300 Words, One Life: California dreaming

Chelsea Kivell sits in the production room for Modern Rock 91.5, spending an hour placing the advertisements and public service announcements into the Thursday schedule.

She’s working behind the scenes for now, but hopes to one day step in front of the camera and host her own celebrity gossip show on E! Entertainment. With dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a perfect smile, she’s the ideal candidate.

It’s clear radio is not her first choice.

“I might be interested in doing a radio morning show,” she said, “but I really prefer television.”

Kivell has known for several years that she wanted to study broadcasting. She took a television production class at South Lyon High School and was an anchor for her school’s news show.

Now that she is at Central Michigan University studying Broadcasting and Cinematic Arts, she is finding more opportunities for work.

She was an intern for Channel 95.5 in Detroit in the summer of 2010, recording radio commercials for companies like Plato’s Closet, Forever 21 and McDonald’s. She’s made a television commercial for Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mount Pleasant, and even got to stand in a large crowd during a Miley Cyrus music video.

However, Kivell isn’t planning on staying in Michigan. She wants to move to southern California to look for jobs and internships, but her parents are reluctant to let her move so far away on her own.

“Unfortunately, I really don’t know anyone in California,” she said. She refuses to give up on her dream, however.

“I don’t even care if an internship is unpaid. I just need to get my name out there,” she said.

While she remains stuck in the Midwest, she keeps herself working, getting as much experience as she can, in as many different areas as she can.