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Tam freshman selected to read essay on NPR
Tam freshman selected to read essay on NPR
Written by Melissa Uzes
Not many high school students get the opportunity to read and record their written work for a popular radio station. However, the opportunity arose for freshman Zachary Knight when his social issues teacher, Jennifer Dolan, assigned her classes an essay about their thoughts on Friday nights.
“The night before [it was due], at like 11 o’clock at night, I just decided to write it finally. I put it off; it was like a six-day assignment,” Knight admitted.
Knight said that a couple of days later Dolan approached him and recommended that he submit it to the KQED “Friday Night Perspective” contest. Knight submitted his essay and was one of about 10 other people who received an email saying that their essay had been chosen to be recorded for National Public Radio (NPR). About 2,000 essays were submitted in total.
On May 10, Knight left school early for San Francisco to record himself reading his essay.
“[The staff at KQED] walked me in and I sat down and they gave me a quick run through on how to do things then I put my script I guess on a music stand kind of thing on the table and it was all really cool,” said Knight. “I just went in and it was a real recording studio!”
Knight described his essay as a first-person narrative.
“I walk out of a locker room and I’m really depressed when I see all the kids having fun with each other outside because it’s Friday night and they get to do whatever they want,” Knight said. “And then I get into my neighbors car because we carpool and I kind of monologue about how horrible my life is pretty much. This was a long time ago, I’m much happier now.”
Knight’s essay was uploaded to kqed.org on May 28. Is is also available on tamnews.org.
In addition to appearing on NPR, Knight also won $65. Knight plans to write and submit more essays to KQED.
“[KQED is] always looking for more high school perspectives, so I can submit anything at anytime,” Knight said.
Although enthused about writing, Knight is unsure of his future composition plans.
“If I was good enough [to be a writer] and I could have the Stephen King life, just chilling and writing, that would be awesome,” Knight said.
Knight said that a couple of days later Dolan approached him and recommended that he submit it to the KQED “Friday Night Perspective” contest. Knight submitted his essay and was one of about 10 other people who received an email saying that their essay had been chosen to be recorded for National Public Radio (NPR). About 2,000 essays were submitted in total.
On May 10, Knight left school early for San Francisco to record himself reading his essay.
“[The staff at KQED] walked me in and I sat down and they gave me a quick run through on how to do things then I put my script I guess on a music stand kind of thing on the table and it was all really cool,” said Knight. “I just went in and it was a real recording studio!”
Knight described his essay as a first-person narrative.
“I walk out of a locker room and I’m really depressed when I see all the kids having fun with each other outside because it’s Friday night and they get to do whatever they want,” Knight said. “And then I get into my neighbors car because we carpool and I kind of monologue about how horrible my life is pretty much. This was a long time ago, I’m much happier now.”
Knight’s essay was uploaded to kqed.org on May 28. Is is also available on tamnews.org.
In addition to appearing on NPR, Knight also won $65. Knight plans to write and submit more essays to KQED.
“[KQED is] always looking for more high school perspectives, so I can submit anything at anytime,” Knight said.
Although enthused about writing, Knight is unsure of his future composition plans.
“If I was good enough [to be a writer] and I could have the Stephen King life, just chilling and writing, that would be awesome,” Knight said.
This article originally appeared in the June 2010 issue.
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