!["[00:00:19] They're actually gonna call me Professor it's incredible," Carlos Benevides says.](https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/carlos.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&w=1200)
After nine-and-a-half years at 91.5 The Beat, Carlos Benevides announced Monday morning that he was leaving the station to join the staff at Conestoga College.
Benevides says that he has considered teaching as a career option since the day he began doing radio.
“I’ve always thought that if there was a chance to transition out of radio, the perfect thing would be able to do was to go and teach,” he explained. “Actually when I got into radio, I said, ‘if this radio thing doesn’t work out, I’m going to go and teach.’
“So 21 years later I’m making that move to go and teach now.”
Benevides also recently announced that he and wife, Michelle, were expecting their first child. He says he is hoping that the transition to a job with more regular hours will allow him to spend more time with his family.
“Just to be able to stay up late and spend more time with my wife is a big part of that,” he said.
The Beat Breakfast mainstay’s last day will be Tuesday. He says that while he will miss being around his former colleagues, he will also miss the interaction with listeners as well.
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“I’ve gotten a number of messages from Beat listeners saying they were crying, they were emotional and that I’ve helped them through parts of their life,” Benevides lamented.
“That means pretty much everything — if I can do that for someone in their life.”
Benevides has been doing radio for more than 20 years. He says the biggest changes have come with the introduction of the internet.
“When I first got into radio I would come into the studio there’d be newspapers laying about. You’d go for the newspaper, you know open it up, and there’d be big chunks of it that were chopped out that people would take because they didn’t want anybody else using that story,” he said. “Now I can find out any bit of information as everybody knows is right there at the tip of your fingers.”
He also said the ability to connect with people through email, text and social media has also allowed him to converse with the public.
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Before coming to the 91.5 The Beat, Benevides worked for several stations including 102.1 The Edge in Toronto.
He says that during his time at The Edge, two of his favourite interviews were Coldplay and Pharrell Williams.
“It was always really great when you met a band that was just really gracious and really happy and I remember those two bands. Coldplay were one of the biggest bands in the world and they were just happy to be there and really excited and really it was really cool to watch,” he recalled.
Carlos said he will also never forget many of the great listeners he was able to meet during the Beat Breakfast School Tour and while he was doing his 24 Hour Walk For Heart and Stroke.
He said the people he met during the walk shared “stories of grief, perseverance, strength, hope and love will be ones I never forget.”
Global News and 91.5 The Beat are properties of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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