Welcome to the sixth installment of 'Meet the Reporter,' which this time is all about THE FUTURE!

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As per usual, this is our monthly series where we here at ASU Odyssey want to give you a bit of insight into our lives, and this month is all about looking into the question that every college graduate dare not overthink: after this is done, what's next?

I graduated from the Cronkite School (and ASU as a whole) last May which means I'm coming up on almost a year since I've been in a classroom. The abridged version that I've also gone into one some of my other MTR pieces is that I got to go to Israel on Birthright for around 2 weeks, came back for about a month of job searching, and then was lucky enough to land my current position at KTAR News that I've been at ever since. But in the immortal words of Star Wars' Count Dooku, "this is just the beginning."

In the past few months alone, my job has really started to delve into new territory. I've helped establish a new weekend talk program that has since helped garner a new section of fans to the station, as well as gaining more and more on both AZ Morning News and Arizona's Evening News. I've even become the mentor in some places, helping some of the new board operators learn some of the tips and tricks on nighttime operations.

I didn't think I'd get this far this soon at a part-time position, but my bosses and mentors have given a lot of support, and I'm hoping that there are some things in the works that could be really exciting if they come to fruition. On top of my main stuff, I've still got the chance to guest on my friends' shows like No Capes Required, Euromerica, and Reel Talk that given me new podcast experiences in my slow bid towards my on-air takeover (wait...you weren't supposed to hear that...QUICK NEXT PARAGRAPH).

Then there's the fun stuff: film reviews and my music. The former applies mostly to this site, as that's where the majority of my content now comes from, and even almost a year out, my dream is still the same: become the best film critic I can be, expand into as many avenues of entertainment as possible, and eventually get paid for either continuing writing or even on-air programming. I'm still having a blast writing about films every week that I can, and I have to thank all of you guys who read my articles week after week for giving me that potential audience. My goal is to keep pushing the regularity of that content, making it feel like it's not just an extra hobby, but an eventual career statement.

With music, that's a more interesting question. For those of you not aware, my band Cablebox and I recently made it to the Battle of the Bands finals at Springfest with the opportunity to open for Quinn XCII at ASU's Devilpalooza. While we didn't win (shout out to our friends in Zero Degrees who did a fantastic job at Devilpalooza), that gig was a huge confidence booster for us.

It inspired us to get back to our original song ideas and at our last practice, we've started significant work on three new songs, with more to come. In addition, preparations for FINALLY recording an album seem closer than they've ever been, and once we get studio time locked down, expect my relentless self-promotion. There's also a couple of other music projects I've been talking to people about, but I don't want to speak them into the universe for them to fall apart, so...

As far as travel goes, I'm planning my return to Orange County pretty soon which is frankly the thing I'm looking most forward to in the next month. It may seem simple, but there's a distinctly different feeling of going back to visit home from work rather than visiting from school. There's more of a feeling of mandatory responsibility than when I was in school, which is that the cause-and-effect of time off for one feels more at stake than the other.

Even so, that excitement of being with my grandpa on his birthday, going to old hangout spots, and reconnecting with friends I feel like I've had an eternity away from is more than worth any sort of scheduling madness. Looking even more forward, because a lot of my friends have been spread thinner than I ever thought possible, places like Seattle, Chicago, Austin, and even a return to New York are some big "down the line" hopes I have.

So that's all of the really big "confirmed" stuff I have coming down the pipeline, with plenty more things that I would love to be able to gush about if they were legitimately concrete at the moment. For now, the future is weird as it always will be, but graduation didn't slow me down (at least, not as much as I thought it would) and considering my assumptions and dreams a year ago, that's saying something.

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