KOSU’s Ben Allen is leaving October 2nd (he’ll be the new Morning Edition host at WITF in Harrisburg, PA), and wrote this brief post about his time in Oklahoma.
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I knew going from New York City to Oklahoma would be hard. Oh, and I arrived to a pretty empty Stillwater in the middle of one of the hottest summers ever. What I didn’t expect was how everyone would be so welcoming and accommodating. It’s been a great ride, from start to finish. But it has to come to an end. On Wednesday, October 2nd, I will sign off KOSU for the last time.
In the past two years, you’ve put up with my mistakes, my blunders, and my growing pains, as you listen to Morning Edition on KOSU (and if you just followed me on twitter, well that’s cool too). In return, I hope I informed, provided context, and inspired, while also maybe providing a laugh every once in a while. It’s been an eye-opening experience from start to finish, and I would encourage anyone looking for a job in public radio to start at KOSU. My bosses allowed me to fail, try crazy things, fail at those crazy things, and try them again. They directed me when I needed direction, scolded when I needed a scolding, and set me up for success in the future.
I’ll be eternally grateful for those at KOSU, you the KOSU listener or twitter follower, and anyone else I came across who helped fill in just one more blank for me as I tried to draw a complete picture of Oklahoma. When I start at a NPR member station on the East Coast, I’ll be defending the state left and right to those who scoff at the mere mention of Oklahoma or any state in the middle of the country. In a cynical world, positive stereotypes often get discounted, but in the case of Oklahoma and KOSU, they’re very true. Let’s not trivialize it and put a name to it. Let’s just say this is a great place, with greater people.
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And for how my thinking changed when it comes to sports, click here.
