Management and marketing major Cody Stevens returned to Wright State in 2014 after he decided to move into the job market to discover a career he was passionate about.
“I came to WSU in 2004 when I graduated from high school,” Stevens said. “I wanted to stay local and do ROTC, but the ROTC route didn’t work out and I didn’t like engineering, so I switched majors a few times and ended up being here a lot longer than I should have been. I decided that I should take a break and figure out what I want do.”
Though the answer did not present itself immediately, Stevens returned to WSU to better his working opportunities.
“I was working out in the real world and I thought ‘I don’t like what I’m doing. I just need to get a degree,’” Stevens said. “When I looked at degree programs, I figured that everyone needs a manager. It’s a pretty broad field. There are jobs everywhere for it, so I went into management.”
The pieces started to fall into place once Stevens began working for WWSU, the campus radio station.
“I like music. I’ve always liked music, but I’m terrible at playing it or singing it,” Stevens said. “So, I became a DJ. I got to be on the air, which was cool. Then, they offered me the marketing position, and finally I was able to apply what I was going to school for. Then, I got the opportunity to apply for General Manager, so now I’m doing both sides. I was doing marketing, but now I’m doing management.”
Stevens plans on working within the music industry in the future, though there are a variety of avenues that he could take his career.
“I think where I would like to be after the station is with a promoter,” Stevens said. “They get to be somewhat up close with the artist, but they get to do business and advertising. Eventually, I could be a manager of promoters, so I will still get to participate in the marketing aspect, but will be able to utilize my management degree. I don’t know where that is going to take me, but hopefully somewhere in Tennessee. That’s where I want to be.”
As the new general manager, Stevens plans on restructuring the station to make it easier for students to find the music that they want to listen to by dedicating one of the five days of the work week from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. to one of the five top music genres. Additionally, Stevens plans on engaging more with the campus, as well as the community.
Stevens encourages students interested in radio to consider working for the station, whether your major is in communications, engineering, business or anything that may not immediately seem applicable to the field.
“There’s a lot of opportunities for every aspect of the university,” Stevens said. “If you’re just interested in having fun and being on the air, you can have your own show. We don’t have many restrictions on that. It just needs to be FCC clean and follow WSU’s guidelines. Other than that, it’s your show and you can do what you want.”
Students interested in working with WWSU can contact Stevens by email at gm@wwsu1069.org. Students interested in listening to WWSU can tune their radio to 106.9 FM.
