The Texas State School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) Storytelling in the Parks Study in America program is meant to bring students into nature while learning a wide range of storytelling knowledge and skills. We spent two weeks in Oregon going to iconic locations to apply the skills we learned in our two classes, Mobile Storytelling in the Outdoors and Feature Writing. Once the trip was concluded, we spent a week finishing up the final touches on our projects before presenting our work at a showcase.
Mobile Storytelling in the Outdoors
This class aimed to create digital content for social media, which consisted of five social media posts, 20 story posts split between two highlights and an Instagram Reel. For our final project, we were tasked with creating a mini-documentary on a topic of our choice.
Instagram Posts
Instagram Reel
I wanted my Reel to be fun and personable so I decided to make a vlog-style video that followed my day at the International Rose Test Garden. To add a twist to my video, I highlighted what caught my attention in the garden, as someone with ADHD.
Mini-Documentary
For my documentary, I chose to talk about the intersection between nature and technology, specifically how social media has a positive effect on people’s outdoor experience.
Feature Writing
In my Feature Writing class, we wrote a piece over a topic we would learn about over the duration of the trip. We interviewed with different sources and discussed topics relevant to the areas we were covering. We created trailers to help promote our feature stories, highlighting sound bites for our interviews and highlight the communities we were writing about.
For my feature story, I wrote about the thriving art scene in Cannon Beach, Oregon. I spoke to artists and gallery owners to hear what they had to say about how Cannon Beach is a uniquely artistic community and what they hope to see in her future.
