Andrew DiPaolo is living his childhood dream thanks to Ohio University and WOUB

When Andrew DiPaolo was a young boy, he dreamed of being a TV meteorologist in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. It was a dream he was able to achieve because he decided to go to college at Ohio University and work at WOUB Public Media.

“I fell in love with the campus, and I loved what was available in the meteorology program,” said DiPaolo. “I liked the fact that there were avenues for studying meteorology research, while there was also a broadcast element.”

DiPaolo said when he learned about the opportunity for students to forecast the weather on television at WOUB, initially he wasn’t sure if he should do it. It made him nervous.

“But my parents were like ‘Um, you are definitely going to do that,” said DiPaolo with a laugh. And I knew they were right.”

DiPaolo ended up working with the weather staff at WOUB the entire time he was in college. He was able to use what he learned in the classroom while learning how to communicate weather to an audience while on television.

“It was such a big geographical area we had to cover,” said DiPaolo. “WOUB’s TV signal reached a large part of Ohio and some of West Virginia. Forecasting at WOUB allowed me to really hone in on what kinds of weather affects different parts of both states. Learning how to forecast for different geographical areas was really helpful.”

After graduation in 2014, DiPaolo was able to get a broadcast meteorology job in his hometown at WFMJ TV.

“WOUB helped me get where I am now because I was able to practice doing on-air work,” said DiPaolo. “I came out of college with five years of on-air weather experience. Getting that experience in front of a green screen and talking about weather was crucial.”

DiPaolo has worked on WFMJ’s morning news show for the past several years. But, on Labor Day, he was promoted to the station’s new 5 p.m. news program.

 “This is what I’ve wanted to do since I was in the second grade,” said DiPaolo. “I’m really excited for this new opportunity.”

To learn more about WOUB, visit woub.org.