Welcome to ETV! - The First Week Recap - Khadijah

Monday, I took one of my yearly trips to the coveted Williams-Brice Stadium, but there were no football endeavors involved. Instead, it was my very first time walking into what will be my new home for the next 9 weeks - South Carolina ETV, home to many shows and programs related to educating and informing the public.

At 8 am, I was welcomed by one of my supervisors, who has grown to be sort of a mentor to myself, Mr. Tom Posey. Tom was responsible for showing me the ropes, and he gave me my "nickel" tour inside of the ETV building.

"When you're getting a tour from Tom, it's definitely going to be a nickel tour," one of the workers stated as Tom and I continued walking around the place.

"More like 3 cents if you ask me," Tom chuckled.

Immediately, I knew that everyone I would be surrounded by would become my family.

We continued to walk around as Tom showed me all of the important places that helped shape ETV into what it is today, including the massive studios, control rooms, and we even managed to see some childhood characters I grew up watching on PBS Kids!

SC ETV Coverage

Control Room - Production

PBS kids characters (DW, Smartcat, Clifford)

After getting acquainted with where I'd be working, we immediately got right down to business. I was introduced to the department I would be working in which is content for ETV's public relations station, Palmetto Scene. After getting over the excitement of having my own desk, I was introduced to different members of the content department that I now see on a daily basis. They are all a great help, and most of all, they welcomed me with open arms.

On the first official day, I worked a lot with DVD dubbing, which the department usually does to keep a record of what's recorded for the station. Most of which is political stuff that includes recordings of the House of Representatives and Senate affairs. Some representatives will request DVDs for themselves to have as their own, which brings me to the activities of Day 2.

Tom and I partnered up once again to deliver the DVD dubs to those who requested it. Though I've always been familiar with where the State house was, it was my first time actually going inside and being faced with individuals that work there. Tom led me around with ease, greeting those he clearly knew and being polite to others who walked by. All the while, he showed me the ropes and I observed. When we were done, it was time to head back to the ETV headquarters.

"And that's your nickel tour of the State house," Tom said.

Day 2 was also the day that I got to meet Aimee Crouch, who is the producer of Palmetto Scene and someone that I will be working very closely with throughout my internship. Her positive personality and passion for her position shows in our conversations. It was also pretty awesome to be introduced to others by her as "the real deal."

One of my biggest projects of the week was to compile footage together from events recognizing the Smith-Lever act that was established in 1914 and contributed specifically to Clemson (blehh, lol) University's platform. It took a few days, but after finalizing everything and getting the kinks out, I managed to have a finished product that not only was I satisfied with, but that Aimee loved! Now, I will hopefully soon be seeing my work on Palmetto Scene's website in just my first week!

Another highlight of the week was getting to work with the production team on our weekly live debate screenings. It was my first time getting to work on a live show, as much of what I've done for student media in the past involved post work. The craziness that goes into putting a live show together definitely shows in the work produced. For the first two days prior to the actual day of the show, we worked on sound, lighting controls and making sure that everything was in their prospective places. 

 On the day of the show, myself and Marina, who is also one of the interns here for ETV stayed behind in the studio to watch what happens as the show is rolling. Katherine, intern here also, got to stay with the production team in the production truck to see some of the other behind the scenes stuff that goes into putting this show together.

All in all, I'd say that everything went pretty well for the first live show of the summer for debate season. For the next few weeks, we will be doing much of the same things all over again as the production team works hard to work on any mistakes or errors that they see.

It is an amazing feeling to be apart of such a wonderful team of members that I'm honored to work with this summer. This summer is a different challenge for me. It is the very first summer that I'm not spending at home with family. It is also the very first summer where during August, I won't be getting ready to move into a dorm here in Columbia, but instead preparing to go abroad to Japan in September.

I'm looking forward to growing and learning so much here at ETV, and I've already learned alot in my first week. I know the journey will not be the easiest, but I'm very glad to have support from those I work with, to friends and family back home.

I managed to make it this far. I'm content with the fact that I can do even greater things during the weeks to come.

-Khadijah Dennis