What did I do?

This past week, the culmination of all of the skills I’ve learned in Digital Storytelling made its way onto a Student TV show at Furman University: Katelyn on Campus. I initially reached out to Katelyn, along with another student, offering my assistance with any filming or staging needs on her end. I was quickly met with an email reply, and shortly after, I was on a golf cart with a DJI gimbal and a lavalier microphone. I knew it would be invigorating to help film a student TV segment, but I never knew how enthralling it would truly be. Helping film become a valuable medium for the Furman community was both inspiring and educational, as it showed me how diverse my media skills truly are.

Katelyn Wong (courtesy of Furman University), 2025.

How did I do it?

As Katelyn explained that I was going to start my shift as a plant for her segment, asking Mariam Nguyen, Furman’s student body president for the 2025-2026 academic year, I was nervous about how my energy would come across on screen; however, I had nothing to fear as I got more and more comfortable. Funnily enough, we filmed my segment about four times until we got it right. The framing composition assignment greatly helped with this, since Katelyn didn’t want her body just lingering in the corner of the screen as she drove. Over time, I helped my fellow student workers adjust the gimbal to achieve the perfect composition, and that wouldn’t have been possible without Digital Storytelling. Every time we filmed, I learned that I can be as natural as I want in front of a camera, and really, there’s nothing to worry about. If you mess something up, you can retake it! Even if this isn’t the same for live television, with practice comes perfection, and this was a great takeaway from this experience. Furthermore, I also learned I am highly adaptable. Even after working the camera or acting as a plant, I had to quickly learn many other roles to truly assist with the filming of this segment, like driving a golf cart and producing questions about Furman’s history on the fly. Not only did this show me my adaptability, but it also allowed me to channel my creativity by asking niche questions about Furman and creating scenic routes while on the golf cart.

Why was this experience valuable?

Student television is impactful not only on a production level but also brings so much life to every part of a college campus. I have long been thankful for the level of introspection Furman has when it comes to campus involvement; however, not everyone is interested in event planning or presiding on a council for the housing and residential life staff, so sometimes, more niche students get left out of a community aspect– but with student television, this isn’t so often the case. In fact, each time we got on the golf cart and started driving around, I met a new student, which demonstrated the true community that campus-based media truly brings. Each person I met had an important story, and their Furman-specific story made me feel more at home than ever. The level of community touched me so much while filming a student television series. If I had my own show, I would love to dive even deeper into this community-building aspect as a showrunner.

What are my overall thoughts?

I will apply what I learned during my short time as a producer to create more refined projects and be an adaptable crew member on any team I’m lucky enough to be part of. On the surface, I learned to drive a golf cart and use a gimbal, but at a deeper level, I learned to connect with an audience through a camera and bring my natural rapport skills to life. I also learned to interact positively with students while incorporating a camera to make it less awkward for both parties, the filmer and the filmee. Whilst remaining adaptable, I will continue to use the multitude of skills I have gained from COM-202 and foster a more positive media culture for everyone around me. I should try to pitch a show to the Furman student media team now!