Found a passion for television
“I searched and googled for information about the adult student experience when I decided to come back to school in 2006,” says Alan Buck, rising senior in Media Studies. “But I couldn’t find a book by someone who’d done it.” When he graduates in May, 2010, one of the first things he wants to do is put in shape the notes he’s been keeping for just such a book. He plans to call it Non Trad.
Alan enrolled as a non-traditional student at UNCG after a 10-year career in television. His academic path was similar to that of many adult students: despite his success in the business world, his first attempt at college had been a bust. “I was too young and too immature” the first time around, he recalls. After a year and a half at Coastal Carolina University, “I had 0 credits that would transfer.”
He left school and looked around for something else to do. He’d always liked TV and film, so he answered an ad for an unpaid internship as a production assistant for a movie being filmed in South Carolina. “I loved it,” he remembers. “I absolutely loved it.”
He went on to land his first job in television, as a production assistant for an Augusta station where he operated the teleprompter for the morning news. Energetic and eager to learn, Alan began to acquire more skills; he made friends with the videographers who filmed the news and taught himself to shoot and edit videos. He presented a story he’d done to the news director and “she gave me a shot,” he says. Soon he was filming all the local news stories. He moved to larger markets in Greenville, SC, and Raleigh, where he specialized in producing the stories for sweeps months. Eventually after doing freelance work on his own and working for a Chapel Hill company, he was hired as Director of Promotions for WTWB in Greensboro.
”I decided to go for it”
When that station changed hands, he decided it was time to make a serious decision about returning to school. “I’d worked my way up, I was good at what I did, but something was missing,” he recalls. By then, he had actually had some academic success to build on. When he was working in Raleigh, he entered the Heritage Program at Mount Olive College, where everyone began with a basic course in college writing. He took that course and three college-level classes, and he made good grades.
“I looked at all the programs in Greensboro, discovered the Broadcasting and Cinema department at UNCG, and decided to ‘go for it,’” Alan says. He considered adults-only evening programs, but wanted the full college experience as a non-traditional student. “I wanted to get involved this time.”
“What have I done?” he asked himself as he looked at his degree audit and saw the 122 semester hours he would need to graduate. He had 9. But from his first trip to campus, he had felt at home at UNCG. “I had been expecting the worst and had my guard up,” he remembers about his visit to Admissions, “but I left feeling good.” Then, his first week of classes, he made connections in the Office for Adult Students. Brooks Graham, the Director, remembered his name and invited him to come by the office; Adam Arney pulled him into an OAS lunch group with other new adult students. “I thought, ‘it’s going to be all right,’” he recalls.
“It reminded us that in media production we live at the intersection of art and commerce.”
Broadcasting and Cinema majors have a choice of several concentrations. Rather than choosing the familiar area of Film and Video Production, Alan has pursued Media Management. In combination with a Business minor, it will broaden his skills. He has especially enjoyed classes in the history of film and television and also one in communication theory with Dr. Geoffrey Baym where he has learned to look for “the hidden agenda,” “the intellectual stance” behind a media presentation, rather than “taking it at face value.” A media management class by Dr. John Lee Jellicorse was also excellent, he says. “It reminded us that in media production we live at the intersection of art and commerce.”
Alan has found his General Education classes rewarding as well. He has taken more than the required four semesters of French. “I remember liking it in high school, but I started at the beginning. I was lucky to have one of the best teachers I’ve had on campus, Peter Dola,” Alan says. “I’ve nominated him for teaching awards.”
In Introduction to Literature, Alan recalls studying The Great Gatsby and opening a “whole new world” of understanding. Now he enjoys Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Dumas for his extracurricular reading and chats about literature with a friend in a PhD program. “I can hang with him now,” he laughs—“almost!” “If I had a fun major, it would be English.”
Alan’s Business courses for his minor have also been rewarding, but challenging. Business Law was “ridiculously hard;” Personal Finance “should be required for everyone;” and Campus Entrepreneurship, where he wrote a proposal to provide videos for campus organizations and offices, taught him to construct a business plan. He has stayed in touch with Joe Erba, his professor for Entrepreneurship; “I still talk to him,” Alan says, “He was an amazing mentor.” Actually Alan has already made some campus videos on a volunteer basis as a way of giving back to the university. Eventually he would like to have his own business and become a preferred vendor for UNCG videos. Thanks to his Entrepreneurship class, his business plan is ready to go.
He soon became Station Manager
Alan’s hope to be involved in campus life was soon a reality. His first semester, he saw a recruitment poster for Spartan television, UNCG’s closed circuit station, and went to a meeting. With his extensive experience, he soon became Station Manager. Under his leadership, the volunteer staff has grown from 4 or 5 to nearly 20. Five programs air weekly or biweekly, and a website has been developed (spartantelevision.com).
Most impressively, in Fall, 2008, the station hosted the only debate held between North Carolina’s Democratic candidates for the US Senate, beating out commercial stations like a CBS affiliate in Charlotte. When some of his staff wanted to try for it, Alan told them, “I’ll do what I can.” “500 phone calls, and 300 emails later, we got it,” he says. “The gray hairs you’re starting to see are all from that week.” Spartan Television rose to the occasion. The debate had an audience of over 3,000 on the website and was carried live by two local TV stations. Clips appeared on virtually every station in North Carolina and were seen nationally after the broadcast made the AP wire. The Provost sent a congratulatory email.
In addition to his classes and campus activities, Alan has a flexible part-time job as a videographer for Westover Church to which he commits 20-30 hours a week. He began producing videos for them as a volunteer, but was hired with the understanding that he can set his own schedule and that school comes first. His job has expanded to include producing the Greensboro Pops series held at the church.
“Determination and drive run in our family”
One source of inspiration for Alan has been his younger brother David, who finished college at a traditional age with the adult responsibilities of a full-time job and a young family. “Determination and drive run in our family,” he says. “I wanted to prove that I could succeed in college too.”
“I remember flipping through the UNCG bulletin and seeing the list of Honors Societies,” Alan recalls. He is proud that in addition to making the Chancellor’s List, he has been inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta, Sigma Alpha Lambda, and the Golden Chain (a senior honorary for service, leadership, and academic accomplishment). He is a University Marshal, a member of the Provost’s Student Advisory Committee, and the 2008 “Student of the Year” for Broadcasting and Cinema.
“I appreciate everything as an older student,” he affirms. “It is not just getting a degree or skill; it’s sticking to something for four years, learning and applying lessons. School IS life, not preparation for life,” he concludes. “I’m wholeheartedly glad to be going to school now.” Alan encourages other adult students to get involved. “If you see something that interests you, take full advantage of it,” he counsels. The things I’ve done outside of class “will be my best memories.”
“I anticipate starting my own production company when I graduate,” Alan says, probably in the Raleigh area where his girlfriend Lauren works (she has just finished an MBA herself). “I plan to be an active alumnus, too” he affirms. But before he settles in to the next phase of his career, he’ll take some time in the mountains to work on Non Trad, the guide for prospective adult students written by someone who speaks from his own experience about the path to satisfaction and success.
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Page updated: 06-May-2009
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