Tell the Show Communications Podcast Kenny Schiavone

The podcast "Tell the Show" interviews communication students about their most valued objects. Morgan shares that her most important object is a letter from her late grandfather, Harry. She describes the strong bond she had with him and how his letter means the world to her. Morgan also talks about her love for writing letters and how they hold special meaning to her. She believes in pursuing her passions and cherishing connections with others. While working for the family company is an option, she hopes to become a writer and travel the world. Failure has taught her to work harder and find her true strengths. The episode concludes with a thank you message to the listeners. Hello and welcome to Tell the Show, where we tell and don't show because this is a podcast. In this show, we will be interviewing communication students about some of their most valued objects and what those objects mean to them. We all have one major thing in common, going to St. Joseph's University, so we wanted to explore what really makes us different from one another. When you learn about an object, you can learn about a person, what people value and what reveals a lot about them. So let's get personal. It's great to meet you. Please enjoy meeting us. Hello, I'm Kenny Schiavone, your interviewer for the day. Today's guest, Morgan, will be telling us all about her object. Here's Morgan. Take it away. Hello, podcast. My name is Morgan Vornick, a freshman communication major at St. Joseph's University. This podcast's topic is to talk about an object that is significant to my life in some way. The first thing that's always come to mind is anything from my grandfather, Harry. When I think of myself, I think of my grandfather. I think of all the little bits and pieces that go into me as an individual. I think of all the stories I have to tell and all the experiences I have yet to fulfill, but none of that in my life would be the same without him. Growing up, my parents were never really around. I would spend the weekdays at daycare, then the rest of my days would be spent at Harry's. Every memory from my childhood was made with him. Harry was my grandfather on my father's side, who would do anything for his granddaughter. He had even retired from running his own business once he found out my mother was pregnant. If I had one best friend in my life, it was him. He passed away when I was in third grade. Even though it sounds like super young, I felt like I had lived a whole life with him. I still remember the day he passed away like it was yesterday. I remember talking to him and hearing his voice. I remember leaving the house for the last time and feeling his presence. It was like I was at home. But once he passed, that feeling was gone, and I eventually forgot his voice and the way he would give me love. It's so special to know that I'll never have anybody else in my life that I'll have a connection like that with. Even though it sounds sad, it's comfort in my eyes because I've already experienced that. Like in the beginning, I said the topic was the most important object to me. Obviously, you know it's going to be something for my grandfather. I have plenty of objects that represent my grandfather, like his camera full of home movies and videos. He made that me and my sister made. His old iPad that has so many pictures of him from my childhood. His favorite photos, clothing he wore, jewelry he gave my grandmother, et cetera, et cetera. However, one thing that I have most recently obtained that has become the most important object to me in my life. In fact, I don't even know how I went the past nine years without it. When I was in kindergarten, my teacher, Mrs. Weiser, put together a box for each of her students to open on their graduation day, filled with photos, art from art class, and most importantly, letters. So inevitably, on my graduation day, I opened this box, expecting to see no more than embarrassing photos from when I was younger and horrible drawings I tried to create. I never did expect there was letters from each of my family members from 13 years ago. We were out at dinner, so I chose not to open the letters in front of everyone because I had a feeling that one of them was from Harry. I was right. Now, this letter had everything I ever needed to hear from someone who I hadn't seen in nine years. I bawled my eyes out, but it wasn't until the end where he signed his name, in which it said, With all my love, Grandpa Harry. Forever saying with all my love will stick with me, and that's how I'll sign every letter from this day on. I'm also planning to get those exact words tattooed on me, which means so much. Like I said, I have plenty of memories of him, like videos and photos, and you may ask why is the letter such a big deal to me when I have so many physical memories from him all my life. The letter truly means the most to me because I love letters. Actually, I don't just love letters. It's kind of the thing I live for. My goal in life is to become a writer, travel the world, and write about all the beautiful people I meet and get to see. But before that came into tuition, it started by me writing letters. When my family or friends were sad, I'd write a letter. When someone would do something nice for me, the perfect way to thank them was writing a letter. When it was somebody's birthday, they knew they were getting a letter. It was something my family and friends would look forward to. My dad would even get upset on special occasions if there wasn't a letter for him. In fact, the last day of my junior year, I wrote a letter for all my friends about becoming seniors, and I watched them all cry when they opened it. That's when I realized writing could really mean something. My writing could really mean something to people. And because of that, I started to get letters back from my family and friends. And they were never as good as mine, but it meant more than the good writing and the grammar. They were sweet and heartfelt, which was the most important thing to me. Now looking back to present day, I never expected to read a letter from my grandfather who died nine years ago, sitting in a box sealed up on the top of the shelf. Letters mean a lot to me, but Harry's meant the world to me. It amazes me how a physical object can transform into a person or even a memory of a person I never thought I'd have a new piece of remembrance from. Reading the letter was like being in his house all over again, talking to him, crying with him. It was him, and thank God for him writing that letter. What's the best advice your grandfather gave you? I think the best advice that he gave me was just to pursue what I wanted to do in life. Because when I was younger, I really wanted to be a teacher. And he redid his basement to be a classroom for me, so I could teach him or whatever. And he was an acting defense student. And then also, later on, I wanted to do acting. So he signed me up for acting classes about 30, 40 minutes away from his house. And every day after school, he would take me, wait there, and take me home. And he would always want me to pursue what I wanted to do, even at a young age. That's very good. Has your grandfather, over time, changed your belief in something? Yeah, I think when I was younger, obviously I didn't realize it, but I think it made me realize just how important people are to me. I really care about seeing the good in people and stuff. It's not just about making friends and making connections. I think it's actually getting to know someone. Do you see yourself working for the family company down the line? I think if writing doesn't work out for me, that's always an option. But it's not exactly what I want to do. But it would be nice to take over for my dad and my grandfather. Yeah. And how has failure set you up for success? I think failing in stuff that I've done with sports and writing and stuff, it made me just work harder in life. Because I realized that I didn't like doing sports, and that wasn't my thing. I didn't like other subjects and stuff. But I think it's made me realize what I'm actually good at. Yeah. Hope you enjoyed this episode. Please tune in next week for Alex Andahazy and Tricia Nicoletti. Thank you for listening to Tell the Show. If you liked this episode, then tune in next week for more telling and less showing. If you liked the music in this episode, check out music found on freesound.org. Brought to you by Guitar Enable, transition music found on TikTok by lovemysteves, and the outro instrumental by The Weeknd featuring Madonna. Thank you all so much for listening, and see you next time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.