Met Don Wiklin, Senior Director for Talk Operations at XM Satellite Radio
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He welcomed and toured me through this awesome facility, and basically took care of me when I was asked to sub for Jennifer Willits on the popular radio show, “Catholics Next Door” 2 weeks ago. It was tons of fun!  

We was a student at Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore run by the Franciscans.  Although this HS was somewhat a rival to my own high school, Mount St. Joseph in Baltimore run by the Xaverians, I have to say those tensions didn’t survive.  We became instant friends!

He is in a band, loves his job at XM in DC, and… he loves to cook.  He even studied culinary arts in NY city.  Needless to say, our conversations quickly moved to what type of knives he liked, to his particular cuisine.

It was such an honor to be asked to sub for Jennifer while on maternity leave.  Greg and the producer, Adam, made it so easy for me just to put on the head sets and go to town on the microphone. And if it weren’t for Don being so supportive, I would have felt like a little fish out in very deep and murky waters.  Stepping outside of the seminary walls and meeting people like this in such a competitive (and seemingly impersonal) industry was a wake up call and a reminder of the goodness of people in the working world.  It’s easy to forget how God works in such beautiful ways in “unlikely places” - such as a radio station! I know my presence at the studio was a bit out of place, but Don and so many others made me feel very much at home.   

While on air, I even had the chance to interview the Top Chef winner of 2009 - Hosea!  I felt like such a nerd because in my nervousness, I didn’t even know what to say to the man. I felt like Chris Farley, in the Saturday Night Live spoof of an unprofessional and nervous interviewer who can only say, “that was awesome.”  That was me in that interview!

Hosea is a great chef and he had a pretty humble and calm disposition throughout the competition.  I also enjoyed poking a little fun at his name:  Hosea - one of the minor prophets of the Old Testament, who was commanded by God to take the woman of ill repute (i.e., prostitute) Gomer to be his wife. Why?  So that God can prove His faithfulness even to the least likely people!  It was a great chance to just to chat with him and to reach out to all of the listeners with firm, frank and fun discussion.

While there, I was given a great surprise gift:  Don gave me the XM radio and boom box that you see above.  When I mentioned that I was one of the few Asians that didn’t understand technology or how to even install this in my car, he immediately took the time to  install the device for me! All of this right before I left for the airport to lead the Mount St. Mary’s on pilgrimage to Italy.  Talk about a fantastic Friday two weeks ago!

To top it all off, we enjoyed some time for lunch.  Tilapia Tacos at the XM cafe! Yummy and approved for Lenten Fridays!

I just have to say a sincere THANK YOU to Greg and Jennifer for sharing the mic.  It was great fun!

 

I must say a special thanks to the people at XM and especially Don for the welcome and the chance to be part of the XM and Sirius Satellite Radio family - even for just 2 days.  It’s so edifying to know that there is fun way to reach out to people who hunger to hear God’s message of hope and good news!

This outreach doesn’t happen through technology, but through friendship that works through the channels of an open heart to God’s love. 

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments