Do you ever think that you absolutely have a hatred for something...but then, you actually come into direct interaction with it...and really enjoy it? This is exactly what I was like with video production.

Being an advertising major without any video experience previous to this year, I carried this stingy, annoying stereotype toward videos because of all the crap advertisements I saw on Youtube...you know, the ones where you can either "skip this ad in 3 seconds," or are forced to sit and "watch" all 30 seconds of it. That is exactly when and why the HATE for video came into my life, and where it stemmed from. I wasn't exposed to really anything other than crappy commercials and tacky infomercials, so, in my defense, I wasn't exposed to anything else.

However, that all changed THIS year. In my major's curriculum, I have to take so many other journalism classes outside of my Advertising classes, so it was a real toss-up deciphering what other classes I should take.

Last semester, I took JMC 360, Digital Imagining. My initial thoughts on this class:

"Photography...yay! I can take pictures of nature and post them all over my social media for everyone to see!"

Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun with our first two projects because they dealt with photography, so, I loved it. However, our third project dealt with making a three to five-minute video, and I wanted to cry. I had no idea how to use any editing software or even how to open Adobe Premiere Pro. This made me a nervous wreck because I knew that some of my other classmates were advanced with video production.

However, my professor (who is literally the best one I've had throughout my college education thus far - shout out to Professor Tijah Bumgarner) ensured that I knew what I was doing by walking me through the software and answering any questions I had.

I filmed my video project as a parody of a student's perspective about "Dead Week" spent in one of the campus libraries, and even though it wasn't the best video made in the class, I was proud of myself for making it a bearable video to watch since this was my first production made.

This project made me realize that video production could be kind of cool and interesting...which lead me to take JMC 332, Intro to Video Production, this semester.

I knew this class would take a great deal of time up outside of the classroom, but I now carried a fire to want to become better at video production and learn all it had to offer because I knew it was not my forte (and with the world turning digital...it was imperative to me that I became proficient in this area).

Our first project in this class was writing, directing and producing a commercial. This high key sparked my interest since I am an Advertising major - I was so stoked. In this class, I wanted to "kill two birds with one stone" and make content that companies or organizations could actually use for their benefit.

Therefore for my first project, I decided to make a commercial for an organization that has meant the world to me in college, Kappa Kappa Psi (The Honorary Collegiate Band Service Fraternity). This 60-second video took me four hours to edit, but after I was done, I couldn't have been more proud of myself. I stepped back, looked at what I had created and just felt this overwhelming sense of accomplishment come over myself.

It. Was. Awesome.

For it only being my second video I've ever made myself, I wanted to plaster it EVERYWHERE...you know, because that's how my industry works. I was proud of myself and I wanted to express that to the world because I put in so much of my effort and time into this project...and you better believe that it was 100% worth it (plus, I get to put it in my portfolio!).

After this video went out, not too long after, my friends and I decided to take a shot at creating a business specializing in photography and videography called, "Mountain State Media Agency & Co." since we all call West Virginia our home. (@MountainStateMedia on Facebook if you want to look us up!)

(I made this logo!)

Although getting a business off the ground is one of the most challenging things, whether it succeeds all the way through or not is one of the last things on my mind. I'm just happy that I get to live my life and experience my profession with the love, care and help of some of the coolest friends I could ask for.

So once again, shout out to Professor Tijah Bumgarner, who sparked a love in something that I thought I absolutely hated. Whether you know it or not, you've helped me grow as a journalist and marketing in more ways than you could imagine, and having a professor who supports me like that is something I never dreamed of finding when I stepped on campus for the first time two and a half years ago.