I am one of the three returning students from last year’s What’s the Story cohort. I am here because the experiences, opportunities, and skills my first year of What’s the Story presented me with. It is one of the only classes I have taken which has the potential to be just as valuable the second time as the first.  Working on my topic last year sparked an enthusiasm for filmmaking and editing which I am eager to build upon both in this course and other classes I will take.

Near the end of last year, the teams were able to take advantage of additional opportunities beyond creating a documentary. My team went to the Dynamic Landscapes presentation at Champlain College as Keynote Speakers. This experience was valuable for several key reasons. One: it gave us the opportunity to talk about our work as a team in front of an audience hundreds of people, full of educators and administrators. While this was an extremely valuable experience it did present some challenges. We had only synthesized our presentation a few days before the event and we never got the opportunity to practice with each other in person or run through the process on the stage before the real thing. We pulled through with some minor technical difficulties and some nervousness from the situation. I realized I had never been in this position before. School had prepared me to present informational powerpoints to a small group of familiar people. I knew I could do it but I knew I wouldn’t be exceptional. I glued myself to the podium and spoke from my notes. We pushed through the challenge but I was struck by the experience. I knew I wanted to get closer to that level of exceptional speakers that can maintain their train of thought whilst being dynamic and engaging. This prompted me to take a class called Effective speaking at UVM over the summer.  While that one class by no means made me exceptional it built upon my skills and gave me the confidence to know I was heading in the right direction.

This returned me to the mindset I had when applying to What’s the Story  that first year. If I’m interested in something I’m not going to avoid putting myself in an uncomfortable place because that is a place of growth. Returning this year I will continue to have this mindset and push myself to do more and to dig deeper, stretching my skills by maintaining that level of discomfort.