Synning In Style
12 March 2021
During 2008 I got a new phone.
I raved about it’s features to my housemate, including that it could listen to radio.
My housemate suggested I listen to SYN.
I had no idea how much of an impact that simple suggestion would have on my life.
For the next several weeks, I consumed its content voraciously. I’d listen to it first thing when I woke up with the Get Cereal crew, I’d stay up to the late hours listening to the Graveyard shift. I even started constantly playing it at work (which thankfully, as a university general store, was happy with youth radio)
The next great step forward was when one of the hosts (who later became my friend Fran) talked about how SYN was always looking for volunteers and made it sound so effortless that I decided to try and get involved.
I did Graveyard shifts, then my own shows, then Flagships, Producing, Television, Podcasts, Online content, leadership positions and eventually even joined the Board of Directors as Vice President.
When I reflect on the big influences on my life as a whole, I honestly think this would be a strong contender for being the biggest influence on who I am today.
Presenting helped me develop my confidence. It connected me with new friends, both fellow volunteers and guest speakers and interviewees. I think it also instilled in me a flair for the dramatic that I enjoy so much in my talks and presentations today.
My role on the Board inspired my love of governance and the aim to always understand how to make a group or organization run as best it can for all of its members.
My time as Online Manager motivated my future career in Tech by showing me the full power of the internet and how it could be an innovator in so many ways.
I think it’s an underrepresented skill to reflect back on what made us who we are today, but I can say with certainty, that SYN changed my life.
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