In six short months, University of the Ozarks senior Cristhian Rodriguez’s campus radio show, “Latino Fusion,” has gone from a concept on paper to a national award-winning production.
The senior Walton Scholar communication studies and psychology major from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, aired his inaugural radio show on Sept. 22, 2022. Last week, he was in New York City at the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System’s (IBS) 83rd annual media awards ceremony accepting the first-place trophy in the category of “Best Foreign Language Program” among colleges and universities in the country.
While Rodriguez knew that his show had been named as a finalist, he said he was shocked when they called his name at the award’s ceremony.
“When the awards ceremony started, I have to say that I was a little bit hopeless since I saw the other nominees and didn’t feel real confident,’ he said. “When the moment came to announce our category, my heart started to race faster and started to feel a little bit anxious, but still felt hopeless. Hearing the announcer say the name of my show and my name really took me by surprise. I couldn’t believe that I won a national award and since I was in the back table of the ballroom, the walk to take the award was filled with a lot of emotion, to the point of almost crying. After I received my award, the first people I contacted were my mom and my girlfriend, and they were both really happy about the good news.”
Rodriguez said the process leading up to creating and producing his own radio show began in January of 2020 when he started his first podcast, called “Los Pensamientos de Tinoquito” (Tinoquito’s Thoughts). The process continued during the Covid pandemic of 2020 when he spent the summer in Clarksville since he could not return to Honduras because the country had closed its borders.
“During those months, I used to livestream audio on Facebook and talk to my friends, while playing some music,” he said. “I could say that during those days, that was my first ‘radio’ type experience. Last summer, I contacted Professor Susan Edens to let her know that I wanted to start a project in the radio station after having taken her radio and podcast class. We talked about it and I presented her a formal proposal with the show’s name, which I changed like five times before finally deciding on ‘Latino Fusion.’”
The first “Latino Fusion” show launched in September on the University radio station KUOZ-FM 100.5.
“During the first show I was really nervous because it was a completely new experience,” he said. “I had to learn to use the radio console while having the pressure of knowing that I was going live, and that any mistake made would be heard. Luckily, Professor Edens explained everything to me about the use of the console, and I managed to control my nervousness and everything went really well in the end.”
The one-hour Latino Fusion airs each Friday at 4 p.m. Rodriguez said his goal for the show is to “entertain and create a different vibe for the weekend.”
“ Another goal with the show is to spread more of my Latino roots with the campus community, as well as to highlight my language and my country, Honduras,” he said. “I have had several special shows in which I highlight the native music from Honduras, called Punta, playing music from Banda Blanca, Pilo Tejeda, Kazzabe, among others. I also play urban music from Latino artists and their top hits. Another goal is to deliver information for students so that they know what is happening on campus or in Clarksville so that they have plenty of options to enjoy their time.”
Rodriguez said it takes him several hours each week to prepare for the show.
“Before going live every Friday, I start to write a script days before,” he said. “I gather news from campus and the Clarksville area so I can let listeners know what’s happening. I also have to have a list of the music I will be playing in every music session in my show, so I enjoy listening to new music and discovering artists to feature in the show.”
Shortly after winning the award, Rodriguez’s thoughts quickly turned to several important people in his life.
“My whole family played a role in this, but with a special mention to my mom, who has always been along with me in my life, making sacrifices, always trying to give me the best, and supporting me in every project I do in my life,” he said. “To my girlfriend and friends that always supported me, the University of the Ozarks for giving me the opportunity at the radio station, and the IBS for creating these spaces for students like me and recognizing our work.”
Rodriguez, who said he hopes to own his own production company one day in Honduras, also credited his professors at Ozarks for his success.
“I am thankful for professors such as Susan Edens, first for opening this opportunity to have my own radio show at the University, and also for all the advices and knowledge she has transmitted to me since I took my first class with her,” he said. “With her media production and radio and podcast production classes, I have learned a lot of things that have helped me grow and do all my activities related to media in a more professional way. Also, Dr. Greta Marlow has taught me lots of things as well, especially with classes such as media writing, where I had the opportunity to learn how to make different mass media and social media diffusions, and how to write scripts for both radio and podcast as well. I also can’t forget to mention Dr. William Clary, since he was the one that trusted in me four years ago when he went to Honduras as the Walton Scholarship director and selected me to come to Ozarks, which has allowed me to keep growing personally and professionally with an amazing opportunity.”
Topics: About, Academics, Communication Studies