Alumni Achiever – Nick Ramsey, Page High Class of 1999

Published April 10, 2015

Nick Ramsey currently works as a digital producer for msnbc.com. He joined msnbc in September 2010 to launch The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell. Previously he worked at CNN in both Atlanta and New York. A graduate of Washington & Lee University, he attended Nolensville Elementary, Page Middle and Page High.

What led you to want to pursue a career in journalism and/or broadcasting?

My career in journalism began as an accident. It all started when I got interested in college radio, so I signed up to do a radio show for my school’s student-run station. The first thing I was taught after signing up was how to run an audio board. Several months later, I was asked to run the audio board for the school’s television newscast for someone who was out sick given that audio boards for television and radio are pretty similar. I picked up a few more shifts running the audio board for the university’s newscast, and I really started enjoying being in a control room. The following semester I took an intro course in the journalism department as an elective and also started writing an editorial column in the university paper. By the end of that term, I knew I wouldn’t be going to law school after all.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

If I had to sum up what I love most about my job in one word, that word would be unpredictability. Every day is an unknown. Then news breaks, and it can change everything. The story that ends up driving a day’s news cycle can surprise, enlighten and provoke. You may know the story that will pop at the beginning of the day, but the outcome of a court ruling or a vote can still surprise. Or the day’s biggest event may be something entirely unexpected. Working in journalism is being on the frontlines of events as they happen. You know things before anyone else knows them, and it’s your job to inform. And while it’s true that news is often sad, tragic, and/or depressing — the job is never boring because it’s impossible to know what’s coming next. And even on the worst of days, you can almost always find a news story that will make you smile.

Where did you attend college and what did you major in?

I attended Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, majoring in Broadcast Journalism with concentrations in Politics and Romance Languages (Spanish & French).

What did you enjoy most about your high school experience?

I honestly had a great time in high school – so it’s really hard to pinpoint the one thing I loved the most. While I had my close friends, I really got along with nearly everyone at Page High. I loved being introduced to speaking foreign languages for the first time, taking four years of Spanish and two years of French before graduation. I loved taking Spring Break trips with some of my closest classmates my junior and senior years leaving the United States for the first time to visit Europe. I loved performing in plays for the first time, getting to be the deejay for pep rallies, going to football games, getting my first after school job, and even hanging out in the parking lot after school before making a run to Sonic with friends for an afternoon sugar rush. I suppose the thing I loved most about high school was the ability to begin to choose the things I wanted to learn about and having the freedom to try new things to see what I was good at doing.

What WCS teacher made a difference in your life and how?

It’s impossible to name just one name here – but here are a few people who immediately come to mind. In the fourth grade, Mrs. Mary Jane Carter of Nolensville Elementary helped ignite my love of literature with her impassioned reading of Where the Red Fern Grows. In eighth grade at Page Middle School, Ms. Sue Hooper taught me how to think critically and back up my conclusions with fact rather than emotion (something that’s invaluable in journalism). In ninth grade, Ms. Terry Hughes put me on stage for the first time teaching me the basics of acting – skills that helped earn me a free trip to Italy in college to perform along with three of my classmates in an international theater festival. For the four years of high school, Dr. Ron Thompson would introduce me to foreign languages and cultures, become the first person to ever teach me philosophy, and be the first person to ever take me and my friends on those aforementioned trips out of the country. Another invaluable person to me during high school was Carol Hendlmyer. At the time, Ms. Hendlmyer was in charge of Page High’s gifted students program, but to me she was also a guidance counselor and confidant helping me map my educational path all the way through high school and the college selection process.

Do you have any advice for current WCS students?

Get involved! Find an internship, join an after-school program, go out for the team, or get a summer job. You need to take your education seriously, but you also have to know how to apply what you learn in the real world. Find something you love and get good at it. If there’s no club to support the thing you’re into, find other students and a teacher who want to help and create that club. If you need help or are having some kind of trouble, talk to someone you trust. If you’re overwhelmed, tell someone. Your teachers may be tough on you sometimes, but ultimately they want to see you and your classmates succeed. High school is a busy, crazy, awkward, and unforgettable time… so don’t forget to have some fun, too.