Reflecting on the Past and Looking Forward to the Future

Maybe it is a bit of a given, but really, when I think about and compare who I was when I first came to WT and who I am now, I understand what people mean when they say that college is the place where you find yourself. A chapter that I used to anticipate with excitement is soon coming to an end, and as I face this end, I am now at the point where I can confidently self-reflect and say that I am happy with where I am now.

Sure, my dreams have changed over the years, but my love and passion for digital media remains. One of the very first challenges I faced here at WT actually had to do with my uncertainty in my degree and with what I was learning. Originally, I wanted to pursue a career in video production, but somehow I grew discouraged. Instead of wandering, feeling lost, many of the courses I was taking in mass communication helped direct me on a new path I could follow. Many of these courses were focused in advertising and quickly my interest in that field grew. There were also classes I took in political science that led to me minoring in that specialization and by combining these two interests, I found a new career field that I want to pursue.

I have most, if not all, of the courses I took over the past four years to thank for my growth in skill sets and my continued passion for subjects like advertising, political science, research, marketing, and so many more. Some courses that I took as part of my digital media degree, especially, really allowed me to prove to myself that I was in the right field through a number of large projects. These classes were Eternal Flame, research methods, New media, and a special topic course that covered video game movie adaptations.

Beginning with Eternal Flame, there I was able to learn more about journalism and interpersonal skills. I have always had good writing skills, so the part that I struggled with the most in this course was having to reach out to people and using their words in my work. The entire interview process in general was difficult for me. From coming up with the right questions to ask to having to keep up with taking notes and the conversation during the actual interview was simply too much for me. Yet somehow, I was able to encourage myself to not give up and I made it through two semesters of this course. Thanks to Eternal Flame, I feel so much more comfortable conducting an interview and writing articles that include compelling images that I make my own. In fact, this article of mine won an award for best illustration.

Over the past four years at WT, I have taken two different forms of a research methods class. One of them in mass communication and one of them in political science. These classes are one of the ones I am most grateful for. The one in mass communication, especially so. The mass communication class was called 'Public Relations and Advertising Research Techniques' which I took with Dr. Garcia. This class was my first insight into research in a mass communication topic. The insight that I gained from this class whether it was the researching techniques that I learned or simply applying these techniques to topics that actually interested me greatly influenced my choice to apply to be a McNair Scholar. The research project for this class was done in teams and my project looked at one of our school's sororities and we collected opinions about their presence on campus. Within this project, we practiced mixed methods, practiced making graphs and other visual components, and even provided relevant solutions for the sorority. My group and I dedicated lots of time to completing this project and in the end it was worth it. These research method classes allowed me to significantly improve my writing and researching skills, which came to be of great use later when I began my work with McNair.

Speaking of McNair, let me take a second to talk about just how much being a part of this program meant to me. While this was not a course that I took, the research project that I conducted with them was relevant to my degree and contributed to what I would like to do in the future. The amount of new information and skills that I gained over just the few months of my research project is incomparable. I truly believe that my experience with McNair is one that is unique to only McNair's scholars only. From the summer meetings to the constant support from the people in the program is something I will forever be grateful for. The process was long, but in the end it was worth it. The feeling I felt when I turned in my final copy of my research is one I often come back to. Aside from relief, the main thing I remember feeling was immense pride. In my future, and thanks to McNair, I now plan on attending graduate school and getting a master's degree.

Now back to my classes, one class that I believe really helped me realize that I was in the right field was 'New Media' with Dr. Garcia. In this class, the final project was to create a social media handbook for a real client in the area. The project was long, but the final product came out really well. The handbook was about 46 pages long, but it was full of helpful information for the client. We included a content calendar and provided examples of what the content could look like. We even included visual tutorials that would help the client use Canva, how to schedule posts on Facebook, and even how to delete comments on their posts. Since we had a real client, our dedication to the project was greater than the usual project. My group and I wanted to make it the best that we could so that the client could truly understand it and put it into practice. The final product of this project was rewarding and I can only hope that our clients benefited from this handbook.

This next class was more unconventional, but nonetheless one of my favorites. This class was 'Video Games & Movies' with Mr. Glenn. This class consisted of us watching movies, both good and bad ones, and criticizing or deeply analyzing them. As a big movie fan, a class like this was perfect. What I loved the most from this class was the end-of-the-semester project which really allowed me to put my skills to use. The project was to create a quick movie adaptation to a video game of our choice. Since I had not had a lot of opportunities to put my creativity and skills in video production to use, I decided to go all out with this one. While I had a partner for this project, I decided to take the lead and really dedicate myself to this quick video. My partner and I decided to do the video game ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons.’ Thankfully, my partner agreed to most of my ideas and we both worked hard and well in making sure it turned out the way we wanted it to be. Personally, I feel like this project of mine best showcases my abilities in creativity and video production, which was my original passion when I came to WT. I think another reason why I love this project so much was because I was able to prove to myself that I still “had it” and my skills in video production had not disappeared despite the long time it had been since practicing them. This video is featured on my LinkedIn page, so feel free to watch and enjoy!?

Many of the classes that I took over the years sometimes felt unnecessary and I would often complain about them, but now as I look at every project and assignment that I have completed over the years, I realize just how much they contributed to the improvement of my skills and my general knowledge of digital communications and media. They contributed to my decision to pursue a career in the fields of advertising, digital media, and even political communication. I now know that I want my career to be meaningful to not only me, but others as well. I want my career to positively impact someone's life whether it be through political advocacy or simply being a bearer of good news.

All in all, my experience here at WT for the last four years is one that will forever stay with me. The people that I met, the classes that I took, the skills that I learned and improved on helped shape me into the person I am today and will further help me grow into myself out in the real world. By graduating in May, I will have proven to myself that all my hard work did not go unrecognized and that I am qualified to be a professional in the real world. By graduating in May, I am letting my family know that their hard work and perseverance did not go unnoticed by me and that this is only the beginning of me repaying them for all that they have done for me. As a first generation student, just by graduating in May, I am forever changing the course in my family's life for the better and I can't wait to see how that will look for us.