Officially Local TV Famous (With a Face for Radio)
It’s official: I’ve been quoted in a local TV news article, and my mug made it into the TV segment. For everyone who reads my insanity, you can now say you know a TV star.
Okay, that’s a mild exaggeration. But the article and video are both here: South Carolina Forum brings residents together on wages and cost of living.
This isn’t my first brush with fame. Back in fifth grade at Drexel Elementary School in Westbury, New York, my advanced placement class got its first personal computer. It was a big old machine with a green-and-black screen and a cassette tape drive. It took about 30 minutes to load Space Invaders. The Westbury Times covered it, and there I was—premiered in the local paper before I even had a driver’s license.
I've had a few other moments in the spotlight. I think the Westbury Times—or possibly Newsday—featured me talking with incoming exchange students on their way to meet their host families after my stint in France.
I also won a literary contest for a poem about the AIDS epidemic, sponsored by People Taking Action Against AIDS. I won some money, gave a speech, and attended an afternoon gala at a lovely Long Island manor. Then I wound up in the New York Times Metro section. My father heard about it from a colleague at work, which is a pretty great way to find out your kid made the Times.
Later, I sent a press release to local media about our fraternity’s effort to keep its chapter house at 336 Convent Avenue after national-level mismanagement put it at risk. The New York Times ran a photo of me in the house with a caption and my name. Once again, my father got the news from someone at work.
I’ve always said I have a face for radio. Apparently, every so often, the camera disagrees.
Jokes aside, I’m proud to have been asked to take part in the South Carolina Forum. The point wasn’t to get on television; it was to join a conversation about the issues people are facing and how we can make progress together. People bring different experiences and viewpoints to these discussions. Listening to one another—and finding areas where we can agree—is how we build ideas that can move beyond the room and make a difference.
I hope the forum’s conversations help inform the South Carolina legislative session and show that people can work together across differences. That’s the kind of attention I’m most proud of.
