As I write this paper and reflect on the journey that has led me to my current state, I

found myself astonished at what Ive been able to accomplish. Growing up, I struggled greatly
with my academics; nothing the education system tried to teach us held any substantial value to
me. Math? Forget it. History? The way I saw it, let the past be the past and move on. My
interests resided elsewhere, beyond the curriculum of elementary academia. Since I could
remember, I was fascinated by the art of filmmaking and broadcast. From a young age, I
understood the process of producing and directing television programs and feature films. I
constantly asked myself as I watched my favorite movies and shows: Why cant they teach us
how to do this for a living? By the time I reached high school, I was elated to find that they
offered a course in Communication Arts; naturally, I signed up immediately. During the two
semesters I took of this course, I learned the basics of electronic news gathering: from operating
cameras to video and audio editing. The excitement of chasing leads and going out into the field
to capture the story was exhilarating to me; I knew then, at the age of sixteen, communications
was the career for me.
Eleven years later, I have realized my dream. I am finishing my Bachelors degree in
Media Production at Salisbury University and working part-time for a local television news
station as an editor; all that remains to be done is to complete an internship. My classmate,
Patrick, was finishing his semester working for a multimedia company in West Ocean City
called Re: Fresh Media; he suggested I come and speak with his supervisor about interning for
him. As I met with Austin, the intern supervisor, we immediately made an arrangement for me
to come and work for him during the summer of 2015; it seemed like everything had fallen into
place for me. During my time at Re: Fresh Media, I was able to further broaden my

understanding of media communication. In this essay, I will share the experiences I accumulated
there, which taught me not only about the communication profession, but about myself and what
I can achieve in this career field.
Between the months of June and August, my internship introduced me to a whole new
side of communication, apart from the traditional news oriented teachings of high school and
college. It was my goal with this internship to dip my toes in the various facets of media
communication. For instance, Re: Fresh Media offered to me the ability to learn about the
advertising side of communication, which I felt was largely overlooked in my media production
track at school. In fact, the first project assigned to me was to work on a commercial for a
Mexican bar and restaurant in Ocean City, MD. This assignment was less about the production
of the commercial and more about the selling of a product to an uninformed audience. The
commercial needed to emphasize a fun environment with food that makes your mouth water
from the mere sight of it. It was my job to create a commercial that had universal appeal. Since
Ocean City is primarily a summer resort that caters to the youth culture, our commercial would
have to present the characteristics of the town and its visiting patrons. Therefore, the
commercial demanded a warm color palette to illustrate the seasonal temperature; as well as the
southern heat typically found in Mexico. Since the intent of the commercial was to draw upon
the young and hip, dance music served as the soundtrack to emphasize the party environment our
client wanted to deliver.
In addition to the creative part of my exposure to advertising, I also had to meet with
businessmen to discuss the quality of my work, what they liked and what needed to be changed.
One of the most nerve racking moments during my internship occurred during a screening of the
commercial to the restaurants owner. I had spent a considerable amount of time trying to

perfect the product and in a few words, my efforts would either be accepted or rejected;
fortunately, the commercial was rewarded with the approval of the owner and I left his home
with wide grin on my face. It occurred to me soon afterwards that although I knew my work was
well made, all that matters is what the client wants, whether their ideas are mediocre or not; they
have the ultimate say. The commercial was only the tip of the iceberg as far as my workload
during my internship was concerned.
Throughout my time interning, I was surprised to realize just how expansive my career
field truly was with regards to job opportunities. Aside from the advertising part of the media
communications, I was also exposed to the bigger world of documentary production. In the span
of two months, I was involved with two projects centered on this unique genre of filmmaking. F
or the first documentary project, which was a short film produced and directed by my
supervisor for an up and coming funk band called Lettuce, I arrived at the promotional period
and was given the task of preparing a teaser trailer to help sell the film. Coming directly off of
the commercial, I came into this assignment with a fresh understanding of how to market through
a visual medium. I knew the teaser needed to encapsulate everything that the band represented;
it needed to be fun and full of energy. I spent a considerable amount of time searching for
specific shots of the band that combined the aforementioned elements, which wasnt very
challenging; the band naturally put off a rousing feeling of playfulness that welcomed an
audience to enjoy what they had to offer.
The second documentary I assisted on, a film about the overlooked life and influence of
Gospel lyricist Charles Tinsley, allowed me to experience the feel of a genuine professional film
shoot. What amazed me about working on this project was the quality of the material that was
captured by a minimal film crew, whose drive to tell an unfamiliar story was pretty inspiring for

a novice filmmaker like myself. I always heard about independent films being made on shoe
string budgets with small crews, however this was my first exposure to it happening and I felt an
overwhelming sense pride to be a part of it. Furthermore, I was surprised to learn that such a key
figure of a popular music genre lived and developed his skills as a musician directly where I
grew up; it was through the research of discovering his origins that led the documentarians to
Berlin, Maryland with the intent of producing a film about him. Their determination to make
this film happen made me realize that media production can and has had a profound influence on
the discovery of the unknown; it made me wonder with excitement about all the things we can
still learn through media communications.
At the beginning of my internship, the idea of my chosen career field playing a large role
in the way we unravel our past and determine our future was a distant notion. Instead, my mind
was occupied with a deep feeling of wariness whether or not I could make it through my
internship without substantial mistakes made. The dread of working in a professional
environment, where your work is being judged and paid for with the intent of being publicly
shown refuse to subside for the majority of my time at Re: Fresh Media. Although I had
experience as an editor and photographer during high school and college, my skills were not
nearly as refined as they should have been going into an actual job setting. Whereas I could
skate by on applying the bare minimum mentality as I have on past student projects, at Re: Fresh
Media, I had to bring more to the table if I were going to stay employed. There were occasions
where my supervisor had to attend to business meetings outside of the office, leaving me at the
office with the trust that I would provide quality work that would live up to the standards of the
company. During such times, I had to learn how to troubleshoot any issues that arisen without
any assistance; fortunately, I was never too overwhelmed by a problem that couldnt be resolved

by taking a moment to figure out where I went wrong and retracing my steps to where the issue
was created.
Although I confess to being wary of my abilities during my internship, I now feel more
secure with myself as a media production specialist. As I prepared the video projects I spent the
past two months working on for the web folio I designed, I re watched them and was impressed
by what I had created; as I viewed each video, all the doubts I had about myself as a professional
were lifted and replaced by a feeling of self-confidence. I had proven to myself that I could
function in the real world using the teachings that were bestowed upon me during college.
However, I admit that without my respective instructors, including my internship supervisor who
believed enough in me to handle the tasks assigned to me, I wouldnt have been able to
overcome my initial fears and uncertainty. The guidance I received from my supervisor helped
me to improve my knowledge of Adobe Creative Cloud and the variety of its features; from
Premiere Pro to Speed Grade and Illustrator, which I had little to no experience utilizing prior to
my internship. The training I received has helped me significantly to improve myself as an
editor working for WBOC 16 news and being able to use Premiere Pro most efficiently.
As I made my way through the weeks of nonstop work, I tried to maintain absolute focus
on each and every project I was assigned. For the period of time when I was in the studio editing
or assisting in the field, I treated each project with equal importance, never dismissing one for
another. However, since my internship ended and I can now reflect back on what I liked and
disliked about the job, I have assessed the individual projects I helped to create; overall, I feel
very proud about what I contributed to the company. Helping others realize a specific vision for
their businesses and professions through the medium of communications gave me a feeling that I
can bring something to life and alter peoples perception of themselves and their livelihood.

Knowing that my commercial for Guidos Burritos may bring more revenue for the owner and
could encourage viewers to come and enjoy the food I helped to promote makes me believe that
my time at Re: Fresh Media made a difference.
Of all the projects I worked on at Re: Fresh, the one I place above the rest would have to
be the wedding video I edited. Clocking in at eleven minutes, it was my biggest project and the
most time consuming. It was an ironic experience because during the two weeks I spent on the
project, I somehow developed a personal connection with people I had never met or spoke with.
Peering into the private lives of the bride and groom on their special day for an extensive period
of time; in a strange way, I felt like I was a part of the experience and based on that, I thought it
necessary to tell their love story the best way I could. Since I was an intern, I obviously had no
monetary gain from putting in the effort I did for this particular project; it was out of desire to
tell a good story through my editing skills that motivated me to do my best work. Once I
completed the final edit and played it back for the first time without the need to make additional
changes, I became a little emotional by what I believe is the best thing I have worked on as an
editor. Everything from the technical side of editing the beautifully shot footage courtesy of my
supervisor, Austin, to the narrative that was formed out of the aforementioned photography and
editing; this video will certainly become a highlight on my future reel.
For all the work I did and the sense of pride I took away from my contributions, I admit
there were aspects of my internship that I feel I could have improved upon or done differently.
Although I familiarized myself with the multitude of features in Adobe Creative Cloud, I regret
not taking time to learn how to use the After Effects application. There were certain sequences
in my video projects that would have benefitted from the inclusion of motion graphics. For
instance, the wedding video I edited contained an effect where the bride and groom, along with

the bridesmaids and groomsmen, are getting their photo taken. I intended to use a motion
graphic where the camera flashed and the picture in a freeze frame would descend and rotate,
revealing the photo inside a picture frame. Although I opened After Effects and watched a brief
tutorial, I ultimately felt it would take too much time to construct the desired effect when it
would only last two seconds at the most; instead, I simply made a flash frame between the
moving image and a still photo. By taking the easy way out, I deprived myself of the
opportunity to learn about After Effects, as well as the fun I may have had figuring out how to
use this project, as well as the projects I did.
With regards to camerawork, I regret not taking the opportunity to inquire about the
equipment we used. Editing has always been my preference for every project I worked on. For
me, its the most rewarding part of the filmmaking process; to take what is essentially raw
photographed material and crafting it into something more refined appealed to me greatly.
However, I am lacking in my knowledge of camera mechanics and their operations. Although I
handled both a DSLR camera as well as a Go Pro camera during the couple of film shoots I
attended for my internship, I was oblivious to most of their functions outside of framing shots
and pressing record. I blame myself for not being more curious and asking for a demonstration
of how to take full advantage of the camera equipment. Since my internship ended however, I
have been determined to rectify my lack of understanding photography. I am currently training
to become a photographer at WBOC 16. It is my intention to become very proficient with the
camera, which includes being conscious of how to balance light in certain situations, making
sure my subjects remain in focus and always getting enough coverage when it comes time to
edit.

A noteworthy aspect of my internship experience was the way my supervisor conducted

his business and his employees. Something that I greatly appreciated from my supervisor was his
refusal to simply guide my hand or strictly instruct me to do things his way or no way. Austin
allowed me to express my ideas and gave me the opportunity to manage myself when it came
time to work on a project. There were guidelines he laid out for everything and I was expected
to follow his commands naturally, but he afforded me the ability to speak my mind and make
suggestions if I felt a certain aspect of the production didnt work and like a good manager
should, he listened to what his employee had to say. When I interviewed for the internship in the
spring of 2015, I spoke with my classmate Patrick, who was still interning in the office. He told
me how much fun it was going to be to work for Austin and the freedom he was given with
regards to constructing his videos, which we both agreed helps to produce better quality because
we are not constantly being watched and scrutinized, thus affecting the integrity of the project.
As I look back on my time at Re: Fresh Media, I feel as if I have closed one door of my
education whilst simultaneously opened a door to a broader future of communications. Working
on an array of unique but equally instrumental projects going back to my inaugural high school
training and the assignments of my college courses to the professional work of my internship and
newsroom occupation, it cannot be argued that I have come a long way in my twenty seven
years. Thanks in part to what I learned from Austin Widdowson during the summer of 2015, I
feel more confident in my chosen profession and believe that this stage of my involvement in the
field of communications is only the beginning.