AUDIO TRANSCRIPT:
I grew up in Durango, so the first time I came to Fort Lewis College was probably for a youth basketball or volleyball camp in Whalen Gymnasium. I’m now the spokesperson and media relations strategist for the College. Four years ago, I was at lunch with Lindsay Nyquist, the director of Marketing & Communications, to talk freelance marketing. What was supposed to be a conversation about how I could make marketing work as a side hustle turned into her hyping some open positions on her team at FLC. I applied for all three and one stuck, and my life has been better for it. I get to work as a writer and storyteller and with media partners highlighting the notable aspects of FLC, and I’m part of an incredible team of creatives who are great at their jobs, led by Lindsay, who is now one of my best friends.
This spring, I hosted a producer and videographer from PBS Newshour on campus to interview some students, faculty, and members of leadership. Our campus is stunning, so of course, we filmed the interviews outside. While we were filming, we just couldn’t escape the background noise of skaters. It was funny for me because I love seeing people skate on campus, there are so many talented skaters here making use of the built features, and where I went to college, we had to walk bikes and boards across campus; you couldn’t ride or skate within the campus boundary, so the skate culture here at FLC is something that I get behind, but that day filming, I had to help the videographer out. I remember approaching some of the skaters and sheepishly asking them, hey can you not for a sec? I had to be a total square to these people I actually admire, but I still love remembering that day and thinking about how different and funny my job is. Sometimes you just can’t have the sound of people grinding and doing kickflips in the background of a news segment being made for millions of people across the country.
My name is Lauren Pope, and I’m the Media Relations Strategist for FLC.