I believe some of the greatest gifts that humans have is our ability to communicate, create, and share stories.  On a larger spectrum these three pillars have enabled us to create this wonderful world that we are now familiar with, while day to day storytelling and creativity is what drives nearly every aspect of our lives from work, to school, to our relationships.  As a communications major who has done journalistic work I have never underestimated the power of storytelling and creativity.  Today more than ever I am having that value I hold reinforced.  We are experiencing one of the most eventful and catastrophic times in our recent history as were find ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic as well as increasing political and racial tensions in the United States and throughout much of the world.  Our history from this time period will be written and shared to generations to come through the storytellers of today.  The creators of today will be the ones to help combat these problems and transform our countries across the globe for the future.  I believe that storytelling and creativity are so important because of their ability to transpire across time.  We learn from the storytellers and creatives of the past, we look to the ones of the present and hope and dream of the ones in the future. 

I just ended my most recent project, which I will highlight as an example of my creative work, in the form of a music trailer promo for my friend Keegan Konsor who is a musician.  Over this summer I would like to get an internship or find work within my area of interest, however if that doesn't work out I have ideas for independent work including music videos and short films that I would like to do alongside working part time.  This upcoming semester I am looking forward to taking Short Form Media Production with instructor Tim Looney who is a great member of the Communications department within the University of Iowa as well as someone who has experience within the television industry.  In this class the students will be responsible for filming, writing, and producing a sit-com style episode.  Students will be assigned roles at the beginning of the semester and will work collaboratively to produce the final show.  I am excited for the experience that I will gain from this project.  I know from previous projects it will benefit my production and writing skills as well as be challenging and fun.  In addition I hope that I will be able to add work for The Creative Process into my upcoming projects.  

I hope to gain a lot out of the experiences through my collaboration with The Creative Process.  I hope that by listening to the artists and creatives I can broaden my understanding of their work along with enjoying and learning from the stories that are told.  I hope to have experiences that will strengthen my skills as an interviewer and investigator, broaden my connections within the industry which in turn would open new opportunities for me in the future.  I have lots to learn yet but am willing and able to work as hard as anyone to reach where I want to go.  Lastly I would see this experience of being a collaborator in a way as a dream come true.  I have always had a fascination with the media and more specifically podcasts as they constantly stride create a more informed public.  To get the opportunity to collaborate with a podcast that has had such success and done such respectable work would be an experience in itself that I hope to have.  

My most recent project I did alongside a very good friend of mine Keegan Konsor.  Some context behind the video: Keegan is an upcoming music artist who reached out to me a month or two ago in need of help to shoot a trailer that would be promoting his new song Sleepwalk.  I gladly accepted and over the course of a day or two we put together this short video which was released and spread via social media the day the song came out.  We collectively came up with the shots that could convey the overall image that Keegan was trying achieve as well as matched the tone of the song. Overall I believe we got some good shots and the video turned out just the way we both would have liked.  Hope you enjoy!I