Short and concise insiders guide to what happens to students after the AP test. It is something that any student who has ever taken an AP class knows, and usually expects after the tests are through. This would be an interesting piece to share with parents of AP students, as it might give them a little more insight into their students classes. The variety of interviews in this piece gives a spectrum of opinions and a more journalistic, news flash spin. The tempo of the piece is upbeat and extremely effective for a story of this kind.

Nothing makes a better radio commentary than a person?s most embarrassing moment. Not only does the writer have to relive their experience, but they are sharing it with whomever will listen. There is a certain quality of voice that can only be paired with this type of essay, a sort of strained painful one in that you can tell the reader is still as familiar with the way this incident made them feel as the moment that it happened. All this is present. The tone, the story constantly going down hill and the brutal honesty that is required to make the piece one of complete humiliation. This story was such an easy one to relate to and the writing sometimes veered off into very vivid descriptions that helped to push the story forward and help the listener gain more perspective into how the narrator was feeling and what they were noticing at the time. Some musical transitions or foley could contribute to the overall feeling, however it an effective commentary as is. The best part of this whole ordeal is that the swimmer never gets better or moves up out of lane one, and instead spends her time making up cheers and dances.

Interviews are a huge part of radio. This piece just needs a little bit of editing and narration to help it be radio listenable. The questions created a great response from the band, however it was hard to decipher the audio at times. Perhaps a bio of the band and its members, and a little bit of their music being played underneath would morph it into more of a radio doc. I would really like to hear this piece completed, because the Islands are a very influential band and the interview was very dynamic. Right now the piece is just a little to raw.

The intro caught my attention and I was engaged for the rest of the piece. A huge variety of dynamic interviews helped me, a white American who has lived here all her life, understand what its like to feel excluded from your culture, and from your family. For many different reasons first generation Americans do not know their native language, and these youth are passionate about their homeland, but embarrassed about not knowing their culture. The part that was especially hard hitting was when the girls were talking about the embarrassment they feel because they cannot communicate with their family members in their homeland. Another thing that gave the piece more insight was the interviews were not one sided, and it goes on to explain the parents views of the issue. This piece is edited incredibly well and the narration keeps up a steady pace that helps push the concept across.

?Anywhere But Now? explains verbatim the way I feel. At one point Maria asks if everyone thinks about where they belong, and why they feel connections to places that they have no connection to, I know exactly what she is talking about. The music layered underneath the essay was completely amazing and the way it was edited took nothing away from the idea being presented, but greatly added to the mood as music in well edited radio pieces seem to have the tendency of doing. Maria?s reading voice is so warm, and its as though she has invited you into her comfortable living room, sat you down on the couch and is telling you a story that you are so compelled by you don?t interrupt. After the immediate story ends with her leaving the ?Past Life Regressionists? office feeling like a complete failure, she comes to some conclusions about how perhaps its our culture, perhaps its technology that takes away the feeling of knowing exactly where you belong because people have less time to reflect on where they really want to be and what they really want to be doing. The essay writing is top notch, the transitions in and out of various tape gives it a more on-the-spot feel, like you are witnessing something happen, and while listening, the majority of the notes I took consisted simply of the word amazing in all capital letters. My physical reaction to this piece was having goose bumps cover my entire body.

It?s hard to talk about sex. Especially when you have only been taught that it is morally wrong to have until marriage and you have grown up in a society where having a dialogue about it is somewhat taboo. Shelby Knox, the subject of an independent film about what public schools sex education is really like, is someone who is not afraid to cause controversy. The interview between Knox and KRBC Voices of Youth producers is incredibly honest and comfortable. The questions asked provoke stunning replies from Knox, although the delivery on some of the questions is a little slow. Their questions imply having similar experiences as Knox in the area of public schools sex education, however, because this is just raw tape of the interview, it is only alluded to. Some narration with background information on Shelby Knox, as well as anecdotes about the interviewers? own experiences with sex ed in schools would help this piece be more listenable. Completed, this piece would contribute greatly to the sex education reform that is extremely important to the youth of today.