Makaylah Wheeler

Biography

I was two weeks into my first semester of college and I wasn’t involved in anything yet so I had made absolutely no friends. Spanky came and talked to my journalism class about the station during the recruitment period and it was like something clicked. I was signed up and volunteering by the next week. I was a DJ and a news anchor my first semester and by my second semester, I had developed such a deep love for the news and all of the staff here that I interviewed to be the new news director. After that, I really found a family here so I have since gone on to also become the executive director and now station manager. Being here got me truly involved on campus and now I’m all over the place, but I wouldn’t be where I’m at in life or have any of the friends, supports, and mentors that I’m blessed with if I hadn’t ended up here. WMUL is probably the best decision I could have made in college. It’s my home. Makaylah has won over 76 awards during her time at WMUL, including The Paul G. Watson Award, the Board Excellence Award, Second Place News Operations at AP 2023, and numerous awards of excellence for newscasts and news packages.

The Less Serious List

Favorite Book: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, and all of the older Winnie the Pooh books.

Favorite Show: X-Files

Favorite Bands: Currently Joan Jett, Aerosmith, ABBA, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Cash, Logic, Phil Collins, Taylor Swift’s older stuff, Gavin DeGraw, Teddybears, Mary Lambert, Rag’n’Bone Man, Marianas Trench, Bad Bad Hats, Queen, Lenny Kravitz, so so many…

Favorite Quote: “Nothing is impossible, even the word itself says I’M POSSIBLE!” -Audrey Hepburn

Favorite Movies: Breakfast at Tiffany’s, all of the Jurassic Park/ World films, Land Before Time will always pull at my heart strings.