By DAR’KEITH LOFTON
Staff writer
The Daily Eastern News, Oct. 12, 2000

Larry Smith began his career at the age of 14.

“My friend and I would play around with a camera and create broadcasts from within my mom’s living room:’ the Mattoon native said.

“It was something that I always wanted to do.”

Smith, who graduated from Eastern with a degree in accounting and is now an anchor for CCN-SI spoke to students Wednesday as part of Speech Communication Day.

He also talked about the difficulty of finding a first job after college.

“It’s not always easy getting your feet through the door and you may not get the exact job that you want," he said. “You have to remember that life is a marathon, not a sprint.”

His favorite part of being an anchor is going out and speaking to the students, he said.

"I wish that there would have been people there to talk to me about my future,” he said.

“I think that giving back is really important.” Smith acknowledges WEIU for helping him begin his career.

“If it weren’t for WEIU I would not be where I am today,” he said. “It was that experience that helped me later in life."

To entertain students, he presented a video of CNN bloopers.

‘Anyone can make mistakes’ he said. ‘They help you become more alert and successful.”

He advises students to keep good contact with professionals involved in their major.

“Receiving a job isn’t always about what you know, it can also be about who you know. You wouldn’t believe how these people can become important in the future,” he said