AUSTIN, Texas — This year, The Drag has started a new program made specifically for beginner podcasters: the First-Year Training Program.
This program was created for students new to the audio world to get a chance to experience The Drag’s production process firsthand and learn new skills to produce, record and edit podcasts.
“One of my biggest goals since joining The Drag almost three years ago was to involve as many students as possible and ensure we’re giving opportunities to all students, not just upperclassmen who have experience,” The Drag’s Managing Director Katey Psencik Outka said. “The First-Year Training Program is the first step toward achieving that goal. These 20 or so students will spend their academic year learning from me and some of the excellent student staffers, which will give them the tools they need to succeed as future audio producers.”
In addition to shadowing experienced audio staffers, the first years will take part in workshops taught by Drag leadership. These workshop topics include brainstorming and researching for podcasts, interviewing and recording in the field, editing, sound design, mixing, scriptwriting, hosting and much more.
Freshman journalism student Abby Breyfogle was accepted to the program for this year and said she was so excited to learn.
“I was editor-in-chief of my high school yearbook and did a lot of feature writing and stuff like that, but it was all writing and I really wanted to explore a different medium,” Breyfogle said. “I feel like audio production is something you need to learn firsthand. Being a part of The Drag will really allow me to see how other people are doing it.”
The program is open to both freshmen and first-year transfer students and spans the 2023-2024 academic year. The Drag will open applications for the 2024-2025 program in the summer of 2024.
