Editor’s note: OVU alumnus Alex Helmick recently visited campus to speak to a communication class. Helmick has accepted a position as a features reporter for World Radio Switzerland, formerly World Radio Geneva. Prior to that he was a contract reporter for Chicago Public Radio.

Q: As you think about your time on the Ohio Valley University campus, what memories come to mind?

There are several. In sort of a larger scale it’s always about the friends that you make, the professors you knew. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and I remember the time I actually built a Thorndike Puzzle Box. Our professor, Peter Clark, had given out an assignment to write about this puzzle box. I just decided to go ahead and build one. The box is actually an experiment for cats. You put a cat in the box and see how fast the cat can get out of it. You keep repeating this and it tests the memory of the cat. So I built it and presented it in class. When I came to class that day, no one knew what I had underneath that sheet. That was five years ago, and Mr. Clark still has it. I think he appreciated that I took it one step above what he had asked us to do, and what he thought anyone in the class would do.

Q: I guess that’s what every professor hopes for in their students, right?

I guess so. There were a lot memorable moments on campus. For me, it was building closer relationships with my professors. Dr. Steven Hardy, for example. I had him for freshman English. Frankly, it wasn’t a good experience. I tell him today it was because back then, I knew everything! As a student, I told him he was wrong many times. And he somehow forgave me enough to keep in contact with me. By the end of the year, we had a great relationship. I finally realized that I, in fact, did NOT know everything and that he had a lot to teach me. That was pretty amazing.

Q: How has the experience you had at Ohio Valley University helped you in your career today?

I certainly learned a lot from the people I met on campus. I guess I’m a big relationship guy. The people I met along the way were very influential in my life. They taught me a lot about who I was as a person. Obviously in my four years here--from 18 to 22—I grew up a lot. I learned a lot about myself during my Christian education at OVU. Interacting with professors and other students, you learn about patience. I learned to be patient with myself, and patient with others. You learn to be caring and compassionate. I graduated from Parkersburg High School. My graduating class was bigger than the entire enrollment at OVU. I was a number in high school. At OVU people actually knew me by name. People spoke to me in the hallways and said hello. I not only developed compassion for other people, but I also developed my interpersonal communication skills.

Q: Do you still keep in contact with any classmates from OVU?

I mainly keep in contact with my former professors.

Q: What did you do immediately after you graduated from OVU with your bachelor’s in psychology?

I went to the Chicago School of Professional Psychology and got my master’s degree in industrial organizational psychology. As I was finishing that degree, I also applied for a master’s degree in journalism. Consulting is okay, but it wasn’t something that I loved. I always wanted to be a reporter. So I decided that if I didn’t get into journalism school, I was going to stick to being a consultant. I eventually got into the journalism school and landed an internship at Chicago Public Radio. I was hired shortly after I finished my internship.

Q: Growing up, did you ever listen to National Public Radio (NPR)?

I didn’t. I grew up in West Virginia, and the station here is not a strong station. It doesn’t have a lot of programming. It has a lot of music.

Q: You mentioned you always wanted to be a reporter. What drove you to a career in broadcasting?

Broadcasting wasn’t necessarily it for me. When I was twelve years old, I read All the President’s Men. I wanted to be Bob Woodward. I never thought that was possible. I didn’t realize that I would have so much support once I decided to pursue that. It seemed so distant. Once I got to Chicago and I told my parents I wanted to try this, they were completely on board; completely supportive and wonderful about the whole thing.

I started in radio and it was tough. You have to be quick. You have to write fast. You can’t use a lot of words. Starting out, I would cover something and the Chicago Tribune would cover the same thing. The Tribune’s reporter would have 500-600 words, and I would have 120 or 140. So I didn’t think radio was for me. However, through a series of great experiences, I finally decided that this is what I wanted to do.

Q: Can you tell me about some interesting people you’ve met along the way?

I’ve talked to a lot of politicians. I’ve been fortunate enough to have covered everyone from President Bush to Dick Cheney to Dick Durbin and Barack ObamaBernanke—the two senators in Illinois. Also, Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve Chairman. But those guys are not really that interesting if you want the truth. The really interesting stories come from everyday people.

I just did a story on a blind baseball team. There’s this blind softball team. The balls beep. The bases buzz. And they have a pitcher who can see. They hit the beeping ball and they run toward the buzzing bases. Chicago has a team and there are about 15 other teams around the country. I profiled the Chicago team for a show called Weekend America, owned by American Public Media—which is like NPR. I met such great guys. All the players wear blindfolds, because some can see slightly better than others. They are in such great spirits all the time. They are such amazing guys, and they just want to be normal again; to feel some sense of being normal. I remember a guy named Warren Richardson. He is a chiseled guy with a body like one of those sculptures. He is also a district attorney and prosecutes in traffic court. He’s blind. When I asked him what he did for a living, he laughed and said, “I prosecute in traffic court. Go figure. I’m a blind guy in traffic court!”

Another guy that stands out in my mind is Sonam Dhargye. He is a former Tibetan monk who now works at the Chicago Board of Trade—it’s like Chicago’s “Wall Street.” He has a very menial job as a “runner.” It is a tough job and very stressful. He left the monastery because he fell in love with a woman. He came to America and started looking for a job because he had a wife and kids on the way. He’s very nice and soft-spoken. We established a rapport on the trading floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, and he invited me back to his apartment for my interview. I interviewed him in his “prayer room,’ which is actually a converted closet. So I conducted the interview in his closet, surrounded by pictures of the Dahli Lama. He leads a very strict lifestyle, but one thing that stood out during my visit was that he owned a giant television. In my mind he had assimilated very well!

It’s nice to say you’ve covered all these politicians, but they’re rehearsed. Ordinary people are the best stories.

Q: Can you tell me about an interview gone badly?

That’s an easy one. In radio we have these things called a “vox,” which is short for vox populi, which literally means “voice of the people.” It’s basically a “man on the street” type of interview. So you take one, or a series, of questions and you go out and ask a variety of people (from different ethnic backgrounds, for example) the same questions. Then you come back to the studio and edit it all into one piece—so it sounds like everyone is right next to each other.

I remember an instance in Chicago where this Catholic priest had just been arraigned for abusing young boys. My editor wanted to hear what Catholic people were thinking about this situation, so I was assigned to stand outside this Catholic church and ask people coming out of Mass about their thoughts on that subject. You can imagine the sensitivity of the topic. I got three or four not-so-great responses. As I was coming back, I somehow left my recorder rolling and ended up taping over the entire assignment. My final tape was the audio of my bus trip home. My editors were discussing what to do and one suggested that they send me back out to another Mass. I thought to myself, please don’t do that. The story was never used, but it was quite a stressful event.

Q: Considering all the people you’ve interviewed, and the experiences you’ve had, what has been most rewarding to you?

I’ve had a bunch of them. What’s most rewarding for me is the final editing and putting the segment together in the studio as the final version. As a reporter you go out and get your tape. Come back and write your script. Work your tape into your script. You edit and do the voice over. Then you mix the audio together.

I love the moment of coming out of the studio, after I’ve just “voiced” the final version. That’s my rewarding moment. All the hard work has culminated into that moment. The process is wonderful, but I love the end result.

I listen to myself on the radio and I love it! I was known for it in the newsroom. When I knew I was going to be on, I would be by the radio getting ready to listen. It’s partially an ego thing, but I’m also very proud of my work. And it’s exciting—I never want to lose that excitement for what I do. I could make a lot more money doing consulting. I have friends doing what I used to do making six figures. They work really hard, but I know they don’t love their job as much as I love mine.

As a general assignment reporter you never know what you are going to cover when you wake up in the morning. Every day is different. I get to help inform the public, I get to add something to someone’s life—even if it’s just one person. My creative and analytical sides get to merge, and that’s what I think is so wonderful about this job!

Q: What Are Your Current Plans?

I’m off to Geneva, Switzerland to start my new job with World Radio Switzerland.--with two suitcases and a backpack. I’ve never traveled abroad and I just secured a small apartment in downtown Geneva. I’m a ten-minute walk from the station.

Q: What will be the biggest challenge in your new position?

I think there will be a lot, and that’s what is exciting about it. I think every reporter has dreamed about working overseas at some point in their career. Whether it’s a war zone, in London, wherever. To work in such an international city like Geneva is such an incredible opportunity.

I only speak “survival” French, so that will be a challenge. I will also have to deal with being away from my friends and family. I’m looking forward to living the European lifestyle, though: forty hours a week is full-time. If you work over forty hours you get paid overtime!

Q: Do you like chocolate?

I do! I like chocolate, cheese, watches and skiing!

To read more about OVU alumnus Alex Helmick, visit World Radio Switzerland. His email address is alex.helmick@worldradio.ch.