By: Hayden Taylor, EAST Student Contributor

From the EAST classroom to forecasting the weather for the state of Arkansas, Meteorologist Blaze Thomas has done it all. Thomas originally discovered his love for broadcasting media in his EAST program where he joined their EAST Production class. In fact, in an interview he accredited EAST for “really opening up a lot of doors, especially when it came to communication.” Further, Thomas mentioned many of the skills he developed in media such as video editing, professional filming, and the practice of being on camera prepared him for his years as he went into the media industry.  Yet, after only a few months in broadcasting, he decided to become a self-directed entrepreneur and help develop the now infamous channel, the Arkansas Weather Network. His 5 year journey in EAST allowed him time to develop soft-skills that have become vital to his success in launching the infamous network that hit over 3 million views   on Facebook . 

In fact, while in his EAST program he took it upon himself to begin broadcasting every sports game for his school. Thomas had shifted his focus from playing  sports due to a heart surgery he had 11 years ago and with the COVID-19 pandemic arising and much of the community being unable to come to games, he thought that a broadcasting channel would truly fix the problem. Not only did it fix the problem during COVID, but it also has made a long-lasting impact and is still being run today. In starting up this idea, Blaze’s journey from then on was a domino effect as he said, “[Starting up] Marshall’s Sports Network led me to working on TV and then from TV that’s led me to help create  the Arkansas Weather Network.” Thomas further stressed the importance of EAST in preparing any student for their career in saying, “People recognize that you have real world experience that will be valuable in your job.” 

When asked for advice for EAST students who have a multitude of opportunities ahead of them, he suggested “to start out small, and then everything will grow.” He mentioned from his experience it started from merely covering just one game, and from there his name began to spread around town and so many opportunities were made available to him. Consequently, Thomas mentioned that things may not always come easily or quickly but “being an EAST student teaches you to get past it, to not be discouraged, but to find the problem and solve it.” Thomas says that he found the true key to be successful is “to never give up, no matter how big the problem, you have to keep trying.” 

Thomas said he never would have thought the network would grow this fast and become as big as it has today Now, thanks to his journey in EAST, he is able to pursue a career that he loves and protect the people of Arkansas from dangerous weather. Thomas’ example really is clearly summed up in his statement, that “EAST is preparing you for your journey and is allowing you to do things you never thought you could do, and because of that you are able to pursue your dreams and achieve anything you put your mind to.”