By Bailey Oppelt

When I started at Iowa I had no idea what I wanted to major in, or even what classes to take. The only thing I did know is that I wanted to work in the music industry, and I was going to do just about anything to get there. I had looked at a couple other schools, ones that offered music business degrees, but they were too small, and I have always wanted to go to the University of Iowa. Obviously you know which route I choose. It was the beginning of my journey at Iowa, and I happened to be taking a seminar about entrepreneurship and networking. The professor mentioned SCOPE Productions, and how he knew of a student that was able to make it in the music industry by networking at her time at Iowa through SCOPE. I knew immediately that I had to be a part of this student organization.

I was accepted to be a member of SCOPE Productions as a freshman in the fall of 2015. As some of you may remember, that is the semester CAB was able to bring Kevin Hart to campus. I know, big deal right? Well, what you may not know is that Kevin Hart was the first event SCOPE was apart of for that semester, and, quite possibly, one of the longest days of my life. We arrived at Carver Hawkeye arena bright and early that morning, and was there the whole day. It was a lot of sitting around, with occasional tasks like helping their crew with setting up equipment sprinkled in. I remember thinking after crawling into my dorm bed, “what the hell did I sign up for.” But, CHVRCHES was our next show, the homecoming show, and it was going to be big.

CHVRCHES was the first actual concert I ever worked while in SCOPE. And boy, let me tell you, did it set the bar high. Leading up to the show was quite a lot of work, as we started building the stage on the Pentacrest days before the show. I learned about how to set up lighting and sound, along with a lot of little details of what putting on a music event entails, such as how to properly coil a cable (which is way more important than you would think). But, when CHVRCHES went on, and I was able to see the massive amounts of people that showed up for the concert we worked so hard promoting and it was like nothing I had ever felt before. I was so proud of everyone in SCOPE, and I was also in shock that I was able to be a part of such a great organization. The indescribable feeling of seeing the energy from the crowd and knowing we were a part of making memories for every single person in that audience made me want to strive for a career in the music industry that much more. We ended up staying on the Pentacrest in the freezing cold to tear down that show until four in the morning, and it was brutal. We were all so tired, but I just kept thinking of how awesome the show just was and it kept me motivated. I was just excited to see what the rest of the semester had to offer.

Since CHVRCHES, I have been able to work on countless shows through SCOPE. From Vince Staples, to Iron & Wine, D.R.A.M., and Saint Motel, SCOPE has given me more experience and knowledge than I could ever have hoped for. We even were able to sell out the IMU Main Lounge this semester with Grammy award winning artist Portugal. The Man, which was INCREDIBLE. I am now finishing up my junior year at the university and have gotten the news that I will be interning for ATC Management, a music management company in London to continue learning all I can about the music industry. It’s funny, I have always been terrified of interviews, but when a company asks about SCOPE I could talk for hours. Not only has SCOPE given me countless opportunities, it has also helped me land a dream internship AND introduced me to some of the best people I know. So next time you see that sick artist coming to campus, make sure you check it out. Or if you see yourself working in the music industry someday, definitely see what SCOPE has to offer. I promise you won’t regret it.