If you had asked me six years ago about college, I would have looked at you like you were crazy. And if you had told me the things I would accomplish during my four years at Marquette University, I would ask you to get out of my face and stop lying. Sure, a lot got done during my time here, but it wasn’t as smooth as I wanted it to be.
Coming into my freshman year, I didn’t really know who I wanted to be at Marquette. Being a first-generation Black man at a predominantly white institution, I struggled with finding my crowd and what I wanted to do with my free time. I didn’t want to play baseball anymore, and I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go in with journalism. It was a time where I struggled to really figure out what was gonna make me happy.
And then, of course, March 2020, and you know how that went.
So when I joined the Wire during my sophomore year, in the midst of the pandemic, I saw an angrier and impatient version of myself that I just never knew. I was so miserable with not being able to do anything on campus that I began to wonder if Marquette was even the right place for me. I was convinced I was done and ready to move on from Marquette.
After some soul searching, I entered my junior year with fewer COVID restrictions, where I was able to really find myself and realize what I was truly passionate about at Marquette.
My junior year role as an Arts & Entertainment Assistant Editor allowed me to start up my music review series, Rashad’s Records. The series allowed me to take my interest in music and allowed me to talk about the artists I was interested in while being able to use my own voice in the meantime. This was the same year I won three Wisconsin Broadcast Awards for my multimedia work at the Wire.
All of this newfound success at the Wire made me eager to join the radio desk as Music Director. And man what a year this was for radio. The creation of the Studio 7 Series, the bonds we’ve built with Milwaukee artists and having an Open Mic Night, it’s amazing to see what we’ve been able to do in a year.
With my time at Marquette wrapping up, I look at my late blossom as an undergrad to show how to make the most of what’s in front of you. While my college experience was far from perfect, I know I’ve been able to leave my mark as I cross the stage.
To the Wire, thank you for helping me find myself in journalism. I don’t think I’d have any idea of what I’d want to do with journalism without y’all.
To my Marquette Radio family, thank you for such an amazing year in student media. Like Emily Bittman said, this year was the renaissance for Marquette Radio, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future.
To Andrew and Avi, the co-founders of our podcast, “Between Me & You,” there’s nobody else I’d spend time in the radio studio with on a Friday night. A trio like us is truly unstoppable in my eyes.
Even though it’s almost over, I can only look back at the happy times from my time here at Marquette. And in due time, I’ll know that everything I went through happened for a reason.
This article was written by Rashad Alexander. He can be contacted at [email protected]
