Major Insight, the Miami University podcast that features students discussing how they explore and navigate college, welcomes Michaela Buck as its new host this fall. A Journalism and Political Science major who has been active in such roles as student president of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, a CAS student ambassador, and a member of the intramural volleyball team, Buck feels “super passionate” about her new opportunity.

NOTE: This interview was conducted in the spring. It has been edited for clarity and brevity.

How did you learn about the podcast hosting position?

I was abroad in Luxembourg last fall, and I had just declared my Journalism major, and there was an email with a new Miami job posting. I was just telling my friends that one of my dreams is to start my own podcast, even though it seems everyone's doing it, and this opportunity came at the perfect time. 

So I looked at the application, but the apply link didn't work! I emailed James Loy, the podcast producer, and told him I'm really interested in this job but was having some technical difficulties. He said that was the first sign that I was super passionate about it. So I had an interview while I was abroad over Zoom. Then, when I got back to campus, we met three more times, since there were a lot of other people involved in the process. We met with [senior director of marketing] Nate Jorgensen, who’s one of the biggest champions of Major Insight, and that was kind of the last step before James offered me the job!

What were some of the criteria they were looking for in selecting a new host?

I think it was a plethora of things. Every step of the interview process was something different. I did a test recording, which I was super nervous about since I’d never done it before.  I have a lot of leadership experience and can take initiative and bring new ideas. Every year we want to step it up. We’d like to make Major Insight into a well-oiled student machine. It was very interesting to learn about the momentum it has created over the years. Since I’m a senior, we'll probably start the search process again this November for the next host, which is just crazy! 

Back when you were a prospective student, what is it about the culture of Miami that attracted you here, especially since you were not sure if Miami was the right place for you at the time?

Miami was actually the only university I visited, and I committed to Miami on a whim. It helped that I had come to campus on a beautiful day, and I had no preconceived notions. I visited with my family for Make It Miami, and we attended all the panels, and we could see that everyone just seemed to adore this university and were so proud to be a student. I remember someone mentioning all the support and encouragement and connection they had received from the Miami alumni network, and now I’ve experienced that myself, one thousand percent. Miami alums are just so willing to help, and I know I want to do that too, hopefully, once I get somewhere. Everyone is so proud to be a RedHawk!

Speaking of alumni networks, you often hear stories about Miami students running into alums during study abroad trips, sometimes just by identifying themselves with a Miami T-shirt or something. While you were in Luxembourg, did you ever experience something like that? 

Yes! This is a crazy story. My mom visited me in Luxembourg, and we went on a trip to Austria and Switzerland. We were heading into the mountains to see some historical landmarks like the Hohensalzburg Fortress in Salzburg. On the way up inside the cable car, another couple overheard me talking about MUDEC, which is the Miami University Dolibois European Center in Luxembourg. Their ears perked up, and they asked me if I go to Miami. I told them, “Oh my gosh, yes, I do,” and they told me they’re Miami Mergers. We got to talking for the entire cable car ride. Obviously, there was so much to chat about! I think it’s amazing that we were so eager to connect with each other once we knew we had gone to the same school.

Interview Continues Below

Here in Oxford, what sort of ways have you been able to engage with Miami alumni so far?

I had my first really big alumni connection in my role as president of my sorority. One alum, Shefali Razdan Duggal ’93, the former U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, returned to campus as part of last spring’s Department of Media, Journalism, and Film’s Distinguished Alumni Panel and spoke with our group. She was incredible and embodies everything I want to do in a profession. Her career trajectory just really spoke to me, and it was a great opportunity to pick her brain. I feel that so many Miami alumni are transparent about their career paths. Shefali told us how she didn’t have a specific plan after graduation, and her experiences made me feel very comfortable.

How did Shefali’s experiences and career path inspire you?

Speaking with Shefali made me ask myself what things I’m really passionate about. She demonstrated to me how she stayed true to her values and worked her way up. It’s not always easy to know where to start. As a Political Science major, I’m always being asked what I’m going to do for a career. My path is not necessarily linear, but this is what I love, and I don't ever want to stray from that. One potential path for me is law school, but I always stress myself out about the internships and connections I would need, to the point where it was consuming me. 

Eventually I realized that I need to focus on my prime college years, the things that are already happening, like my sorority presidency, my new role with the podcast, and all of my amazing classes and professors. I think that living in the moment, taking it day by day, and being an authentic and genuine person are the things that Shefali inspired me about. It can be very competitive at Miami. Every student, it seems, has an internship, and if you go on LinkedIn you can begin to feel demoralized. So I decided to take a step back, focus on what I can do to make an impact here – because I'm here right now. 

By focusing on the here and now, what aspects of your majors in Political Science and Journalism have made you feel that you’re on the right path?

I started at Miami with Political Science, because I remember being really interested in AP government back in high school, and I really enjoyed raising my hand in class. That's kind of what led me to Political Science, and I was always just super invested in politics. I could have graduated from Miami early, but I chose to add Journalism while I was abroad after interning at a mass media company based in Luxembourg called RTL Today. I helped write articles and opinion pieces and loved it. I’ve always kind of wanted to be a reporter, so I declared Journalism last fall as a junior. I feel like I'm starting over, but it's refreshing to learn something new every day.

Everything has been aligning pretty perfectly. I was in one of my Social Justice courses, which I declared as my minor, and one of my good friends told me she was starting a student board for the Ohio Student Association. She needed help planning a day of action. Last year we set up a voter registration booth outside Armstrong with all sorts of stickers and merch, and we were asking Miami students what sort of social change they want to see in Ohio. Our goal was to make sure young people knew their power, that they could be just as involved as older generations. We got campuses all across Ohio involved, creating a network across the state, which was really cool. I'm always so thankful that those experiences introduced me to activism and a lot of my passions. 

In a Journalism class I took with Rosemary Pennington, we had a discussion about climate change and how the media has given weight to both sides equally. This has obviously swayed public opinion, so we learned about how taking a neutral stance on science can have an unfortunate impact. Ideally, I could become a journalist for a major newspaper and talk about things like social justice and interview people who have impacted me and others. This would be my dream intersection of both my majors and my minor.

What kind of ideas do you have in store for your audience during this new season of Major Insight?

For Major Insight, I’d love to bring light to various topics that aren’t that well-known. I’m often asking, what kind of impact can I have on the world? We recently did a mental health panel, and I’d love to do more panels covering a variety of topics. Having multiple perspectives and insights during a single recording is really interesting, though we’re still doing a lot of one-on-one interviews. I’m also looking forward to having a bigger social media presence to get our name out there. Our podcast is a valuable resource here on campus that helps people see that many of us are going through the same kinds of college experiences.

And that’s kind of what it’s all about for me. When I first came to Miami, I only knew about two people. Meeting everyone you can, knocking on all the dorm doors, and familiarizing yourself with the various new faces on campus really helps so much. I’ve tried to keep an open mind to help me find my place here. I was looking at The Hub the other day, and we have something like 600 student organizations – you can even start your own! When you find like-minded people, you will find your own community, whatever that may be. 

Miami University’s Major Insight podcast began recording episodes in April 2019 as a partnership with the College of Education, Health, and Society. Its first host was History and Political Science major Jacob Bruggeman ’19. It now features dozens of fascinating conversations with students in over 70 episodes, all available for listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.