Student Spotlight: Will Caynor, Strategic Communications
by Kathleen McCoy |
Will grew up in Virginia Beach, Va. He was a bit of a troublemaker in his earlier
days, or as he puts it, "out causing a ruckus." His parents didn't expect him to graduate
high school. But then his father, who was an electrician, took a job in Glennallen,
Alaska, and Will took enough of a moratorium from his rabble rousing to finish high
school there.After graduation, Will wasn't planning on attending college. But at the last possible
minute he decided to attend UAA at Prince William Sound Community College (PWSCC)
in Valdez. He took some classes and then took some time off to travel and learn from
the school of hard knocks.
"It took a series of things going wrong in my life for me to realize what was right
for me and what I wanted to do," says Will.
With that turnaround in attitude, Will started dedicating his time to things that
were important to him. After an unsuccessful stint at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
he returned to PWSCC and finished his Associate of Arts degree in May 2006. Then,
since his aging grandfather wasn't faring very well, Will decided to return to Virginia
for a while to spend time with his grandparents. While there he had a job in a consignment
store where he spent his lunch hour listening to a radio show called "Sonja's Lunch
Box." After some time of calling in song requests he developed a rapport with the
host. When a friend mentioned he had a voice for radio, Will figured that since he
talks a lot, he might as well get paid for it. So, he called Sonja and asked what
it takes to get a job in radio. She told him to put in an application and drop her
name. He got a job doing promotions for the station. He did a variety of promotional
gigs, from the opening of local businesses to attending concerts. He even got to meet
the musician Tommy Lee. He got a taste of on-air action when he was able to fill in
for people over the night shifts.
Then, when people started getting laid off at his workplace, Will decided he needed
to get more education so he could stay in the field of radio. He moved to Anchorage
and started on his bachelor's degree at UAA. He went to work at the student radio
station, KRUA, as a sports reporter in fall of 2007. Although he loved sports, he
was hesitant at first when told he was to start announcing the women's basketball
games.
He says, "I didn't want to sound stupid." But when he started interviewing players
and got to know the UAA teams, it became one of his favorite parts of the job. "Everyone
in the Athletic Department is so open and friendly."
Will became the KRUA news director in May 2009. He says he really likes the job because
not many people tell him what to do; he gets to make his own rules. He will graduate
in May 2011 from the Department of Journalism and Public Communications (JPC) with
an emphasis in Strategic Communications.
"Everyone in the whole JPC department really knows what they are doing. I learned
a lot from professors like Elizabeth Arnold, Ron McGee and Paola Banchero," says Will.
Now, besides having that great bass that is so great for radio, Will's voice also
exudes warmth, energy and knowledge. His plans for the future are to be a sports broadcaster.
But before he leaves UAA, he has some great advice to new students: "You're going
to make mistakes-so learn from them!"
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc/4.0/88x31.png)