Today is a Big Anniversary for Courtlin

One year ago today was one of the scariest/most exciting days of my whole life, and I could not be more grateful for the experience.

You may remember waking up a year ago, Monday November 10th, turning on KHAK, and hearing an unfamiliar voice. Well, that voice was mine! Today marks the one year anniversary of Brain & Courtlin in the Morning.

The past year of my life has honestly been one of the best. If you would've told me 5 years ago that someday I would be working in Iowa, I would've told you how absolutely insane you were. Yet, here I am! When I first started school at Specs Howard, we were told that if we wanted to be successful in the media, we would probably have to move. That idea absolutely terrified me. I thought, "no freaking way am I ever moving anywhere!" Boy, how things change.

I worked as an intern for a morning show in Detroit while I was in school, and then for a few months after I graduated. When my internship ended, that's when the panic set in. Every job listing wanted someone with at LEAST 2 years on-air experience, and I had NONE. How was I supposed to gain experience if nobody would hire me? That's when I got lucky and landed a job in a very small market in Port Huron, Michigan. I started as a part-timer, worked my way up to full-time nights, and then a few months after that, BOOM! My dream of being on a morning show came true. I stayed for a little over 2 years.

I finally had my 2 years of experience.

The next logical step was to move up the ladder to a bigger and better market. Within 2 weeks of sending in my resume, the career services department at my school told me about a job opening at a country station in Iowa. I knew next to nothing about country music, since I had worked at a top 40 station, but she told me to give it a shot anyways. The next week I had several phone interviews with people like Bob James and Brain, and then I was on a plane being flown in for an interview. Everything was moving so fast that I didn't really have time to think about how absolutely terrified I was. I accepted the position while I was here for my interview, and on the plane ride back to Detroit it finally hit me...

I'm moving to Iowa.

To be 23 years old and pack up your entire life and move to a state where you know absolutely NOBODY is no small feat, but I could not recommend it more. I had no friends, no family, I wasn't familiar with the area, heck, I hadn't even seen my apartment yet! I didn't see it until the day I moved in! Luckily, everything seemed to fall into place. I remember when my mom and I arrived with the moving truck at the apartment office. My anxiety got so bad I almost threw up right there on the carpet. I knew, in that moment, I couldn't turn back. This was going to be my life now and there was nothing I could do to stop it. It was the scariest moment of my life.

I cried that night in my apartment, and I cried two days later on the way home from dropping my mom off at the airport. I was completely on my own. But not for long. The KHAK community and all of my coworkers quickly took me under their wings and made me feel like I have a home here. I could not be more grateful for that.

You guys have changed my life in the best way possible. When they say country music fans are the best in the world, they aren't kidding. The love and acceptance you all have offered me is overwhelming and I 100% feel like a part of the community. I never thought I would get to point where Cedar Rapids would feel like home, but it does. I know I have some haters out there (I can't please everyone, unfortunately), but the good has so far outweighed the bad that none of that even matters. Not to get all sappy, but thank you guys, from the very bottom of my heart, for everything you have done for me in this past year. Let's hope the second one is as good as the first!

Sorry for writing an essay, but thank you if you trooped all the way through!