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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhere are you working now?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m a meteorologist for WTMJ-TV (TMJ4) in Milwaukee, WI<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What was your major? Year you graduated?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
My major was in meteorology. I graduated in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What were you involved in at Valpo?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
I was heavily involved with VUTV \u2013 serving as its Executive Director in the 2016-2017 school year. I also worked with WVUR, VUSIT, and Chi Epsilon Pi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What was your favorite class and why?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Valpo\u2019s Weathercasting class was my favorite course at Valpo. It was a great opportunity for all of the junior\/senior meteorologists to get feedback on our weather broadcasts. Plus \u2013 our instructor, Ellen Bacca, brought in a TV News Director to practice our interview skills with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is a favorite memory or thing you learned at Valpo?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
My favorite memory is the community in the Communications and Meteorology Department. I loved being a part of it. Student media have their \u201cSchnabelgations\u201d and MET students were always working on their problem sets. We could do our work in either building \u2013 knowing that we had the support of the faculty just down the hall. The faculty in Schnabel\/KCH were so welcoming and made time to chat about coursework or whatever was on our minds!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Was there anything or anyone that created a lasting impression on you while at Valpo?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Valpo Day 2016 was a huge milestone during my time at VU. The Student Media put on a nonstop 12-hour telethon showcasing every part of the university. It was A LOT of work \u2013 bringing together every organization on campus and working closely with the administration.
It taught me a lot about TV and the teamwork it takes to get something on the air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That teamwork is a HUGE reason I do the work I do today. I love working side-by-side with people who are passionate about TV \u2013 to bring news and information to our viewers.
I\u2019m so grateful we got that chance to work on that project for a school we all love so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What advice do you have for current Valpo students?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Valpo is great with experiential learning \u2013 take advantage of it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Student Media Organizations are your first chance to develop skills you\u2019ll use with internships and in your job
Get involved early and try everything \u2013 both behind the scenes and in front of the camera\/microphone.
When you take the time to diversify your skillset, you come across as a standout candidate in that first job interview!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Valpo alumni work in some of the most prestigious communication and art organizations in the U.S. They are producers at ESPN, meteorologists at Good Morning America and other networks nationwide. The CVA faculty stay in close contact with many alumni and draw on their expertise and their willingness to help the next generation of Valpo communicators and artists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[14,16,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-communication-and-visual-arts","category-alumni-spotlight","category-communication-and-visual-arts-alumni-spotlight"],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"nicholaswhipple","author_link":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/author\/nicholaswhipple\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/brendan_johnson-300x300.webp","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Communication and Visual Arts<\/a>","Alumni Spotlight<\/a>","Communication and Visual Arts Alumni Spotlight<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Communication and Visual Arts<\/span>","Alumni Spotlight<\/span>","Communication and Visual Arts Alumni Spotlight<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 9 months ago","modified":"Updated 9 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on July 23, 2025","modified":"Updated on July 24, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on July 23, 2025 3:47 pm","modified":"Updated on July 24, 2025 8:14 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2258"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2482,"href":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions\/2482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.valpo.edu\/college-of-arts-and-sciences\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}