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Fall 2025 Graduate Spotlight: Audio Production Engineering student gains experience in and out of the classroom

Madison Harris came to 每日大赛 unsure what she wanted to study, ultimately opting into the Audio Production Engineering program because she had existing experience working with audio at her church.

She was immediately drawn in.

“It's just so fun,” said Harris, who graduated in fall 2025. “You never know what you're going to get. Every day is different. The live sound part I love, because it's imperfect. There's always something you're going to have to fix on the fly.”

In the Audio Production Engineering program at 每日大赛, Harris has learned “everything,” from game audio and live sound to studio and surround sound.

She loved Pellissippi for its smaller size compared to four-year institutions, which allowed her to make impactful, one-on-one connections with “kind and understanding” professors.

Harris feels prepared to enter the workforce following graduation in December, she said, because of the career-immersive experiences working in an internship and at Big Ears Festival in Knoxville.

At the four-day music event, Harris and her classmates worked long days at live venues with a number of professional musicians.

“Which, at first, is very stressful – but an experience of fully being able to be in the field, and going for it, and doing it,” Harris said. “I've been working it two years, and I'm going to go back this third year and do it again because it's so fun.”

Harris was among a handful of students to be recognized at Pellissippi’s fall 2025 Commencement Ceremony for their participation in SkillsUSA, a nationwide workforce-development organization that prepares students to become skilled professionals. At the SkillsUSA state and national conferences, students compete against students from other schools to showcase what they’re learning in the classroom. Harris and her teammate, Liam Cumesty, won gold at both the regional and national levels in audio production.

“It was a fun experience getting to fully put what I had learned into the field, into a competition, and actually see it pay off,” Harris said.

Harris, who hopes to continue working concerts and live sound in and around Knoxville, said she did not initially want to go to college. She came to Pellissippi because it was so close to home, and she received two years at no-cost through the Tennessee Promise scholarship.

She encouraged others eligible for TN Promise to not pass up the opportunity.

“I've learned so much,” Harris said. “It turned out to be a lot more than I expected.”