UD senior questions Delaware candidates

NEWARK, Del. —​ Meg Roessler, a UD senior majoring in communication, participated as a panelist in Delaware Debates 2022 on Oct. 20. Roessler is the operations manager of UD's Student Television Network and executive producer of 49 News on this network. She addressed Delaware's U.S. House candidates Lisa Blunt Rochester and Lee Murphy, raising questions of particular concern for Gen Z voters. Topics included the rising cost of living, climate change, government regulation of personal rights, institutional checks and balances, and student debt relief. 

Roessler described her experiences in a conversation with Communication Department staff. Watch Meg Roessler's discussions with the two candidates. To learn more about Delaware Debates and watch the complete program, visit the Delaware Debates page by the Center for Political Communication.​

For my entire life in school, there was never a real opportunity for what I have always been interested in. Curriculum was obviously more driven on science, math, and very traditional forms of writing and reading. So I felt like my interest in making videos and writing stories was something I never got to highlight. In my junior year of high school, they added a course called “Introduction to Journalism" as an elective. The description sounded like something I would really enjoy. There were only about seven of us in the class, and my teacher had never taught a course like this a day in her life. Getting the chance to look into and develop stories I was interested in was something I had never been able to do in school before. That was when I knew I was interested in pursuing journalism.​

I think what I will remember most about Delaware Debates is the amazing team I got to work with. Being so young and never having done anything like this before, going into it I was definitely nervous. However once I walked into that first meeting, I was met with the most welcoming group of people, who were there to help and support me throughout the entire experience. Ralph, Nancy, Tom, and everyone else involved taught me such amazing lessons and I learned so much throughout the entire process.​

Coming into college, a television station is something I knew that I wanted to be a part of. So at the involvement fair my first week at UD, I made sure to sign up for STN. Ever since that first interest meeting, I have been involved with STN, more specifically 49 News, for my entire time at college. One of the coolest things about my role as a reporter and executive producer is getting the chance to interview so many different people. I would say one highlight that always sticks out to me was my freshman year when I was just starting to come into my role as a reporter. I had the chance to interview the mayor of Newark, Delaware for one of my packages that I was filming. Looking back now, it was among the hundreds of interviews that I have done, but that was one of my first really big ones that made me very excited about all of the hard work I was putting into producing all of my own content.​

Being a senior now (which is crazy to think about how fast time went) one of my biggest pieces of advice for undergraduate students is to get as involved as you possibly can. There are opportunities everywhere on a college campus, you just have to make sure you are seeking them out. For Student Television specifically, you can come in with absolutely zero experience like I did, and come out your senior year as executive producer of an entire show and have everything you know be learned from your peers and what you taught yourself. It is also important to realize that with any activities, not just STN, you get out what you put into it. If you put your effort into and make time for an extracurricular, internship or any activity — ​you will get so many things out of it whether it be real life experience or just connections to others. So I think overall that is my biggest takeaway and what I want others to realize is that getting involved is incredibly important​.

Article by Stephanie Doroba, UD Department of Communication staff

Video by University Media Services; edited by Stephanie Doroba

Image by Evan Krape