As graduation approaches, the questions that many people keep asking me are, “What are you doing after you graduate?” and “Oh my God, are you excited?” I can answer the second question with, “yes!” After six years of classes, I’m excited to graduate. My answer to the first question is, I have no idea. I’ve heard the same response from many other students who are about to graduate as well; we all just work our asses off every day and hope for the best.

This past winter break, while talking about internships with Michaela, she suggested applying for an internship as a videographer for The Prospector. I decided it was a great idea and gave it a shot. Before interning for The Prospector, I never thought about becoming a journalist. I saw myself more as a cinematographer or producer of films. Working here made me change my mind about that, and now I am gaining interest in visually telling other peoples’ stories through video. This past semester, I met some pretty interesting people who had some unique stories to tell—artists who want to share their music and students sharing their opinions. 

Over these past few months, I’ve made some new friends here at The Prospector who are also like me, they are figuring out what their next chapter in life will be. We all have similar interests and have a passion for news. The newsroom definitely taught me many things, and gave me more experience as a journalist and even helped me meet and network with people with similar interests.

As my last days of being a digital media production student come to an end, I look back and remember all those long nights studying or finishing editing a video at 3 a.m. only to have to wait one more hour while it renders. All these long nights made me hate school at times and wish for it to all be over. This wish has finally come true, only to start yet again from the beginning and now focus on what new challenge I take on—whatever that may be.

Now that I am finally done with school, I look toward my future with excitement, bringing with me many anecdotes, a few added pounds, but most importantly—more knowledge in what I love to do. As long as I have my DSLR, I should be good.