BANGOR – Tabitha Lindsey’s tour group on the Husson College campus left without her, but it proved to be the catalyst that helped her and a girlfriend decide the course of their education. Both wound up as students at the New England School of Communications, an affiliate of Husson.

While waiting at a dining hall on campus to take part in a tour of the college campus, Lindsey and her friend, Kristina Garcelon, both of Hermon, had an errand and left the group for a short time.

When they returned they found the group had left without them, so they decided to take their own tour. Wandering about the various buildings on campus, they chanced upon the facilities of the school’s student radio station, WHSN, and became fascinated watching students operate the station – and placing faces to voices they had listened to while students at Hermon High School. NESCom students run the radio station.

In her application form to NESCom Lindsey wrote, “I avidly watched students in the WHSN studio and listened to them speak of their goals and aspirations.”

Prior to visiting Husson, she was undecided about a career choice, briefly considering a medical field or physical therapy. At that point, she said, she had never heard of NESCom.

Now, after her first full semester, she is an honor roll student majoring in television production and plans to obtain an associate degree in communications before taking advantage of the two-plus-two program that will allow her to complete her bachelor’s requirements at Husson in business management.

As a junior at Hermon High, Lindsey was chosen one of 12 students to research and design a new course that would take advantage of the school’s elaborate technology equipment.

The group came up with a video production course that was eventually approved by the school committee. One of the components was to produce the morning newscast, minus commercials, that was transmitted throughout the school over the Dynacom Video System.

During her senior year, Lindsey worked with a crew that produced a family video for Valentine’s Day, a Christmas special on Christmas lights in Bangor, and a 20-minute production filmed at Cole Land Transportation Museum. The film showed the various war-related implements and equipment on display and including appropriate music as well as photos of local men who fought in World War II.

But perhaps her most challenging assignment was an elective project to help out her guidance counselor, who needed 10 years of flag football videotapes boiled down to one highlight film. The assignment was particularly difficult because Lindsey knew very little about football, and she had difficulty determining what scenes showed her guidance counselor in the best light.