#MyFirstJob: Meteorologist Caroline Carithers

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Posted on June 4, 2019

Alice Jackson

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#MyFirstJob is a series focused on University of South Alabama Class of 2019 graduates who are beginning their careers.

Twenty-two-year-old Caroline Carithers hit the ground running after receiving her Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology from the University of South Alabama on May 4, because she was headed to a new job with WKRG-TV in Mobile.

While many graduates take the summer months off as a break before starting their first career job, Carithers knew it wasn鈥檛 an offer she could refuse.

鈥淚 was kind of shocked I got my dream job so quickly, so I鈥檓 very excited,鈥� she said. 鈥淏oth of the WKRG meteorologists 鈥� Alan Sealls and John Nodar 鈥� taught me at 91短视频, and they both inspired me.鈥� At the station, she works Saturday through Wednesday, delivering weekend morning weather and weekday digital reporting.

Before starting her new job May 20, she continued commuting to a part-time job in Ocean Springs, Miss., with WeatherVision, a company based in Jackson, Miss., that provides on-the-air weather forecasts for television stations that don鈥檛 have their own meteorologists.

鈥淚 began working there at the beginning of April. When I got there in the morning, I would produce and direct the show for the other meteorologist, then he would do the same for me. I did weather for clients in southern California; Kalamazoo, Mich.; and even one in Detroit. I learned a lot there,鈥� Carithers explained.

She decided on a career in weather in 2005. She was in the third grade when her family moved from Michigan to Daphne three days after Hurricane Katrina struck, causing unprecedented and horrific damage from coastal Louisiana eastward through Mississippi and into Alabama.

Initially, Carithers wanted to attend college far away from home 鈥渂ecause I wanted to be off on my own,鈥� but she changed her mind after touring South鈥檚 meteorology department.

During her four years on campus, she worked as a resident assistant, worked in the Student Government Association, became a member of the Meteorology Club and met her future husband, who was her physics lab partner. The two will marry in Michigan on July 14. But first, they will close on a new house in Mobile.

鈥淗e graduated in mechanical engineering on May 4, but he had his job at Olin in McIntosh lined up in December,鈥� she said, speaking of the chemical facility just north of Mobile.

鈥淕oing to South was a 100 percent good decision for me,鈥� Carithers added. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have had the opportunities anywhere else that I had at South. With so many good things happening, graduation day still doesn鈥檛 really seem real, but I think it will really hit me in the fall when I don鈥檛 have to return to class.鈥�

 

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