Royal Purple

Issue date: 5/7/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: Photo submitted Alumna Kyla Morris poses with her fiance Mike Schmidt during last May's graduation. Morris spent two weeks trying out for a morning co-host position in Madison.

Some students spends months, if not years, trying to land a job in their desired field, while a handful are lucky enough to land that job right after graduation. UW-Whitewater alumnus Kyla Morris, 23, of Cambridge, is one student who has been lucky enough to land a job tryout for her dream job.

Although Morris is no stranger to the radio business, she spent two weeks auditioning for a radio show host position at Madison radio station 94.9 WOLX, which plays greatest hits from the late '60s and all of the '70s. The station's morning show is looking to add a female co-host to work with the current male co-host and newsman.

After graduation from UW-Whitewater with a major in electronic media and a minor in theater, Morris sought out jobs at local radio stations. WOLX was the first one that got back to her, offering her a sales assistant position, which is how she heard about the morning show opening.

Morris underwent a two-week tryout period where she filled in on the morning show, and her other female co-worker is currently trying out.

While on the air, Morris and her colleagues discussed topics such as the daily news and current events. Morris didn't get to speak with the people who call in, as the equipment to do so is extremely complicated. The station also put Morris through three daily features, just for fun. She was required to pass some kind of challenge, whether it be some kind of test or answering a trivia question.

They also asked her an embarrassing question to see how she would handle it on air, although she said she doesn't get embarrassed very easily. Last, she was given a daily assignment that needed to be done for the next day.

"They made me write and film a commercial [for one of my assignments]," Morris said.

As Morris is the first of the two girls to go through the tryout period, she won't know until June if she got the position. The job would be a full time co-host position.

If she lands the job, she will have to arrive at the station at 4 a.m. to get herself ready for the day's show. During her tryout, she had to be in the station by 5 a.m., but she said it wasn't as hard as she thought it would be.

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