Career Exploration Visit

I thought my visit to KQED was great. I never got to experience visiting a television station before, so I was quite excited. Before the visit to KQED, I thought that I was going to see a very busy environment, full of hustle and bustle. I thought I was going to see people scattering about, lights, camera, and of course, action. However, that’s not how things were like at all, at least for that day. Instead, I saw a very quiet, low pressure type of environment. It almost felt like I was in my mom’s office job. On the contrary, my mom’s office job doesn’t have all the cool technology and electronics that I saw at KQED.

My classmates and I were even lucky enough to go inside their two TV studios where they occasionally shoot some of the shows that they broadcast. While in there, our tour guide talked to us about suspension of disbelief.  It is when you are so captivated by a show, movie, or book, that you seem to forget that it is not real. I thought this topic was very interesting, because I do notice myself go into another world when I watch my favorite show.

My group and I also had the chance to hear and speak to some of the employees at KQED. One person who really intrigued me was, Jean. She works as a floor manager, making sure that all the equipment and the talents are good and ready to be shot. She also mentioned that when she is not working for KQED, she is the floor manager for sporting events, such as, basketball games and baseball games. When she said this, my eyes lit up like a six-year old on Christmas morning! I never knew that such a job like that was possible. Right then and there, my eyes were opened up to the sports media field, and now I’m really interested in working in sports media.

Overall, my experience at KQED was wonderful. I got to see all their expensive equipment and even had the chance to see where they shoot some of their shows. I learned about suspension of disbelief, which I now always think about when I watch TV. Most importantly, I just got to experience a whole new field of work that I have never really been informed about. This fieldtrip made a rather significant impact on me. Hopefully one day I could be a floor manager for sporting events just like Jean.

Advertisement