Radio shows are interesting! One does not see any audience, and more importantly, nobody sees us! I had done a few live radio shows with my Telugu language school, and they had such casual vibe to them. I always felt as if I was simply talking to a friend on the phone.
When Mary Beth told me that Jefferson Public Radio would like to interview me on radio, the first thing that came to my mind was that I would have to miss my 7:45am choir practice. I really don’t like missing school! However, I see my mom listening to NPR every morning and I was excited for this unique opportunity to be ON public radio, myself!
For my Telugu radio shows, I typically prepare my script, practice several times, especially if I am hosting very young students from our school. The best part about the Jefferson Exchange show was that it is in English, of course, and it needed absolutely no preparation as I would be talking about my passion for cooking and ending homelessness, and my own experiences!
We do not have a landline at our home and we were told that landline works best for radio shows. Our next door neighbors graciously allowed us to use their phone that morning, so we headed over there bright and early. At 8:30am, right on the dot, Mr. Geoffrey Riley of Jefferson Exchange, called me. Mary Beth was already on the line as well. From that point on, we just talked and the next 25 minutes just flew by! Click this link for the recording of the entire interview.
The host, Mr.Riley, was so easy to talk to! He managed the interview so smoothly, moving back and forth between me and Mary Beth, and making the whole content easy for the audience to follow! These radio hosts are so good at their job! No wonder when my mom heard about Erikka Baldwin’s inauguration on the radio last year, she felt connected strongly enough to come home and tell me about it! I hope that after this show, a few other students will be inspired to help their communities and campaign to become Kid Governors in the coming years!