Signing off for one last time: Farewell from Joe Artrip

Signing+off++for+one+last+time%3A+Farewell+from+Joe+Artrip

Well, goodbyes are always hard, and this one is no different.  It’s strange to believe that my four years here at Marshall are already over even though, at times, it’s felt like 50.  Even in graduating with a Bachelor’s in Video Production, the best things I’ve gained from the college experience are the people I have met, and my position at the Parthenon is no different, in that it has facilitated some of those interactions along the way.

I like to think I have fulfilled a reining majority of the mental to-do checklist any college student seeks to complete before graduation.  I have gone through too many all-nighters to count, lived in the residence halls, was an RA for a stint, and held two lasting on-campus jobs.  Amongst these opportunities, I am reminded that college serves as a period of learning in transition between living dependently and independently.  The environment of students in the same exact transition builds community amidst them also being your peers.  And, from these peers, connecting often leads to better things and new opportunities.

With this, two years ago, I was taking a Digital Recording Techniques course as per a degree requirement.  The skills I learned from the class proved to be beneficial for my future position, but, more importantly, it was there that I met Parthenon alumni, Tom Jenkins.  Late in the afternoon one day, Tom and I were slaving away on a last-minute project when we started discussing music tastes and post-graduation aspirations.  Upon learning of my interests in video editing and sound production, he urged me to apply for the soon-to-be vacant position of Production Editor, and I did.  To my surprise I got the position and the rest was history.

In any position, it is hard for one to initially foresee what will become of their employment, especially when succeeding a newly-established role.  In this case, the Parthenon Podcast was still fairly new upon my arrival, and I sought to establish the same camaraderie and range of topics that version of the podcast had accomplished through its consistent panel of hosts. 

 I am happy to say I feel as though my version of the podcast has accomplished the same camaraderie through varying co-hosts and guests, and, in saying that, I continue to stay grateful to the many people that have given me their time in making the podcast what it is.  

With 50+ podcasts under my belt, it has evolved through varying iterations to encompass a full video production.  Even though Coronavirus seeks to hinder a full-production send-off befitting the culmination of what my time at the podcast has evolved into, I am more than excited to see what my successors make of the medium.

Thanks, listeners and viewers, for your support throughout half of what was my college career, and thank you, Parthenon staff, for your inclusion and encouragement along the way as I figured things out.  

“I think that’s all the time we have for today.”  This has been your host, Joe Artrip, signing off.

Joe Artrip can be contacted at [email protected].