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Through my lens as a communication and film agraduate, I seek to uncover the profound connections that bind us, believing that every story holds a lesson waiting to be shared. I think there is much to learn from each other, and the structure and significance of storytelling captures that. My journey so far has been rooted in nonfiction, exploring the vibrant tapestry of student lives, the transformative power of education, and the heartbeat of community organizations like Building Beats.
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From Fall 2022 to Spring 2024 I tracked the development of Lehman College’s cheerleading team from defunct to redeveloped. During the pandemic, the cheer team was one of the few active sport teams. When I wanted to write a story on the team there was no lead. The team became defunct and a student I know that was part of team mentioned. I began with outreaching to former coaches and cheerleaders. It took 2 years as the story progress from defunct to a new team.
When I studied abroad in Paris strikes concerning the increase of the retirement age rocked college campuses throughout France. Students got involved and resorted to blocking their schools. As an international student I was very confused as to what was going on. I took this opportunity to receive some clarity about the situation in terms of what has been going on in universities because education systems are a reflection of the society it is in. Through confirmation, guidance and encouragement I produced an investigative coverage on the role of higher education in French society.
https://www.lehmanmeridian.com/featured/2024/3/3/does-lehman-have-a-cheer-team-6f4nz-5dhtd
The Societal Impact of Universities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0CJ2shFkxw
Building Beats is a non profit with the mission to mentor NYC youth on their journey to become musical producers, performers, artists, and content creators. They receive assistance in music production, song writing, finances, podcasts and radio production
For their annual winter waveforms I was chosen to present a piece. The winter waveform is an opportunity for students to produce a project based on the skills they developed through the program. I did a recap of the accomplishments the organization had in its 10 years of running. My video starts at 1:33 after the program coordinator introduces the show.
In Spring 2022, I was chosen to be the assistant producer and co-host for Building Beats’ first radio show. My responsibilities as an assistant producer included organizing the show’s content into sections : all djs mix went first proceeded by originals songs and then podcast segments. For each submission the producer and I had artists submit an explanation that explains their inspiration behind the submission. I also produced the opening for the show that consisted of a sang jingle and blurb explaining what to expect from the host. Lastly I was a point of support for the artists— the person who answered all their inquires. As a co host I expressed my intake of the pieces with another co host, introduced the following segments and gave shout outs for the end. The point of our roles were to make the show less passive and more reactive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AO6lAq_Kbo
BehindTheMic_MiniDocumentary.mp4
https://soundcloud.com/buildingbeats/sets/bbleaders-radio
https://www.mixcloud.com/newtownradiobk/bbleaders-radio-episode-05/