By Saleah Blancaflor
For as long as she can remember Chelsea Tays, former Editor-in-Chief for Her Campus, said she has always wanted a career where she could use her voice.
Tays, who graduated from OSU last year with a degree in multimedia journalism, now works in Ponca City area as the news director for KPNC and KLOR on Team Radio.
“I go on air four times a day,” Tays said. “I go on twice for KPNC and twice for KLOR. As you can imagine, there isn’t much that goes on in Ponca City, but I still like talking about what people need to hear and about events that will be going on. There was something recently that I talked about on air about crime in Ponca City and how there were rumors that crime was going up when actually it’s gone down.”
Another thing Tays is doing while working for Team Radio is helping them launch their new website, which is still in the process of being created.
“Ponca City doesn’t have a free news source,” Tays said. “People have to pay to read about their news, so this is very much needed. This is a new endeavor for them, and the whole process has been enjoyable.”
Some advice Tays would like to give college students is to take any opportunity given to them and to gain as much experience as possible.
“It’s all about the experience,” Tays said. “While grades and your GPA are important, it isn’t as important as the experience you have. I had an unpaid internship in Tulsa for a few months and then they asked me to come back and gave me a paying job later on.”
Something else Tays would like college students to remember along with working hard is to never forget to relax and take a break every once in a while.
“Have fun and go out on the weekends,” Tays said. “Meet new people. See your friends. Once you graduate, all of that is over. You’re out in the real world. I mean, I’m up at 4 in the morning and in bed by 9 p.m., and I barely go out anymore. I love my job, but you don’t get the other stuff back. Enjoy it while it lasts.”
She said OSU has impacted her life in numerous ways and that she’s glad she made the decision to go to school here.
“I don’t regret going to OSU at all,” Tays said. “The journalism school is great and I’ve met so many people who are like family to me. I saw and met different kinds of people and I had so many experiences that opened my eyes.
“I was one of those people who thought school spirit was cheesy, but now I’m wearing orange every Friday. You look back and you really do miss it. I don’t know if that’s how other people feel about other universities, but I know OSU makes you want to come back.”