Drew Best, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater was awarded the student leadership award by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association on Saturday Feb. 24, 2024, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
The award recognizes a student with great leadership qualities in the field of broadcasting. From the moment Best came to UW-Whitewater as a sophomore, his leadership skills were evident from the very start.
Best was born and raised in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and planned to come to UW-Whitewater right after high school to be a part of the broadcasting and wrestling team. However, with the Covid 19 pandemic and his own medical problems at the time, he elected to stay in Oshkosh for one year and began his freshman year at UW-Oshkosh.
The moment Best came to UW-Whitewater, he began immersing himself in the world of radio and television broadcasting calling different sporting games. He had also earned a spot as a sideline reporter for Warhawk football games.
After gaining some experience, Best applied for the TV station on campus and began working with studio productions. He surrounded himself with sport type products whether it be analysis, updates or covering live games.
At the beginning of his junior year, the sports director had stepped down from his position and Best immediately filled that role, taking over their responsibilities.
One year later, the same type of situation allowed him to become the station manager of UWW-TV and in his words, he began running the whole show.
He expressed that this position was a huge time commitment and incredibly stressful, however, it was a wonderful opportunity to show his leadership skills while still learning from others.
When describing the experience of winning the WBA leadership award, he gave credit to the people who he looked up to as leaders before taking that role himself and leading others.
Best pointed out that his name may be on the award, however, he commented that, “It’s the communications departments award,” truly showing what a great leader he is.