From Luxury Cars to Movie Stars: The Cost of Leaving Your Desk
By Dean’s Intern Richard Fields at USA Today
I know you’re probably wondering why I’m standing next to the cool Audi in the photo to the left, or how it even got there, and I’ll get to that. But I would like to touch on something else first. With the semester now at a close, I offer one piece of advise. Leave your desk! Now what I’m not saying is to leave your work behind you, but when you begin exploring your work environment you’d be amazed at the opportunities you’ll find.
One thing I like about USA Today is that everyone is more than willing to help you achieve your goals, and a big part of that is finding the environment that best facilitates growth in both your career and as an individual. Through my many conversations with management, the video production team, and the Internship Coordinator, it is well known that my ultimate goal is to be involved in both the creative and business sides of filmmaking. Then it happened.
One faithful November day that started off just like any other, I was asked to film, edit, and produce a story for a red carpet event that evening with their entertainment reporter, Arienne Thompson. I of course said yes before I knew what exactly the event was for, and then I was beyond excited when I found out. Not only would I be standing face to face with one of my favorite film director’s of present day, Christopher Nolan, at the DC premiere of his film “Interstellar”, but the stars of the film would also be in attendance. Click here to see the final product.
From there things only continued to get better. As time progressed I was able to embark on many more creative endeavors, and meet a lot of new people along the way. I even got to the chance to write and host my own news segment on SnapChat’s introduction of SnapCash. But just as soon as I started to get the hang of it all, the semester sadly comes to an end. So after a beautiful luncheon and goodbye hugs, I had to say my farewells to the video production team. But don’t worry; this story does not end in a tragedy. I will gladly be returning to USA Today in the College section this spring, and helping them bring video as well as other creative ideas to their platform.
So what is the cost of leaving your desk you ask? Only a sea full of new friendships, blessings, and opportunities that are waiting for you to come and get them. And in case you’re still wondering why I’m standing next to this Audi, check out this video I edited and produced to find out.