At Ashesi, David Dei-Awuku '13 was often the go-to Master of Ceremonies for student events. From spoken word shows, to award ceremonies, he would often be seen and heard sharing his enthusiasm. After completing his one-year post-graduation National Service role, David started looking for an alternative to the typical white-collar work he had been engaged in; and he wanted to focus on the kind of work that would allow him to explore the public speaking skills he was known for on campus.
So when he logged on to Ashesi’s careers portal, scanning through available job opportunities, a role with a local media company immediately stood out.
“When I saw the opening for an in-studio job with the Excellence in Broadcasting (EIB) Network’s Starr FM, I decided to take a shot at it,” David explains. “It seemed like an opportunity for me to explore a non-traditional career, build on my writing and speaking skills, and have fun while doing that.”
David was hired by the EIB Network for a six-month probationary period, which was then extended to a full-time role with the organisation. In his capacity, he’s a producer on both the morning and mid-morning shows, a voice-over artist, and reporter for a segment of the network’s afternoon programme.
“On a typical day, I help in content generation and getting resource persons for relevant issues for the various shows,” David explains. “I also help the social media coordinators in providing content on the station’s twitter platforms. In the past, I have sat in with the Morning Show host to run the newspaper review, and I have been an in-studio guest on the "Listeners Choice Awards" and "Love Over Time" segments of the mid-morning Show. I have also worked on teams that supported industry greats such as Kafui Dey, Nii Ardey Clegg, Kwesi Kyei Darkwah (KKD), Naa Ashorkor Mensah-Doku and Nana Aba Anamoah. It has been an incredible experience so far.”
Away from the studio, David is pursuing a post-graduate degree in law, a career he also has ambitions for.
“I have always been fascinated by analysis,” he says. “I would never take the average understanding of some subject matter and be content with it; I always want to go beyond the average in all analysis, and I believe that will be an important trait for a lawyer. Combined with what I am already learning in public speaking, I hope to become a strong lawyer.”
For his ability to wear many hats, David gives a lot of credit to his experiences studying at Ashesi.
“My best memories are from Mrs. Awuah’s pre-calculus classes, where we were always encouraged to not just provide answers, but explain the thinking process we used to get them,” he explains. “Ashesi was always encouraging us to go beyond; to be deeper in our thinking. Again, being able to study so many courses as parts of the liberal arts core – from Real Estate Development to Economics – is coming in handy both in my profession and in my law programme. If I had to do it all over, I would attend Ashesi again in a heartbeat.”
