Interview by Basma Humadi, Assistant Lifestyle Editor

As a part of Women’s History Month, Fourth Estate wanted to celebrate the wonderful leading ladies of Student Media. As of now, all Student Media organizations are run by women. We thought it was pretty historic – especially since representation of women in leadership positions is sparse, according to Pew Research Center.  For this feature, we went around and got the inside scoop about their role and how they got to where they are now. Here’s our feature from Mason Cable Network (MCN):

Kera White, General Manager, Mason Cable Network:

How did you become a part of MCN and what made you want to join?

I became apart of MCN because of my mentor! She was a news director for Mason Cable News and she suggested to me that I volunteer for her and one thing led to another and I became General Manager

What’s it like knowing you’re the first women of color to run the station?

I think it’s actually very interesting. Being the first woman of color isn’t something that I have ever really thought at my age that I would be accomplishing in this day and age that we live in. But it does make me think of all that minority women are, and will continue, accomplishing.

What’s something unexpected you think you found out about yourself by being in a leadership position?

Something unexpected that I found out about myself was that I did not like leading. It was so shocking to me! I was afraid to lead individuals who I felt were so much more experienced than I. As a first year sophomore, I had so much weight on my shoulders to make sure I wasn’t a dictator, that I wasn’t a push-over, that my creative ideas made sense, that I could be intelligent about what I’m talking about, and just be this overall vision of a perfect leader I had. MCN taught me that although I started off being so scared to jump out there and lead people to success, I have a natural born talent to lead and I have a desire to see those around me and myself work hard at what we love so much.

What are you most proud of during your time here?

I am certainly most proud of the diversity and growth of the Network. When I first came in, it was very small team and to be honest with you it wasn’t very diverse either. To see all of these new faces and old faces staying is amazing. To witness and be apart of the creation of these episodes and collaborations with campus offices and organizations is awesome. I am so proud of my team and volunteers because we don’t do what they do just to add to a portfolio. We do it because we love it and that is the biggest joy of them all.