Students try out to take part in MTV reality show

Terrell Bailey interviews with Jay Lyons from MTV’s “Made” Feb. 22. Bailey is a football player for UNA who is graduating in May, and he wants to be “made” into a professional gospel singer.   

More than 60 students jumped at the chance to make it on the hit MTV reality show “Made” when the show’s producers hosted auditions on campus last week.

The show, which provides college and high school students the chance to be coached into something they have always dreamed of being, drew a large crowd of students to room 204 of the GUC.

Director of Student Engagement Tammy Jacques said producers at MTV contacted her four weeks ago and asked if she would be interested in having them on campus. Jacques said there was no hesitation on her part, and all that was left to do was work out the logistics of getting the producers on campus.

“This is an opportunity for students to think about a possible dream, a possible hope and maybe make it a reality to make if they get picked by MTV,” Jacques said.

Jacques said students jumped at the opportunity to make it on to the hit show.

“Within an hour of me sending our email (about the auditions out), we had our first interview scheduled,” Jacques said.

Students like UNA student Rance Czermak signed up to be made into their dream careers. Czermak has always wanted to be a professional dancer and hoped the show’s producers would give him the opportunity to develop his skills and get a job dancing one day.

Czermak said he recently went through a struggle with his weight and his confidence had not been where he wanted it to be. Now that Czermak is at the weight he wants to be, he said now is better than ever to try to achieve his goal of being a professional dancer.

“My dream would be to perform with a world class winterguard,” Czermak said.

Czermak said, in this area, being a male dancer is not looked at as a profession, and he hopes to change that.

Fashion merchandising major Lauren Bishop branched out from the usual request seen by producers of the self-help show.

“I want to be made into a Disney character because I have been in love with Disney my entire life,” Bishop said.

Specifically, Bishop wants to be made into Rapunzel, her favorite character, because of her spunk and outgoing personality.

Bishop knew she wanted to be a Disney character after a trip to the Florida theme park when she was younger. The park and the characters that fill it eased the pain of her parents going through a divorce, she said.

Bishop plans to work for Disney after graduation.

“I didn’t realize they had a Disney internship, and that’s who I want to work for,” Bishop said.

Shae Greene, a UNA fashion merchandising major, wants help getting an internship in the fashion industry.

“I’ve always been interested in (the fashion industry),” Greene said.

Greene said many students don’t often have the tools or the networking capabilities needed to get their feet in the door.

“It’s hard (to get internships and jobs) when you don’t necessarily have those connections or don’t know the next step or what to do (to get those jobs),” Greene said.

Greene and Bishop said they are avid fans of the MTV show.

“I have been watching it since middle school and high school, and I still watch it,” Greene said. “I watch almost every episode.”

Czermak hasn’t kept up with the show, but he said he watched the first season years ago.

“I like the rawness of the show; you actually see real people in real life,” Czermak said.