In order to fulfill the interview requirement, I wanted to meet with someone I’ve wanted to learn a little more about. Steve Yoder has been a volunteer at The Chapel since the fall of 2010. As a fellow volunteer myself, I’ve seen him around, and seen him at work with his numerous skills and abilities, but never really knew that much about him. I got the opportunity to sit down with him a couple weeks ago to discuss how he got to where he is and to see if he could offer any advice to me as a current student. Steve is 22 and as Production Technician at The Chapel, he’s recognized for his talent in the digital media realm. I really wanted to know how he got to where he was, especially being so young. Ultimately, it comes down to experience. Since the age of 13, Steve has been working with digital media. As part of a youth program at LC TV in Lockport (a public access station), he eventually became a staff member and worked there until he was 18. Concurrently, starting at age 17, he worked for the Palace Theater in Lockport, gaining experience with lighting and theater until 2012. By 2012, he was hired at Channel 4 as a full time technical director for the evening and weekend broadcasts. Even though he didn’t finish his Media Productions Degree from Buffalo State College until the spring of 2014, the station recognized the value of his experience attained since age 13. It wasn’t until September of 2014 that he was hired at The Chapel and ended his career with Channel 4. His story proves that a degree isn’t everything. While important, especially in today’s job market, you need more. As he advised me, you need two things aside from the degree: experience and connections. Take every opportunity you have to learn more and go for it. The more people you meet in your chosen field, and the more you learn from them, the more successful you will be. It is very rare for a news station, such as Channel 4, to hire someone without a degree, but it proves how valuable experience and connections can be. I really enjoyed the opportunity to interview Steve Yoder because it opened my eyes to the reality of the job market: the degree isn’t everything – it’s also about who you know and what you’ve done.