Month: December 2022

The biggest exposure I have had to the film or photography world is exposure through film. Growing up, I watched a lot of movies and for the longest time wanted to go into film making as a career. My dad’s godfather is also a horse racing photographer, so I had exposure to that realm of careers through him as well. I obviously am in the very early stages of my own career and have a lot to learn not only about my future within it but also other people’s as well.

My strongest first impressions regarding the film industry revolve around creativity. If you want your idea to be heard, it has to be something people haven’t heard or considered prior. It has to be something interesting so that it can capture people’s attentions. This philosophy is something I think I can incorporate into my own career as a designer. Even though in design there are industry standards on how things should be done for accessibility, I think this principle is an important one to keep in mind. I can go forward in my career keeping in mind industry standards while also putting an emphasis on the creative side as well. The ability to think outside the box is a motif in film and the film industry that I think would greatly impact the design world as well. I want to be able to make things that someone can look at and say, “that’s really interesting,” instead of not having a response at all.

In regards to the photography industry, the strongest first impression I’ve gotten surrounds perception. Not only on how a piece would be perceived by the audience, but also how photographers themselves are perceiving their subjects. Changing the angle of the camera relative to the subject, the light source relative to the subject or to the camera, or a million other variables changes the entire look and feel of the finished product. While these aspects are specific to photography, the principles hold up when applied to design. These thought processes I can transfer to when I am making something design related. Instead of being content in one single way of designing something, I can ask myself, “how would it look different if I changed things here? What is the feeling of my work now versus if I shifted things around? What kind of response do I want to get out of my audience?” Looking at my work with a critical eye, an eye that is aware that people are going to perceive my work in several different ways, is going to allow me to produce work I am more proud of and that is more thoughtful.

Despite the film and photography industries being fairly different from that of the design industry, I think there are important impressions to be taken from both of them. The ability to learn from other professions and apply them to one’s own can help one become more proficient in their own field.

One of Amazon’s leadership principles I’ve demonstrated in school in the past is ownership. During high school, my mental health was far from good. This led to turning in work being a struggle for me. And this was something I had to learn to own up to. It was extremely hard for me. Not only did I feel ashamed that I wasn’t getting my work done, I felt ashamed that I then had to talk to my dad and teachers about it. I had to learn to hold my hand up and say “I didn’t deliver here, and the only person responsible for that is me.” And as hard as it was to do this, it only ever gave positive outcomes. It led to discussions about why work wasn’t getting done and it allowed me to get better support for my mental health so that in the future I could get things turned in.

Another leadership principle I have demonstrated in the past is learn and be curious. As a person, I am innately curious. I love learning new things. There has never been a time in my life where I’m not asking questions. I have always been the person in classes who is asking the question everyone else wants to ask for clarification but is too shy to do so. And I’ve learned over the years that I’m not only helping myself when I do this, but everyone else too. Being curious has only ever helped me deepen my understanding and appreciation for anything I’m learning about.

The third leadership principle I’ve demonstrated in the past is have backbone; disagree and commit. This principle was ingrained in me from an early age as my dad worked at Amazon and passed this principle onto me because of that. I have gone through all of my school years with this motto in mind. It was especially helpful during high school when I took theatre tech as a class. We would have to build sets, and sometimes the teams we were on would have disagreements about what a particular set piece should look like. This principle allowed me countless times in that class to say my piece, agree or disagree with others, pick a solution regardless if it was my own or not, and commit to it. I carry this principle with me in my daily life.

A leadership principle I think would be difficult for me is think big. Being autistic, I tend to get stuck on the little details of everything. It doesn’t matter if it’s for a school project or my own personal life, it is very difficult for me to piece together all the little details in my head to see the big picture. This is something I have been actively working on for years and that I have improved about myself slowly, but I am also aware that I am far from where I should be in regards to the principle as a whole.

In high school, I loved writing poetry. I still do to this day, but I had a particular passion for it during my high school years. And my high school offered something I was incredibly enthusiastic to experience — open mics. These open mics happened about every month to month and half. I was a freshman at the time, and I saw a poster for the first one of the year in the hallway. I had never read my poetry to other people before as I suffered from severe anxiety and stage fright. But I wanted to hear other people’s poems so I went.

I sat down in the front row, well before the allotted start time. I had the notebook I wrote all my poems in on my lap if for some reason I did feel like sharing. A senior sat down next to me and introduced herself to me. She asked if I was going to be reading anything and I went quiet. Pretty much everything in my body was screaming “no,” but for some reason I uttered a “yes” instead. In no way was I mentally prepared to go up in front of a bunch of people I didn’t know and read my poems, but I told her I would anyway.

I remember eventually standing up and walking to the microphone at the front of the room. I felt like I was going to throw up or pass out right there in front of everybody. I introduced myself, and read through my poem for the first time in front of anyone ever. After the last word, the room went quiet for a brief moment before applause erupted. It was a feeling I had never experienced before. The very same senior who sat down next to me turned out to be the president of the poetry committee at my school and she told me that I was truly gifted and asked me to join their club.

I continued writing poetry all throughout high school and attending open mics whenever they happened. Over the course of a year alone, I went from absolutely despising public speaking and presentations to loving it. To this day, I am at my most comfortable in front of a room talking to people. Had I never said yes all those years ago, I don’t know if I would be able to say that.