Over my tenth grade year, I have gained skills that will help me as I continue to explore a career field. The curriculum at the STEM school is based around learning through personal experiences and overcoming challenges. We work with a lot of equipment that we aren’t usually able to get our hands on. We also work with professionals who bring firsthand experience into our projects. When I do a project that I really enjoy, and connect with someone who does that as a living it inspires me to make a better final product. If I really enjoy doing a project, I can connect with that specific professional, and explore that field as a career option.

An example of this is the Cancer Project. In this project we were tasked with creating a public service announcement to educate a specific audience about cancer, and how to protect yourself from it. First we learned about what cancer was and how it effects the body. We learned about various treatments and even heard stories of people who have lived with cancer in their own lives. After we knew what cancer was on a more personal level, we were put into groups to write, film, and edit our very own PSA. Each group did a different kind of cancer: my group had lung cancer. We all had different roles to make sure the work was evenly distributed over the entire group. Overall, the roles were script writers, camera operators, lighting and sound manager, editor, assistant director and director. In my group, I was the director. I was really excited about this role because I feel the most motivated when I have some leadership in a situation. Right off the bat I wanted to make a really good film, and I had a vision in my mind. I was excited to work with my group to make something that all of us were proud of. I wanted our PSA to be simple but effectively communicate a strategy to prevent cancer. Since my group was assigned lung cancer, our prevention strategy was quitting smoking. We did this by educating about its dangers and how teenagers are targets for peer pressure.

In order to actually make the PSA, we had a professional cinematographer, Henry, come in and teach us how to use the equipment, and guide us through making a high quality video. Right off the bat, I felt like I had a connection to Henry. He showed me some of the videos he has directed and filmed in the past and I thought it was really cool. He even put me in the one of the videos he made. It was really cool to be able to use his skill set and expertise to learn how to do something myself, and have fun while doing it. In the end, we wrote, recorded and edited our whole video and had a great time working as a group. We were all very proud of our video, but the best part was knowing that it was going to positively affect someone who watches it. I loved being the director in my group because I felt like I communicated my vision to my group and they were able to execute it.

Since this project has ended, I have been developing a greater and greater interest in cinematography. I didn’t realize it before, but I see it all the time applied to things I’m interested in. One of the things I like so much about cinematography is how the director has creative freedom to make something really cool. I watch a lot of music videos where directors are exploring new ways to make their videos unique and interesting. The field is always expanding to adapt for people with extreme talent and creativity. When I go into a career, I want to be able to express myself and my interests through whatever I’m doing. I think that being a cinematographer would be a good way that I can do that, and still be able to take pride in what I do.