?
PK: Uhm… like… a 12 mile radius outside of my house. But I’ve gotten better with that and I’m more open to leaving, but back then I was more introverted than I am now. I’ve come out of the womb, so to speak.
HC: What are you involved in on campus?
PK: Everything. I am the Managing Editor of The Wood Word and I also occasionally DJ on VMFM, the radio station here at Marywood. That’s about it- those things take up most of my waking hours. I’m also a part of Improv Beyond, which is Marywood’s own improv group, so if you’ve seen “Whose Line is it Anyway,” you know what it’s about.
HC: What’s your DJ name?
PK: Pat. That’s not really a good question. My first semester as a DJ, I called myself DJ PK and I didn’t realize how dumb that sounded until the first time I said it on air but I thought I had to commit to it for the rest of the semester.
HC: What do you enjoy about Broadcast Journalism at Marywood?
PK: I feel like I come to school and it’s not school. I come and it’s sort of like playing around with stuff. I get to film stuff in the TV studios, interview people and write stories, and DJ in the radio. It doesn’t feel like school and that’s why I love it.
HC: Got any tips for aspiring journos?
PK: “Keep knocking on doors, journos!” Just keep working at it, you know? Stay on top of your game, keep calling people, e-mailing people and eventually you’ll get a job.
HC: What makes something quality literature to you?
PK: I think the most important thing is that it needs to be original or if it’s not original, it needs to examine tropes in interesting ways.
HC: Originally, you were an English —
PK: Originally, I was an English/Secondary Education major.
HC: Ok, originally I was talking —
PK: Yeah, and you were wrong. Any other questions?
HC: As a matter of fact, yes. The major you were is not the major you are. What happened in the course of 4 years?
PK: I realized that I hate kids. No seriously, I think education is a calling and I thought that the best thing that I could do for high schoolers everywhere was to realize that I do not have that calling and back out when I could. I realized I was into Comm Arts stuff and realized I couldn’t teach so I did research into Comm Arts and got more into that.
HC: When how did you make the transition?
PK: The first semester of my sophomore year. How? With a lot of anxiety and a sense of release. The process of changing your major is stupidly hard- you need a signature from everyone and whenever I went, no one was in the office, so what should have taken me 20 minutes took me a week and a half.
HC: Why did you keep the English component?
PK: I loved English and I didn’t want to give it up, but I was also so far into the major that I already had like a minor and a half, so it would have been dumb to give it up at that point.
HC: You were originally English/Communications and switched to Communications/English? Why
PK: I wanted to sit with the Comm kids at graduation because they’re cooler. Especially my best friend Connor Moffitt. I am not answering this question under duress.
HC: I remember you once told me that with two majors, you can’t sit on the fence forever- you have to choose a side. What side are you leaning towards?
PK: Holy shit, I said that? I don’t remember saying anything that profound. I’m definitely leaning toward the Comm department. Nothing against English, but sitting around analyzing poems isn’t what I want to do.
HC: Do you have a long-term goal?
PK: Not being homeless and getting paid for what I do. What I really want to do is work for some sort of news organization that specializes in the arts like Rolling Stone, The New York Times and National Public Radio, and do music reviews.
HC: 2015 ended, and so did your personal goal of writing album reviews for 365 days. Any thoughts on the end of that project?
PK: Hmm… I was originally expecting to do it for only 2015 and expected to be done with it, but then the process became such a part of my daily routine and it would have felt weird to stop it, so I made some changes to how I run the blog. So now, I’m doing 366 days for 2016 because it’s a leap year. Are you gonna put a link to my blog in here? I need followers.
Editor’s note: Pat’s blog is 365daysofalbums.tumblr.com
HC: All right campus cutie, what’s your relationship status.
PK: Happily taken… ew.
HC: Want to elaborate.
PK: Ew to my phrasing but not to my relationship.
HC: How long have you been dating? What’s she like?
PK: We met at a Christmas party in 2014 and we started dating on the ides of march so that’s promising. In two months, it’ll have been a year, and no one has been stabbed in the back yet.
HC: What are qualities that you think are important in a female and what advice would you give to young’uns looking for love?
PK: I think the most important thing, at least for me, is a sense of humor. A lot of people go into relationships looking for someone they can be with for the rest of their lives but for me, if they can’t make me laugh and if I can’t make them laugh, then what’s the point?
Young’uns looking for love, Jesus Christ… so I think the most important qualities that you need to have is an understanding that you are both different people, and an awareness that you aren’t always going to agree on things. That’s not always in a sense of fighting, but movies and such but it’s okay because it’s cool and you’re gonna more past it.
HC: Rain or shine?
PK: I kinda like the rain. I don’t know, I like it cool, sorta rainy. I think the rain makes you look at differently because… it makes everything look differently. When it’s sunny, everyone thinks that’s how things are supposed to look but when it rains or snows or fogs, you see a place you are familiar with in a different way.
HC: You’re graduating in a matter of months —
PK: Ahh! Don’t bring that up. Don’t use the g word!
HC: Anyway… How would you sum up your time at Marywood?
PK: It was good! It was everything that I wanted for my college career. I learned how to do all the stuff I’m going to do for my career, I made great friends and yeah, this sounds like an ad for Admissions, but I can’t complain. I had a good time here.
HC: Any personal goals you want to share?
PK: My personal goal is to accomplish my professional goals… maybe lose a few pounds, move out, get an apartment, move to NY, become a rapper, take over the streets. There we go.