Melanie Trulby

Q. What was my dream job as a child & why?

A. I wanted to work for PBS, so I could get to see Sesame Street.  Who wouldn’t want to work with Big Bird and Grover?

Q. What is one piece of advice you could give our current OCC students?

A. Keep an open mind as to what you want to do in your field.  When I speak with people who are studying Broadcasting, 90% of the time they say they want to be Talent.  I always tell them for every person who is in front of the camera or behind the microphone, there’s a large staff of people behind them.  There are more avenues for you to get your foot into the door and work your way up being a behind-the-scenes person. Put some time in and see if being an on-air talent is what you really want. You might just find out your passion is in a completely different area.  That’s what happened to me.

Q. How old where you & what was your first paying job?

A. I was 17 and worked at Great Adventure selling t-shirts and other park knick-knacks.  The best part was I got to dress up in colonial garb as it was my uniform. Thank god smartphones didn’t exist then.  I wouldn’t want any photographic evidence. But it was a ton of fun!

Q. Is there an interesting fact most people wouldn’t know about you?

A. I had my photo taken when I was 22 months old. It was published in the New York Times Lifestyles section.  I was at a local 4H Fair feeding some bunnies.