potential Archives | �鶹ԭ�� News

From Inmate to MFA

Robert Stephens — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 12:53:10 +0000

The art teacher is telling his students to scribble. He doesn’t want to see any straight lines.

“I knew I had to counter my incarceration with something positive. Education would be the ticket to get my life back on track.”
— Jason Fronczek ’16

“A straight line isn’t true to life,” says Jason Fronczek ’16. “Make scribbles. Give them time. They’ll eventually look beautiful and real.”

Fronczek’s students have names. But if you saw their clothes and where class is being held, you wouldn’t ask for their names. You’d just call them prisoners. The teacher has a different perspective, though.

“I’ve been in your shoes,” he tells the students incarcerated at the Central Florida Reception Center in Orlando run by the Florida Department of Corrections.

He has their attention.

“And I’m about to finish my master’s degree at �鶹ԭ��.”

And with that, their eyes are open wide — just as eyes should be.

Fronczek is still trying to process this himself. He was released from prison 10 years ago but is still releasing himself from the trap of his own story. Photography has freed him to see the world in a whole different way. And teaching art through the Florida Prison Education Project (FPEP) is his way of giving others hope while they’re still incarcerated.

“Jason is an amazing person,” says Keri Watson, associate professor of art history at �鶹ԭ�� and director of FPEP. “I don’t see him as a ‘former felon.’ He’s a father, a student, an artist. To see what he’s gone through — he’s an illustration of success.”

Fronczek tells his students to keep those eyes open wide. Because if he can see himself in their shoes, maybe they can also see themselves in his.

Finding a Positive Perspective

Fronczek doesn’t avoid the uncomfortable truth. “I was convicted, imprisoned.” Just get it out of the way so the talk can go from small to very large. “I want people to realize that my mistakes are not my identity. I’ve moved forward. We should all move forward.”

“A straight line isn’t true to life. Make scribbles. Give them time. They’ll eventually look beautiful and real.”

To do that, he’ll first give the details you’re wondering about. He went to jail in August 2006 for burglarizing a neighbor’s home. Sentenced to five years, he ended up serving four years and three months.

Fronczek could easily have chosen to become bitter or jaded. He chose instead to read — one or two books every day. The longer books, like etymological dictionaries, took three days. By the time he got out in 2010, he’d consumed about 2,000 books.

“I knew I had to counter my incarceration with something positive,” says Fronczek. “Education would be the ticket to get my life back on track.”

The Bible made such an impact that he first thought about going to seminary school. But shortly after his release, the mother of a friend gave Fronczek a used camera. It brought back memories — good memories. He wanted to learn more.

So less than a year after leaving prison, Fronczek enrolled at Valencia College and through the earned bachelor’s degrees in visual arts and emerging media management and studio art. The two majors piqued his interest in the power of art, so in 2016 he applied to the emerging media MFA program. A year later he reapplied and was accepted.

Fronczek absorbed concepts and applied them to his own photography. He took a few of Watson’s courses because something at the core of her teaching connected with him, he says. She also told him the hard truth about his thesis.

“It was too general, too focused on research,” she says. “For art to be universally understood, you need to start with your own story.”

Although Fronczek is willing to share his story in casual conversation, he also knows how hard it is to understand. It takes perspective.

And that’s just it. Art is perspective, right?

“Bringing personal experiences into my thesis makes all the difference,” he says, “because I want a way to influence attitudes and behaviors.”

Personal perspective is especially true with his photography, which can be traced back to the point-and-shoot camera he bought for $10 as a kid, the Nikon he got from his brother in a sweet trade, and the gift from his friend’s mother after his incarceration. Perspective allows him to marvel through his lenses at things the rest of us might ignore. Chaos in leaves. Empty bicycle racks at Walmart. The construction on I-4, of all places.

“I look at the juxtaposition of the pylons and the angles of unfinished bridges,” he says. “It all has something interesting to offer.”

Sharing His Story

Even with his bachelor’s degrees and a master’s nearly in hand, Fronczek finds it challenging to find a place to rent or to score job interviews. It’s the box he has to check on the applications. Ever been convicted of a felony?

“Art has a way of showing the potential you never realized you had. Look at me.”

But even the box has opened up a something marvelous. There were things Watson and Fronczek didn’t know about each other through their first few semesters together at �鶹ԭ��. He didn’t know she’d taught art to prisoners in Alabama and in 2018 launched the FPEP. She didn’t know where he’d been, either.

“I could sense there was something special Jason had to offer,” she says, “but I didn’t know he’d been incarcerated until I saw the box he had to check when applying for our master’s program. That’s when I asked him to teach in the FPEP program.”

Fronczek is more likely to say he spends three hours a day “encouraging” incarcerated students rather than teaching.

“Art has a way of showing the potential you never realized you had,” he says. “Look at me.”

He says he still hasn’t grasped the gravity of this: Jason Fronczek, MFA. But that isn’t his identity, either. His life is a bunch of scribbles, like the world around us. That’s the message of his story: When he started to find beauty in a world of scribbles, it found beauty in him, too.

Call of Duty

Robert Stephens — Wed, 06 May 2020 20:14:12 +0000

Paul Kohler ’20MSN has limited time before he has to go, but he doesn’t sound rushed.

“I want to make sure everyone has the same level of care that I’d want for my brother or for myself. Everyone deserves that. It’s why I like working at the VA.”
— Paul Kohler ’20MSN

He’s used to pressure. While he speaks over the phone from Charleston Air Force Base, he has only a few hours to polish up some papers for his Masters of Science in Nursing degree and pack his duffel bag. By evening he’ll be flying over the Atlantic Ocean to a country he cannot mention.

As a flight nurse with the Air Force Reserves, Captain Kohler doesn’t know how long he’ll be gone or where he might be told to go next. Only that he’ll be putting his experience and his graduate-level education to work in a venue few of us can imagine.

The motto of Kohler’s 934^th Air Medical Evacuation Squadron spells out their mission at this very moment: “Deny death’s victory.” In other words, save the lives of COVID-19 patients on the other side of the world. While we see stories of healthcare heroes working around the clock in hospitals and convention centers, Kohler’s team of critical care and infectious disease specialists will carry out their work 30,000 feet in the air.

“This type of mobilization for COVID-19 is unlike any that the Air Force has ever done,” says Kohler, 38. “We’re writing history.”

This is the second time an emergency call from the Air Force has superseded Kohler’s graduation plans. Before he could complete his capstone last fall, he was deployed to the Middle East. Then, in early April, while working his full-time job at the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System, he received a call he knew was coming. Kohler had 48 hours to spend time with his wife, two young daughters, and their horses in Gainesville, and speed up his remaining master’s requirements online before leaving for pandemic training.

“I’m close enough to the finish line for my degree this time,” he says. “My instructors understand the situation. They’ve been flexible.”

The usual situations for a reservist have been coming up since before Kohler enrolled in �鶹ԭ��’s MSN program in 2017. He’s required to spend anywhere from three to seven days every month at a base in Minneapolis, with longer assignments in places like Qatar, Afghanistan, and locations most of us barely know how to pronounce. Kohler admits it’s difficult to leave his family, but he also knows someone has to deny death’s victory.

“I go where the emergencies are,” he says.

Some sort of frontline has always drawn Kohler close. He entered the Army out of high school and, up until the age of 25, had his sights set on one goal.

“I wanted to be a firefighter,” he says.

Everything changed in 2007 when his younger brother, Michael, was seriously injured during a military operation in Iraq. Michael couldn’t remember much about the ensuing hours and days, but he did know that certain medical personnel kept him as comfortable as possible while he’d been transported out of harm’s way and back home to the U.S. Those people? They were flight nurses.

“What I’m doing now is exactly what the flight nurses did for my brother,” says Kohler. “His experience had a big influence on my decision to go this route.”

Michael’s long recovery in VA hospitals also left a mark on Kohler. “I want to make sure everyone has the same level of care that I’d want for my brother or for myself. Everyone deserves that. It’s why I like working at the VA.”

Kohler has known he needs to be in a leadership role to ensure people who are hurting receive the best care possible, and to be in a leadership role he’d need an advanced degree from a well-respected nursing school. He found his first step up the ladder at �鶹ԭ��.

“If I need to go to school in person, it’s only 90 minutes from our house,” he says. “Unless I’m doing something like this.”

As you read this, Capt. Paul Kohler is saving lives and helping to rewrite history somewhere far away. “This has to be my singular focus,” he says. When he returns home at an unknown time, he’ll come back to his wife, daughters, horse trails, and a MSN diploma with his name on it. His writing of history will have just begun.

https://frpiluleenligne.com

Next Steps

Robert Stephens — Thu, 12 Dec 2019 14:45:20 +0000

McKenzie Milton scans the football field at Spectrum Stadium from an all-new vantage point for him: a 6^th-story suite high above the bowled-in grass. On Dec. 13, the Hawaiian-born �鶹ԭ�� quarterback will graduate with a degree in sport and exercise science. Milton says he’s excited to walk in his cap and gown. He plans to use his education and playing experience to coach football. Not yet, though. “Someday,” he says. At the moment he’s craning his neck to get a full view of the field where he led the Knights to national prominence and blossomed into a Heisman Trophy candidate before suffering a devastating leg injury against South Florida on November 23, 2018. “I miss it,” he says of the game that he sees as prominently in his future as it has been in his past.

“I’m so grateful God led me to �鶹ԭ��. My story here is not finished.”

— McKenzie Milton

“You might have a hard time understanding this. But as chaotic as football can be, it’s actually calming to me. My time away from the game has made me realize that it really is an escape. All of your day-to-day problems go away on the field. It’s another reason I’m putting in so much work to play again.”

“I see the scar on my leg every day. It reminds me of how far I’ve come. All the surgeries. All the rehab. My leg went from looking terrible to looking better … to looking terrible again and then better. So when I look at where I am today, I’m excited to think of the plan God has for me a year from now.”

“January could be a big month. Hopefully, the doctors will let me get out of my brace and clear me to start running. If it happens, great. If not, I’ve learned to just bite my lip and keep working.”

“There are three big motivators for me. My family will always be a motivation. There’s also the fact that the struggle to come back is just you against you — it’s asking yourself, “How badly do you want this?” And third, (defensive back) Brandon Moore is also recovering from a bad knee injury. We keep each other going.”

“My situation has put a lot of everyday details into perspective. I don’t take walking for granted. Or being able to put shoes on. Some people are never able to do those things. I’m blessed to do whatever I can do and especially to have the people who have supported me.”

McKenzie Milton walked onto the field to a standing ovation with his dad and mom during senior night. (Photo by Kevin Macia ’18)

“My mom has been living with me since the injury. When I go back to my apartment at the end of the day I see Mili (his Maltese named after Mililani, the town where he grew up in Hawaii) and I smell mom’s food. It makes me feel like a kid again, like everything is OK.”

“Family is really important in Hawaii. It was hard to leave after my senior year of high school, but I needed to spread my wings. Anywhere on the mainland is a long way from home. I visited �鶹ԭ��’s campus in February and saw the beauty and the green all around. It reminded me of home at that time of year — except with no mountains.”

“I wanted to go back home after my freshman year. My dad said, “Going to �鶹ԭ�� was your first grown-man decision, so don’t quit.” I literally thank God that I stuck it out.”

“The most memorable moment so far? Mike Hughes returning that kickoff for the touchdown to beat USF in 2017. A week later we won the conference championship and then the Peach Bowl against Auburn. Just two years out from being 0-12, we went 12-0 and became a household brand nationwide. You can go to a school accustomed to winning, but it’s incredible to be here while something special is being built.”

Milton hugs fellow defensive back and graduating senior Brandon Moore during senior night. (Photo by Conor Kvatek)

“Senior Night was not goodbye. I saw it as an opportunity to share a moment with the guys I came into �鶹ԭ�� with, to walk out with them in front of my family and their families.”

“People might always ask me about the injury. And that’s OK. It’s now a part of me and my story. I’ll do everything possible to play in the NFL, but I’m at peace knowing God is the author and that He has my story written. I look forward to living it out, however it goes.”

“A lot of my teammates come from places where they don’t have much. For them to make it at a major D-1 program is way bigger than me coming back from my injury.”

“I’ll be a better coach because of this. The adversity will allow me to empathize with others. I recognize that physical pain is one thing, but mental and spiritual pain is even tougher. A lot of my teammates come from places where they don’t have much. For them to make it at a major D-1 program is way bigger than me coming back from my injury.”

“One quote about coaching has always stuck with me. Billy Graham said, “A coach will affect more people in one year than most people will affect in a lifetime.” At a certain age, boys can go one of two ways. That’s why I’m taking post-graduate classes in educational leadership. I want to develop boys the right way — into grown men.”

“Look at those kids on the field. That’s Dillon (Gabriel) showing a youth team from Hawaii around. How cool is that? �鶹ԭ�� has become a favorite college team on Oahu. After I came, then it was Dillon, Lokahi (Pauole), and Canton [Kaumatule]. It’s an honor to have started a little pipeline from Hawaii to �鶹ԭ��.”

“There are a lot of memories down there. But being carted off the field isn’t the way I want to end my career. The triumphs and tragedies you share with your guys … there’s nothing quite like it. I’ll work my butt off until I’m ready to roll with them again. I’m so grateful God led me to �鶹ԭ��. My story here is not finished.”

Milton marks his favorite memory so far as the time defensive back Mike Hughes ran 95 yards for a touchdown with 1:28 remaining in the game to defeat USF, 49-42, which helped secure �鶹ԭ��’s chance to play in the Peach Bowl.

Overcoming an Uncertain Childhood, Graduate Paints to Explain the Past

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 19:44:40 +0000

Titus Thomas was 8 when he entered the foster care system, the result of abuse and neglect by parents whose parental rights were later terminated. By 16 when he was adopted, he had lived with eight foster families in seven states, a complicated and stressful situation that often is hard to overcome.

But this week the 24-year-old will graduate from �鶹ԭ�� with a Bachelor of Fine Arts as a member of the Tau Sigma National Honor Society – a huge accomplishment considering that foster care workers say only about 3 percent of young people coming out of foster homes graduate from a four-year college.

“I moved from city to city as a child because my parents moved every time a state started to investigate for child abuse,” says Thomas, whose artwork was recently featured in an exhibit at the . “I don’t know too much about my biological family, which is the sad truth for most children in foster care.”

The three paintings on display at the gallery exhibit were part of a very personal project: his life of isolation before entering into the foster care system.

This painting, ‘Home Sweet Home,’ is a sarcastic reference to some of the places Thomas used to live. “Who would want to live there? Well, I lived there, but I wouldn’t want to live there now,” he says. (Photo by Bella Martinez)

Thomas, who creates his artwork under the name Titus Cartwright, says he first became interested in painting because it was therapeutic. Now, however, he says it allows him to express himself and uncover past experiences.

“My artwork explores abandonment, memory loss, neglect, and isolation,” he says. “I hope to show the effects of child abuse and my experiences in the foster care system.”

In an online posting, the Heart Gallery, a Central Florida organization that advocates for the adoption of children, promoted his exhibit and what it said about giving hope to others in foster care:

“Art has been a healing way for Titus to express himself and his feelings, which prior to getting adopted was something that he struggled with greatly. His art has given him a voice and an outlet to share and shed light on not just the long-term effects of what he calls ‘unprepared parenting’ but also a platform to encourage and inspire our current foster youth to believe in their dreams and to stay open to the idea of being adopted. He has a specific message for those currently in foster care that may be afraid to open up and try again and it is this: ‘Don’t let the fear of your past keep you from the possibilities of your future. Learn to hope again, trust again and love again.’”

The student says he is grateful for his adopted family who gave him the love and acceptance he sought, and his �鶹ԭ�� art instructors who kept him engaged with his work.

“They [his adoptive family] were very patient and understood that the impact of the traumatic experiences wouldn’t be fixed overnight,” he says. “They’re also dog lovers and would rescue dogs from the shelters. We would have six dogs at a time.”

As for his art professors, he says they have provided a great mix of experience and advice.

“They are all very different and I feel like they each make me more capable by making my artwork complete and more well-rounded,” he says.

After graduation, Thomas plans to move to Georgia to continue to build his body of work, apply for grants to open a gallery, apply for graduate school – and, not surprisingly, take the arts to underrepresented communities.

Turning Point

Robert Stephens — Fri, 08 Nov 2019 16:29:41 +0000

It’s a little early for lunch at The Tides, a buffet-style restaurant across State Road A1A from Patrick Air Force Base south of Cocoa Beach, Florida, where Staff Sgt. Kevin Greene ’17 works as a unit deployment manager for the 920^th Rescue Wing. He’s just here to meet someone. But the buffet table catches his eye.

“Actually, I’ve never had lunch here,” Greene says. “Let’s see what they have.”

He picks up a plate and starts piling it on. Chicken. Fried catfish. Corn on the cob.

“I usually eat on base,” he says before adding: “I might need to come over here more often.”

You can’t help but notice how fit Greene is whether he’s sitting or walking, never mind the subtle limp in his stride. It’s no surprise when he says he’ll work out this evening at the community center near his home in Palm Bay. Maybe he’ll ride a stationary bike or lift weights.

“I’ll decide later,” he says.

It didn’t used to be this way with food, sports or his life.

“I played basketball,” Greene says. “That’s it. Basketball. Sometimes I look back and think, ‘Why was I so closed-minded?’”

(Photo courtesy of Kevin Greene ’17)

When he looks back, he always stops on the night of Dec. 17, 2014. Always. Greene’s friends had called him to play basketball. At the time, Greene was in the Air Force Reserves and working three jobs. He had a singular long-term goal: to go active duty once his Air Force Reserve commitment expired. For the short-term, he wanted to beat his friends on the basketball court.

On his way to the gym, he pulled up to a stoplight on his motorcycle, which he’d purchased to help build a credit score. He looked left. He looked right. He looked left again, and started to turn.

Eighteen hours later, Greene woke up in an intensive care unit to see people praying. He reached to feel his hands, his arms and his face. Everything felt … OK. Then the doctor spoke.

“We had to amputate your left foot.”

Greene waited for the curtain to close around him. And he cried.

“I think about the accident all the time,” he says. “All the time.”

A few days after the accident, with Christmas approaching, visitors pretty much stopped coming to the hospital. Greene spent Christmas, New Year’s and Valentine’s Day alone. He stayed in the hospital for three months, and was then in and out until June 2015 because of infections. Doctors gradually had to take more of his leg.

But he lost much more.

“I lost my ambition, my purpose,” he says. “That was the worst part. I pushed people away. My debt piled up because I lost my jobs. The idea of going full-time Air Force was out the window. I just closed myself off.”

(Photo courtesy of Kevin Greene ’17)

He credits the basketball team he coached at Palm Bay High School for prying him open again. They convinced Greene to help them. Just moving around, even on crutches, became therapeutic. He then landed a job at the community center in Melbourne, where the kids showed no mercy.

“They’d get me into games and start trash talking,” says Greene. “They didn’t care I was on one good leg. It’s exactly what I needed. It made me realize that I’m capable. I can play. I can compete.”

His newfound drive sent him through self-imposed mental walls. He grew as a coach and started to hang out with friends again. He kept moving. New purposes began to emerge, as he says, “ways to live, love and give back.”

While on college campuses with the basketball team for summer camps, Greene decided he should build on his associate’s degree and complete his bachelor’s in criminal justice, which he did thanks to �鶹ԭ�� Online. He also earned a certificate as a registered behavioral technician so he could work full-time with autistic children. He returned to duty at Patrick Air Force Base. He married his girlfriend, Domonique Oneal-Greene. And on Jan. 17, 2017, he became the dad of a beautiful baby girl — Gianna.

All along, he also got into the best shape of his life. In late 2017, Greene met the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Gen. David Goldfein, who told him about the Air Force Wounded Warrior Program (AFW2) and its adaptive-sports program. Greene listened, but…

“When it came to sports, my mind was still closed. I thought, ‘I’m normal. I don’t need adaptive sports.’”

It wasn’t until September 2018 that he accepted the idea, at least enough to attend an Air Force Wounded Warrior CARE event near Seattle, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. There, he learned about resiliency, empowerment, caregiving and seizing opportunities. Those opportunities happened to include adaptive sports.

“I thought, ‘Wait. With this, I can play basketball, but I can also do a lot more,’” he says.

(Photo courtesy of Kevin Greene ’17)

Greene took up floor volleyball, track, cycling, rowing and wheelchair basketball. Less than a year after participating in those sports, he entered the Department of Defense Warrior Games in Tampa. Against the best adaptive military athletes from the U.S. and five other countries, Greene hauled in six gold medals, two silvers and a bronze.

At the end of the week, a woman approached Greene and said something very simple yet very profound for him: “You’re an athlete.”

Greene looks across the lunch table with energy in his eyes. He again repeats: “I think about the accident all the time.”

What if I hadn’t survived?

“The thought drives me to try new things. I’m genuinely happy to be here at this moment, in this restaurant. Before, I just thought of myself as a basketball player. Now I can work with kids who have autism. I have a degree from �鶹ԭ��. I’m an airman. A husband. A father. I have so much purpose now.”

It just so happens that Kevin Greene is an athlete, too.

Three days after being interviewed for this story, Greene received word that he’s earned a spot on Team USA for the Invictus Games in the Netherlands in May 2020. He will be one of 65 athletes from U.S. military branches competing against service members from 18 nations.

�鶹ԭ�� Grad Wins Emmy for Nike Commercial

Jenna Marina Lee — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 13:00:43 +0000

For Katie McCain ’07 a crazy dream has come true, as a Nike commercial produced by the advertising/public relations and radio/television double major recently won the the Outstanding Commercial Award during the 71st annual Emmy Awards.

McCain, a former women’s soccer player, served as lead producer for the sportswear company’s Dream Crazy ad, which features Serena Williams, Colin Kaepernick and fellow alum Shaquem Griffin ’16.

She became enamored with filmmaking after attending a summer video production camp in between her soccer camp schedule. Soon after, she borrowed her father’s video camera and began to create her own videos centered around her friends and soccer teammates with the goal of making them all laugh and cry.

After graduating from �鶹ԭ�� and spending a decade working for various production and advertising companies in Orlando and Los Angeles, she moved to Portland, Oregon, in 2017 to join Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency for her dream job — producing commercials for Nike.

Katie McCain ’07, who graduated with two degrees in advertising/public relations and radio/television, now creates commercials for Nike in her role as a producer at Wieden+Kennedy. (Photo provided by Katie McCain)

McCain, who was a decorated four-year letter winner and defender on the Knights’ soccer team from 2003 to 2006, has been involved in some of Nike’s most popular ads as of late, including the Dream Further commercial that captured hearts worldwide ahead of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She describes her role as a bit like being a captain, nurturing and facilitating the visuals and script through her work with the film’s director, editor, visual-effects personnel, musicians and crew.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOVkEHADCg4

“I try to put the best players on the field in regards to the creative team to execute the idea, and then make sure everyone gets the support they need to play their best and work well together,” she says. “The best productions are the ones where it doesn’t feel like work and where everyone is proud of what we’re creating.”

Which was certainly the case for Dream Crazy commercial, which beat out Apple’s “Behind the Mac” and “Shot on iPhone” campaigns as well as Netflix’s “A Great Day in Hollywood” campaign.

Here McCain discusses Dream Crazy, Dream Further and what it’s like working for Nike.

Why do you think the Dream Crazy and the World Cup ads are striking a chord like they are?

I like this quote from the co-president and chief creative officer of W+K, Colleen DeCourcy: “Sometimes, when everything’s right, something or someone can come along with a thing that is so simple, that taps into the bottomless reservoir of want in humanity, and the world goes crazy. We love that feeling. We believe in that feeling. THAT is lightning in a bottle.”

What do you think you’ll always remember about your experience with these campaigns?

When you are in it and working so hard on production, you lose track of how awesome it is to get to make very creative, high-level work that people actually care about, talk about, watch and share — work that inspires people. What I’ll always remember is how we made something with “Dream Crazy” that shook the world for a few days. With Nike, we helped create a conversation beyond advertising. We opened hearts and minds all over the world for a minute, in an era where you’re served content all day long, and it’s hard to catch someone’s attention at all.

What is a typical day like for you in your job?

Every day is a bit different. In between projects, things are usually a bit more mellow. Usually I’m in meetings talking about creative ideas with my team, or budgeting and researching, and meeting new directors and partners I want to team up with on future projects. When I’m on a production it’s a bit like wrangling chaos — figuring out how to do the impossible, negotiating, scheduling, managing people, making sure the creative team and the client are happy, and the work is getting the support it needs. This year, I was traveling between Los Angeles and Barcelona to shoot and edit for the World Cup film.

What’s the one thing you need to survive in your profession?

It’s actually a couple of things. An aptitude for organization and the necessity to compartmentalize and prioritize tasks. A sensitivity to everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, and the ability to optimize their value in order to bring everyone together to accomplish a goal, deliver a film. Jobs of this scale can be daunting, so you have to prioritize the work that needs to be accomplished each day and keep the team focused on getting through key milestones to keep the project on track. I work in a high-pressure, creative industry where everyone has an opinion, an idea or an approach. My job is to harness everyone’s strengths, combine greatness, to make one thing, together. Personally, you must know your limits, and when to take a break in order to recharge your mind and body to be able to have the strength to produce the next project.

How does it feel to have played a part in the Dream Further ad’s creation?

My blood, sweat and tears definitely went into my work. To me, it feels like a bit of a love letter to all aspiring 10-year-old girls. I was a kid with really big dreams — a confident, cocky kid that thought she could do anything. So, it’s been a bit surreal to help make a film that inspires and motivates people as this one does. I feel so fortunate to be given this opportunity, to be able to produce a film with such a powerful message.

What do you think about the response the Dream Further film has received?

It’s been awesome! We set out to make an epic soccer film for Nike that was as good, if not better, than the previous Nike soccer films. Nike has a legacy of long-form viral advertisements that have incredible production value, super star athletes, and inspiring narrative. The fact that Nike saw the value in creating something of this caliber for women’s soccer blows my mind. I’ve had former teammates from my youth soccer team, my club team and my �鶹ԭ�� teammates and coaches message me about how inspired they are by the film. It’s like a time capsule has been opened from my youth soccer-playing days.

How did the Dream Further ad make you feel as a viewer the first time you saw it?

I cried when I saw the first rough cut. I also cried at the casting when we met the young girl who played the lead in the spot. The film is personal and emotional to me; I feel connected to the narrative, the characters and the athletes. I’m able to see a bit of my own story in it. I was 14 when the U.S. women’s national team won the 1999 World Cup. I have followed the team since I was a little kid. Soccer gave me so much. It taught me how to work hard, embrace adversity, be a leader, to persevere, work together, and that you’re only as good as your teammates. As a producer, I use all those tools almost every day. Soccer seriously set me up for success in my career.

What was the most challenging aspect of the Dream Further shoot?

Production is always challenging, no matter the client or the film. There are no easy jobs. If the job is easy, it isn’t being pushed to be the best film it can be. Due to the scale of this, it was a marathon project. We all had to dig in and put our heads down. The machine had to keep moving or we weren’t going to stay on schedule and make the launch date on the Champions League Final.

What was the most rewarding moment during the Dream Further shoot?

The moment I met the lead girl in the spot, I knew she was the right selection for the role. Seeing her perform on set, and being a part of her experience was amazing. She lit us all up every day with her spirit, smile, work ethic and love for the game. I can’t wait to see where she goes in life and what becomes of her dreams.

How did your experience at �鶹ԭ�� prepare you for your career now?

Before deciding to pursue an advertising degree at �鶹ԭ��, I had no experience working on commercials. I had only worked on broadcast production. My dad was worried I was never going to be able to support myself making films, so he encouraged me to consider an advertising degree and study marketing so I could take my production background and make commercials. I decided to pick up a double major in advertising, and also minored in marketing and business to accompany my broadcast radio/TV production degree, which I was already pursuing through the Nicholson School of Communication and Media.

I grew up really connected to the ads and the message that Nike was putting out in the world and identified with the brand. I feel very grateful to have landed at Wieden+Kennedy, which is considered to be one of the best advertising agencies in the world. To be given the honor to work on Nike at W+K is a bit unreal to me, especially during a time where the brand is telling amazing stories and really affecting culture with their marketing.

What is your best memory as a Knight?

In 2004 we had a great soccer season. We beat Florida State, Florida, FAU, Miami, won our conference, and went to the NCAA Tournament. We were one of the top teams on the East Coast. I enjoyed being a part of the team, sharing many moments with my teammates that I will never forget. I cherish my amazing friends from my �鶹ԭ�� soccer days. I still enjoy reading about the advancements �鶹ԭ�� is making in many fields. And who doesn’t love to watch their football team crush it?!