I grew up in Newtown, PA in a home with my 2 brothers, mother and father. Throughout my childhood and high school, playing competitive sports was the most significant aspect of my life. My dad is a soccer coach of multiple teams, my older brother is a former D1 soccer player, and my little brother is a 4 year varsity golfer and competitor in all sports. I elected to go a different route when entering college once I eventually got burnt out of sports, but I never lost my competitive edge.
I came into Penn State undecided, spending the first 3 semesters trying to figure out what I wanted to study. After taking multiple classes in the College of Communications, I realized that Telecommunications was the field for me. After learning I have a passion for film, I realized that I want to be on the production side of the television or film industry.
The first organization I joined as a Penn State student was Phi Gamma Nu (PGN) business fraternity. I joined during my second semester of Freshman year and since then I have learned how to write a resume and cover letter, prepare for interviews, how to communicate and how to work in a team. I also learned public speaking, networking, and leadership. PGN is also heavily involved in philanthropy as we were the top general organization in THON fundraising the past 6 years, including 2022. This year we raised $180,976.77. PGN has done so much for me in my college career, but the most important thing I got out of PGN is the best friends I have made in the organization.
I joined the arts department of PSU Comm Radio in my Sophomore year, finally getting to implement my passion for film into my work. I was a very active member since joining and put most time in Comm Radio writing articles about movies and hosting podcasts for TV show episodes. I also wrote reviews for new music albums that were just coming out and albums that have been around for 50+ years. Senior year I dipped my toe into the sports department and, from time to time, called play-by-play for women’s soccer.
My junior year, I joined PSN TV and recently became a Captain for the PR Homecoming Committee. For PSN TV, I worked as a member of the studio crew where we produced news productions. I earned a position on the PR team for Homecoming in March and spent the spring 2021 semester preparing for fall 2021 Homecoming week. I served as the production captain and worked in the field shooting videos and in the lab editing them together to promote the event.
Senior year I was in full swing for Penn State Homecoming. Homecoming week was from October 17th to the 24th, so the week before Homecoming week was spent busily preparing. As a production captain, I led a committee of young (Freshman and Sophomores) photographers and videographers who were eager to be involved in Penn State Homecoming. As production manager, I scheduled and organized meetings, delegated responsibility to committee members, workshopped committee members on camera skills and use of other related equipment, and organized committee members during Homecoming week. During the week of Homecoming, my team and I were at all the events from Monday through Friday, taking videos and pictures to put in our recap video and post online during the week to promote student engagement. Saturday of Homecoming week, our team was on the field of Beaver Stadium with press passes capturing the atmosphere of a PSU Homecoming football game.
Like I previously stated, my real passion lies in the art of film. For years, I have been studying the art of filmmaking and became obsessed with camera movements and angles, script writing, and character development. I have spent a lot of time watching films across all genres and studying the artistic style of auteurs like Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Ridley Scott, Denis Villeneuve, Aaron Sorkin, and many more. I studied production to learn all the skills in the production process, but I want that to take me into the creative side of the preproduction process, as well. I have recently been seriously considering film school, but that is all circumstantial at the moment.
As a Penn State graduate, I want to find myself working behind the scenes on any type of production, whether it be live or pre-shot and prerecorded. I want to work behind the scenes to became a master of production and all the equipment and roles involved in putting together a show or a scene, so I can create my own content, knowing the exact process of what goes into producing. I believe that I am a very creative individual that understands how to emotionally connect to an audience through the scope of what people watch.