b'understandingJ O N A T H A N M I T C H E L L S W O R K E T H I C I N A C T I O NSOUs caring facultyhard you worked this entire quarter. Ill never forget that moment. I dont think that would happen in a class with 250 people.Although he was always deeply interested in journalism showed the value of learning about people on anand news media, he started SOU in an accelerated pre-med program, intending to become an optometrist. I had no passion individual level, and Jonathan Mitchell 01 appliesfor it whatsoever. I was just doing it because everybody said that lesson to his work as Vice President andyou should be a doctor or a lawyer, but I really wanted to be a journalist, said Mitchell.General Manager of WMC, a multi-media companyFortunately, Mitchell had a roommate who noticed his passion for news. The roommate worked at Medfords KDRV television and NBC affiliate in Memphis, TN. I manage a lotstation, and without telling him, arranged for a meeting between of people. What SOU taught me, and what I teachMitchell and the station manager. The manager offered Mitchell a job as floor manager for a new show. He took the job, working to all my department heads, is to get to know yourearly mornings before classes. I just fell in love with the work, said Mitchell.people, he said. If you know your people, youreEventually, he changed his major to telecommunications. It going to have a better chance at learning whatwas the best decision, said Mitchell. One of my professors, Dr. Chilcoat, knew I was working in broadcasting. He helped they need to excel. That has been the foundationme choose the right path, take the right classes, and get things done quickly and efficiently while still working at the television for my leadership style. station.Mitchell said that with his professors support he was able to At WMC-TV, Mitchell oversees teams responsible for agrow both academically and professionally. I feel fortunate to have massive list of broadcasting needs such as advertising, audiencepicked the right mentors in college and in broadcasting, he said.engagement, business operations, finance, as well as getting theBefore moving to his current position at Gray Media, Mitchell local news and putting it on the airday in and day out. held both production and editorial leadership positions at Mitchell chose SOU, in part, for its small class sizes and recalledbroadcast and digital-media organizations across the country. that a particularly challenging logic course taught him the valueWhat has attracted me to leadership roles, rather than of working hard. It was basically a math class, and I worked reallyreporting, is people. Theres nothing like teaching somebody hard, he said. I earned a B-plus, but my professor sat down withsomething, watching them get it, and then seeing them go out, me afterwards and said, Im giving you an A, because I saw howdo their job, and succeed, he said.I earned a B-plus, but my professor sat down with me afterward and said, Im giving you an A, because I saw how hard you worked this entire quarter. Ill never forget that moment. I dont think that would happen in a class with 250 people.THE RAIDER|FALL 20259'