Digital Storytelling was a class I was really interested in taking. As an English major and a Writing minor, this class seemed like something that’d be really fun while also learning the skills necessary for my future career paths. I knew going into the class that there would be a lot of projects and a heavy workload, and I was prepared for it. However, I hadn’t known how helpful these projects would end up being to me as a creator. I’ve learned many things while taking Digital Storytelling, and I don’t regret it at all.
I remember our first major project from this semester was the Personal Narrative project. I had a lot of options for this, but ultimately I chose to tell the story of my journey to the WKC World Championship. It is, to this day, an accomplishment I am incredibly proud of, and I really enjoyed getting to share this story with my classmates. While not incredibly difficult once I had all the images together, the most tasking part of this project was working a real-life event and telling it in a way that worked narratively. It was really interesting making something that had actually happened to me read as if it were a fictional story. This project helped me with curation as well, as I had to go back many years for a lot of my images. It also was just a really nice reflection in general. I enjoyed looking back on my fond memories, including those with the stories I did not tell.
The Sense of Place project was certainly a lot of work, but it wasn’t any less enjoyable either. This project sort of gave me an excuse to take a step back from the heavy load of school and experience something new (while still getting work done, too). I had a lot of options for this project as well, but my final choice was Adamson Square in Carrollton, Georgia. This was somewhere I’d had on my bucket list for a while, and despite it being very close to my hometown, I’d never managed the time. Finally, I had an actual excuse to go, and so I made the trip one weekend to gather my content. Walking around the square was a great activity for the weather that day, but my favorite part was the different shops I visited. Most notably, in my opinion, was the underground bookstore I’d heard about. A friend was actually the one who’d told me about the place, and I just knew I had to visit. It ended up being a super fun visit. This project helped me learn the process of going out and gathering my own information and content and use what I find to create a story.
The Podcast Review was a bit different from the other projects we’d had in the class. I’ve never really been a big podcast listener, so this one was initially a struggle for me. I found The Magnus Archives* through internet recommendations, but I was not automatically excited about it, necessarily. Once I started to listen, however, I was hooked. The Magnus Archives is a super interesting podcast that dives into all things mysterious and, oftentimes, frightening. The episodes I listened to specifically for this project (Do Not Open, Page Turner, Thrown Away) were, on their own, incredibly compelling. But together, they slowly begin to paint a picture of secrets and mysteries that can only be solved by listening to more episodes. This project was a lot of help with writing analyses, as well as opening the door to something I initially didn’t really enjoy. After I finish this series, I plan to find more narrative podcasts to enjoy.
Lastly, my favorite project was our community engagement project for RescueDogGames. This pushed me to do something that I’d never really done before, and that was creating promotional content. It was a new experience for me, but it ended up being my favorite project of the entire semester. For my content, I made a simple poster that welcomed all dogs to RDG, an interview video where I interviewed different dogs, and a more wholesome video encouraging the idea of “Adopt, Don’t Shop.” This project forced me to be creative in order to ensure that my content was different and unique from what my classmates were doing. Additionally, I loved seeing the content that everyone made.
It’s hard to pin down just one thing that this class has taught me. To put it simply, I’ve learned how to better create content with an actual goal in mind. This class has pushed me to be creative in a way that makes me stand out in order to make a mark.
Abby Maddox
All of the projects from this class have helped me in so many different ways that it’s honestly a bit difficult to recount them all. By the end, I know with certainty that I am a better storyteller than I was when I walked in this class back in January. It is my hope to see these skills utilized in the future.
