During my final week at Storyline Multimedia, I finished up a couple different final projects. I completed the editing of two more podcasts (including social media deliverables for both), wrote the script for and wrapped up editing several short ads for Storyline Multimedia (that I had filmed the behind-the-scenes footage for in the first week of my internship), and I learned how to create high-quality thumbnails! Although I ended up having to work from home at the end of last week as well due to illness, I have been able to develop further skills in time management and remaining focused on tasks outside of the workplace, which I admit I struggle with. Having an environment with the expectation of work and with all the necessary resources immediately at my disposal helps me stay on task and minimizes distractions. Being at home, however, it can be more difficult to replicate that same kind of environment. I practiced moving to different spaces outside of my room, or even just moving to different spots in my own room when I wasn’t able to go elsewhere. I had time goals and limits set for myself, which also really helped. I got the bulk of one of the podcasts and my behind-the-scenes ad footage done from home this week!
On Monday, I had my interview with John Choate, the owner and founder of Storyline Multimedia, which was very fruitful. He also comes from an arts and theater background, but ended up working in construction immediately after high school, indefinitely postponing his artistic goals. I can definitely relate to this experience. I originally planned to go to college for dramatic writing right out of high school, but things didn’t work out as I had planned. After attending one semester of a master’s-level playwriting program, I ended up working service and manual labor jobs (I still do construction work when I’m not at Cornell) and taking community college classes for the next year and half. After an injury that prevented him from continuing to work in the trades, John reconsidered what he really wanted to prioritize in life. He went to the University of Iowa and earned an Associate’s degree in Graphic Design, and began working there part time as a videographer and editor for their website. He continued to work there while earning his Bachelor’s in Graphic Design from a different university, and eventually started doing freelance work for small businesses. He told me how he began doing jobs for free to build his portfolio, and then once he had projects to show what he could do, moved to paid jobs and started purchasing better equipment. By the time Storyline Multimedia was officially founded, he’d gathered years of experience, equipment, and clientele already. He’s now worked with much larger companies, but continues to work with many small businesses and gets most of his advertising through word of mouth and delivering high quality products. He continues to do free work for charities and organizations that need it every quarter, and Storyline has slowly begun to expand its team. He advised me to value my ideas and not give pitches away for free, but to always seek out connections and that opportunities can be created by reaching out to community businesses and organizations, offering to do projects in order to build experience and portfolio. He also reflected very kindly on my work while at Storyline Multimedia, and commended me on work ethic and skills that “can’t be taught”. He emphasized the importance of overcommunication, punctuality, quality of work, building trust and long-lasting partnerships.
One of my coworkers, Tabi, happens to be an expert in building resumes, so I also had a work session with her in which I got so much useful advice on how to build effective resumes and cater them to different jobs and job descriptions. We even put together a new baseline resume for me using what I had learned! Notably, Tabi emphasized that the important experiences to include, the information that should be shown first, and even the format of the resume can all depend on what will benefit me as an applicant for the specific job I’m applying for. For example, to apply for a technical position, technical skills should be listed first-even above experience, which I normally think of as the most relevant information. For a management position, experience should be shown first and foremost. While volunteer work may not be relevant enough to include in a resume for most jobs, applying to a position at a humanitarian or nonprofit organization would probably warrant a resume that shows my experience as a volunteer. Tabi also helped me narrow down what parts of my master resume are the most pertinent to include in a resume to apply for writing jobs in commercial and television specifically.
I’m extremely grateful for the wealth of experience, the abundant kindness, and the support of the team I’ve been a part of here. I truly hope that I will cross paths with Storyline Multimedia again. Experiential learning has helped to relieve a lot of stress that I have about life and work post-graduation. I have gained a unique kind of confidence and comfort in knowing that my skills, education, and life experiences really do translate into the real world. I have spent this year working more and more closely with the field I want to pursue a career in. From visiting New York, to my upcoming screenwriting class, to this very special and encouraging internship, I feel so much more knowledgeable and prepared to succeed in my passions. Thank you for being with me on this journey, and so many thanks to everyone who made it happen!