Many students who have graduated from Ashland University go on to do big things in their careers. Many look back at their times in college and realize how much they loved the students, the professors and the lifestyle that Ashland offered. One of these many graduates is alumnus Matt Brubaker, Ashland University Class of 2011. Many professors and current students who knew Brubaker figured that he would do great things with his career. I sat down with Brubaker to see what he had to say about his career and what his opinion was of Ashland University after graduating.

Q: What were your majors and minors while at Ashland?

A: My major was sport communication. Pretty much I knew what I wanted to do since I was in seventh grade and I was looking for sports majors while searching for colleges. I was looking at Ohio University but they didn’t have sports. My minor was electronic media (now digital media production) and it served me well; I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Q: What all were you involved with when you were on campus?

A: I signed up for a radio show with my best friend the first week of my freshman year and I did the show for four years. Also, the sports director graduated early so they hired me to do what he did on the radio station and it was a paying job; that was nice. My sophomore year, I covered football and basketball, rather than freshman year when I just covered basketball. I also started writing for the newspaper and doing TV my sophomore year, but I wanted to focus more on radio and newspaper. Thanks to Tim McCarty, I got to cover games on STO and entering this field at Ashland was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

Q: So what are you doing now after just graduating a few months ago?

A: I’m back here because the guy who used to call the games for the Eagles took another position in Cleveland, so they asked me to come back and call the football and basketball games for Ashland, and again thanks to Tim [McCarty], I’m back at STO training, and maybe that will turn into a full-time position. My junior year, I was able to call the men’s basketball opener against Ohio Dominican, and I got to work with Matt Underwood, and this really helped me get my internship at STO, getting my foot in the door already with that, and again many thank you’s go out to Tim McCarty for helping me with that.

Q: Hands-on experience is so prevalent here at AU, more so than any other college. Would you say that the professors prepared you enough?

A: Absolutely. When I was looking at colleges, it was between two: Ohio University and Ashland, and not a knock on OU but they don’t know you by your name like they do here.

They know you as that kid in the yellow shirt. You’re pretty much just another kid there but here they know you by your first name and they get to know you well; as well as you getting to know them and even calling them by their first name. I can say they were my professors but they were my friends as well. I cannot say enough good things about Ashland and our professors because they make sure you leave here knowing something.

They can’t help you get a job but they will do anything they can to help you and at OU you have to wait till your second or third year to write for the paper or be on the radio. At Ashland, I was on the radio in a week. Everyone is great here, from the tops like Fred Finks, to the freshmen coming in, everyone was just great. It’s just like a small family here, kind of a paradise if I say so myself.

Q: Do you have any advice for people in the same field as you are?

A: Say “yes” is what I would say. If someone asks you to do something, say yes. You are going to build your résumé by people telling you what to do.

Writing for the paper, doing radio, calling the sports games and doing the camera work is the stuff that will get a job, not the 3.8 GPA. Do as many things as you can do and get involved for sure. Try all three out (Collegian, TV, WRDL) so you know what you want to do.