FORT IRWIN, Calif.- For the past eight months 88.3 FM KNTC listeners have enjoyed an hour out of their weekdays listening to “Today’s Music with Lexi,” but that era came to a close June 10 as Alexis Slocum signed off the air for the final time in the High Desert.
From her first day double checking phone numbers for the newcomers’ guide in October 2010 to being coaxed onto the air by Fort Irwin community relations officer Jackie Hoggins to becoming a subject matter expert on all things radio-related to finally writing a column in today’s High Desert Warrior, the National Training Center and Fort Irwin's weekly newspaper, Slocum has fully explored the world of public affairs.
“Honestly it’s really helped me out because I’m not sure exactly what I want to do but I have a better idea after being here,” she said. “I definitely want to stick around the communications field and see how that will play out for me.”
Slocum came to the Public Affairs Office through the Hired! program, which provides internships to students at Fort Irwin.
“I was over there interviewing for just the job that they would be offering and she was naming off the list of things and when she (Hired! program coordinator Meagan Wegner) mentioned the Public Affairs Office, I didn’t know what it was at the time,” she said. “She described it as ‘It’s the radio station here and the newspaper’ and that just sounded like something that was right up my alley.”
On her first day, Slocum was quickly to put to checking phone numbers for the newcomers’ guide by then-HDW editor Chicpaul Becerra in the luxury of Public Affairs director John Wagstaffe’s office.
Then one day, Slocum said she happened to be with Hoggins in the KNTC radio booth, when Hoggins asked her to read an announcement live on air, which led to her strong interest in radio.
“Pretty much I would learn from stuff on my own and Gus (Fort Irwin media relations officer) has been a great help when it came to the radio and he taught me everything that he knows, so I’m really grateful for him and the help,” she said.
As she reflected on her eight months with her own radio show, Slocum said, “It’s crazy because hardly any teenager can say they have their own radio show and I’m so grateful for that.”
Unlike people who mean they’re going to work when they tell others that they’re going to work, Slocum said she hasn’t ever felt that way.
“I say, ‘I’m going to work,’ but really I’m going to have fun and play the music for people,” she said.
As a member of the PAO team, Slocum said everyone in the office has something special or different but they’re all together and it works for the benefit of the entire community.
“I would describe it like we’re a big family and we’re all different but we’re all here working together and having a good time and hopefully making Fort Irwin a better place,” Slocum said.
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