Jacob Scrattish is a senior at Western Carolina University, majoring in communication with a concentration in broadcasting and minoring in film studies.
“I chose broadcasting for my major because I took a radio broadcasting course in my senior year of high school, and when touring Western, I was introduced to the broadcasting program, and the idea of continuing to study radio production as well as learning about television was very appealing to me,” said Scrattish.
Scrattish chose film studies as his minor because the love he has always had for film made him want to dive deeper into the process in an educational setting.
A significant part of Scrattish’s time in the communication program has been his involvement with WWCU FM.
“95.3 WWCU FM is a WCU owned, student run radio station. We broadcast to just over 160,000 people regionally and many more through our live stream coverage on our website. Our FM signal goes out from the top of Brown Mountain and reaches from Clingman’s Dome in TN through Cherokee, Franklin, Sylva, Cullowhee, and part of Cashiers and Maggie Valley,” said Scrattish.
Scrattish first became involved with WWCU FM when he was a freshman. As a volunteer, he began speaking about the weather. Unfortunately, during his sophomore and junior years, he had to pause due to the coronavirus pandemic. Last year, Scrattish applied for the Student General Manager position at the station after his Radio Production 2 course professor, Professor Don Connelly, advertised the position.
“Going into the application, I knew that this would be something that looked nice on a resume. I also thought that with my experience in radio production since high school, I would have a decent amount of skills already built up to be able to handle the workload,” said Scrattish.
Because of his time with WWCU FM, Scrattish has received many opportunities to share his audio production knowledge with many people.
“Program Coordinator Luke Grozier and I were recently able to help Professor Katerina Spasovska’s reporting students learn how to record and edit audio, as well as have been able to get some more student involvement in the station,” stated Scrattish.
Scrattish also believes that his time with WWCU FM will make him desirable to potential employers in a photo, video, or audio production position that Scrattish longs for.
Just as Scrattish has had a pleasurable time with the station, he encourages other students to get involved just as he did to create the same great experience for themselves.
According to Scrattish, “becoming involved in organizations around campus, especially WWCU FM, you do nothing but build your future. You are able to use a lot of different equipment to produce portfolio pieces and overall your knowledge and skills.”
WWCU FM is always looking for volunteers. Joining the station can lead to hosting a radio show, sharing favorite music, and discussing subjects one may see as important.
As far as the rest of the semester goes, WWCU FM is working hard to get voices back on the station, and once the microwave link, a type of communications system, goes up, the studios will be back in operation, running with the newest technology.
For updates from WWCU FM and to learn more about meeting times, follow them on Instagram.