Hi my name is Blake and I have always been captured by the camera. Photography, film, movies, and media have become hobbies and passions of mine throughout the years and define who I am. Watching movies allowed my imagination to run wild as a child. I would spend hours with my brother coming up with stories containing our favorite characters. My sister and I would film movie trailers on her iPod Touch. In the third grade I even did a project on famed director Steven Spielberg.There was no doubt in 8 year old Blake’s mind that I was going to be a movie director.

During my time in high school, I was taking classes in the audio visual pathway which was a catchall for movies, broadcast, and photography. It was in these classes where I gained technical proficiency with the camera and put that skill to work. Assignments started out as three minute videos and making a music video to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Airtheme song, but quickly increased in difficulty when I was tasked with filming a 30 minute documentary over the course of four months. It was my favorite class for three years and my teacher had become an important mentor to me. Through these experiences I learned that I worked well when collaborating with others and was motivated by project based assignments.

Despite the fun I was having in the pathway it became clear to me that making movies and films was not for me, but instead I found a new passion under broadcast and sports media. In my senior year, I decided to film and create videos for my schools’ football, volleyball, and track team. I also got involved in a documentary with two of my peers on a program that brought puppies to the county jail where they would go through basic service dog training then be sent out to foster homes to continue their training. Every Friday we would skip our first two periods of school and go to the jail to film. Both of these opportunities taught me that what I wanted to do was tell stories. Not fictional movie stories, real life stories that could inspire people to live fully. Although I may not be headed to becoming the film director I once aspired to be, I know that the journey it took to get to this point has focused me to follow my real passion of journalism.