A Fogged Lense: Media arts alumni gives advice to students unsure of their future

By: Nicole Vickers '16 and Mahala Nelson '16

When a student chooses a major, it is generally because they have a specific job in mind. The degree is just means to an end. But for a lot of creative majors such as studio art, creative writing or media arts, sometimes the path isn’t always so clear. 

For Daven Sprattling-Mathies ’07, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with his media arts degree, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying every moment of his college life. 

“I still get teary-eyed thinking about my time at Pacific,” said Sprattling-Mathies. “I remember the big picture, the undocumented value in the experiences I had and the people I met. Not all of those experiences were good, either, but they were all important to who I am now.” 

For many who walk into college with an idea of what they want to become, that can change during the course of their four years of undergraduate. Students may find that what interests them may not be what they originally thought. 

This applies to all students who feel as if they aren’t sure where their education is going to take them. No matter what major a student chooses, there are always options and different doors being opened. As long as they feel that they are going in a positive direction then who knows what kind of opportunities might present themselves. 

“You get out of your education what you put into it, and that goes beyond the classroom,” said Sprattling-Mathies. “I think that's incredibly important for any student to realize, but especially for Media Arts majors who don't have a clear path to follow. You have to motivate yourself to keep going even when it feels like you're stumbling around in the dark.” 

Sprattling-Mathies started as a media major and realized that it was in the technical side that he belonged.

“I think media arts represent the union of the arts and the sciences,” said Sprattling-Mathies. “I also love to write, but I felt I had lot more to learn from video production because of all the tech involved.” 

Once out of college, Sprattling-Mathies found a job working in a bank, but soon realized that it was stifling and so decided to start up a photography business with a fellow Pacific graduate, Corey Bennett ’09. Currently Sprattling-Mathies works in a marketing department and has been able to make seemingly small decisions that have large impacts in his work. He has a personal investment in his company and enjoys his work there. 

 While it isn’t always advisable to quit a career, it is advisable to make sure that whatever job you are working in, that it allows you to have whatever creative freedom you want. If you are stuck in a stifling career, it never hurts to try and do something about it. Whether that is being open to a pay drop or to a new and completely different career path than originally planned, Sprattling-Mathies advises to never forget your passions, be open and know that everyone walks their own path at their own pace.

History: Pause, think and remember

By Callie Vandewiele '08 

Almost three quarters of a century ago, 72 years on December 7th to be exact, the course of the history of the United States of America dramatically shifted and forever changed.  

At 7:48am, Hawaiian time, Japanese planes flying low over the US naval base on Oahu.  The ensuing attack, which took the men below by complete surprise, would result in 8 ships being sunk, with nearly a dozen more damaged, over 300 aircraft lost, and the deaths of 2,402 Americans.  Most of them military personnel. 

For a nation burned by World War I, and dedicated to leaving the world’s problems, to the world, the bombing of Pearl Harbour was a rude awakening.  An unwanted and costly notice that sometimes the world’s problems belonged to the whole world, and not just to one nation or region.  In bombing Pearl Harbour, the Japanese central command hoped to permanently cripple the United States military in the Pacific--and by doing so to limit US involvement in the escalating war.

In a world before twitter, instant updates, death tolls reported in online news sources, or even common color photography, the US government and population had put it’s whole might behind the war effort before all the families of the killed servicemen had even been properly notified.  A behemoth of an economic engine, shifted overnight, and with it the destiny of the United States.  The next five years would cost the nation dearly in both money and blood.  And yet at the end of the war, in 1946, the United States stood at the edge of the world stage as both the strongest military and economic force in the world.

It’s easy to take a minute to pause and think about soldiers on Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day, and there was a time when WWII veterans were common.  Most men that most of us knew.  Not anymore.  As each year rolls by those surviving veterans get a little older and little fewer in number.  The people whose sons and brothers and fathers and husbands were on the USS Arizona or the USS California aren’t all around to light candles each year anymore. 

December 7th is bit by bit turning into just another day.  Just another point in history that we’re supposed to memorize to pass an exam sometime in the 10th grade.  Just another war that the United States fought and won. 

But December 7th is not just another day.  And the war that it launched pushed the United States into a position of world dominance (wanted or not at the time).  Our history, we learned, will be marked with moments when we as a nation get to choose our response, and in choosing our response, choosing our future.

The greatest generation woke up to newspaper headlines about ships sinking in the Pacific.  The millennials awoke to live news coverage of buildings falling down in Manhattan.  We cannot say which crises our grandchildren will face---or whether they will come in the sickening thud of sudden attacks, or the slow rise of global temperatures.  What we can ask of ourselves and of them, is to always remember.  To pause and reflect on the anniversaries of the days that the world shifted and changed.  To read the stories of the heros and the families.

To know the heavy burden of what choices we as a people make when faced with tragedies beyond comprehension.  To know that when we define the cost of an American life, we are valuing it in comparison to the cost of other, non-American, lives, and that the decisions we make can alter the world in good, bad and unknown ways.

So when December 7th rolls around, take a pause.  Think, and remember.

Sources include the US Navy Museum Website (http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/teach/pearl/aftermath/facts.htm) and USHistory.Org

Vandewiele '08 originally wrote this piece for the Beaverton-Valley Times in December 2013. 

Asking the Right Questions

By Jocelyn Rattray Godfrey '95 

During one of my last lectures at Pacific, my professor said something that still resonates 17 years later:

"We have not given you the answers; we have taught you how to ask the questions. Now go out there and ask them…”

Fast forward to my current role as owner of a branding firm. I attend conferences across the country with resoundingly similar themes focused on change… in administration, healthcare, and the economy. 

Seventeen years is too long for things to stay the same, and they haven’t. Since leaving the land of Marsh Hall, change has become the norm. Besides traveling abroad, taking up soccer and scuba diving, and meeting my two daughters—I’ve acquired more “jobs” than I can count. I use “jobs” loosely because I’ve owned my own company since 1997. 

Two years post graduation, while working for an ad agency, my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity arrived—I was asked to lead the advertising for a national fitness magazine. To do so, I had to start own company. At age 23, in an era before cell phones were as naturalized as fingernails, I equipped my home office and became my own boss.

As expected, company ownership has been utterly scary and utterly exhilarating. I’ve since worked with more national magazines, an international billionaire philanthropist, a Duke doctor, multiple publishers, even more speakers/authors/consultants, and many organizations. In one role, I interviewed Dr. Maya Angelou, Coach Tony Dungy, NBC’s “Apprentice” winner Bill Rancic, Olympic gold medalist Kristen Armstrong, and founder of Dilbert Scott Adams. Once or twice, I was a tad star struck (hearing Maya Angelou say, “Good morning, Jocelyn,” in her beautifully velvet voice just about knocked me out!).

Along the way, I’ve had to adapt to new marketing trends, technology, and life events. I’ve learned to value the following three survival skills through it all: 

1)Be resilient. What you do today won’t likely mimic what you’ll do in five years. Stare fear in the face, celebrate change, and use it to innovate—mindfully creating the life you want while embracing the adventure. I asked Maya Angelou how to overcome fear, and she said, “Look what you’ve overcome already. And some of the things no one ever knows but you.”

2)Be realistic. You won’t likely become accidentally famous, wealthy, or able to sing. Your business won’t likely take off while you sleep. But that’s okay. If you plan ahead, hustle, and take cover from time to time, you will survive and likely thrive.

3)Be relationship-minded. I still correspond with friends from kindergarten. If greatness surrounds me, it is in the people who support me. I try to enter new relationships less concerned about what I will gain than what I can give; everything usually works itself out in phenomenal ways when I invest in relationships first.

On that note, last year I partnered in business with my husband, Scott Carbonara, speaker, consultant, and author of the new book, A Manager’s Guide to Employee Engagement. He brings 25 years of executive leadership experience, and together we love the role of helping organizations—ranging from one-man shops to global companies. 

Pacific didn’t deliver me the answers. More importantly, it implanted the curiosity, drive, and confidence to ask the right questions. (Thank you!)

Godfrey ’95 is the owner of Spiritus Communications, Inc., see www.SpiritusCommunicnations.com, a branding firm offering speaking, training, and organizational consulting in areas of employee engagement, culture, change management, performance, leadership, and more. She also manages a marketing and publishing division of her company—advising authors, speakers, and thought leaders, and editing their books.

All in a Year's Time

By Kudrat Kahlon '11   

By the time I graduated from Pacific University, I had already clocked in over a year of legal work, which included a year at the District Attorney’s office as a paralegal and a victim’s advocate and various summer internships in India.

I got an exciting offer to work in Oakland as a social worker (part of the training at the DA’s office included victim advocacy certification). This manifested after I spent an agonizing senior year where I’d send at least 2,000 job applications a week if not more. I’d hear nothing from most, a rejection from a few, and after hounding even the rejecters, feedback from a select few.

I packed my bags and landed up in San Francisco excited about my new job at a domestic violence and human trafficking center, there was no high greater than empowering women, and while the problems can be overwhelming, that one chance that you might have changed someone’s life is priceless, it made social work the most glamorous job in the world for me.

That had been my experience at the DA’s office under an inspiring supervisor. So much that I was rethinking my application to law school and thinking about pursuing social work instead.  But then two weeks into my new job, the management changed, the people I was working for were replaced by a bureaucratic bunch who were so cold and reclusive, a far cry from comfort and protection that the advocates offered.

Not so keen on law school, dismayed with the social work break I got, I mulled over a paralegal position for a corporate law firm which dealt with diamonds in Dubai and found me ethnic enough to work with them (even though I didn’t speak Arabic but probably looked the part).

Kahlon '11 with star Ashton Kutcher

But jumping into an intensive patent law environment when I wasn’t even keen on law anymore didn’t seem right. So I packed my bags and headed back home to India after 5 years and thought I’d take it from there. I have always been open to new experiences, always kept myself busy even if it didn’t fit the plan; because success does not have a linear trajectory it’s non-linear.  So at a friend’s suggestion I joined a local news station, and subsequently found myself working on documentary films.

I am now working as a researcher/producer and occasionally assistant director on documentary films, pursuing a master’s at a liberal arts university in Delhi, trying to kick start an NGO and write as freelance columnist for a national newspaper on socio-political issues. 

This past year has shown me one thing, where your minds at are where you end up.

Kahlon '11 studied politics & government at Pacific under the watchful guidance of Jules Boykoff, James Moore and Jeff Seward who taught her the unconventional and critical world views. Her current interests are socio-political issues, developmental economics, pop-culture, film-making, poststructuralism, philosophy and cultural studies. You can follow her on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/kudratkahlon.

From Boxer to Broadcaster

Trotter '12 with her parents during Commencement 2012

By Molly Jean Trotter '12

During the spring of 2012, I applied for reporting jobs at more than 70 news stations. I heard back from a few, but nothing regarding getting a job. 

In the spring, I took an electronic journalism class from Grant McOmie '75, from KGW's "Grant's Getaways" and Jeff Kastner to learn the ins and outs of the broadcast journalism world. By taking that class, I really learned what it is like to be a "backpack journalist" I filmed, reported, edited and produced my own story.

Before spring break, Grant called Rick Howard, the news director and Ktvl, News 10 in Medford, Ore. Rick and I scheduled an interview during spring break, where I had the chance to visit the station and meet a few faces. The interview lasted all of 20 minutes, so I thought nothing of it.

On May 3, I received a call from Rick Howard offering me a three year contract with Ktvl. You can imagine my excitement.

For someone who didn't go to a school with a big journalism department, like U of O and ASU, I was so excited that they offered ME a job! I knew all my hard work had to pay off, but I didn't know how long it would take for someone to notice.

Currently, I am a daily reporter at Ktvl and I cover every topic out there. On Friday nights, starting August 31, I will be covering high school football and basketball in the winter.

Trotter '12 hard at work at the station

I love my job! I work about nine hours a day, but those nine hours are packed full of filming, reporting, editing and writing scripts for my story for the newscasts that day. It is a lot of work, but every day is a new day and I am continually getting better at it. You have no idea how good it feels to pick a major, go to school for it and get out in the real world to use those skills and actually LOVE your job. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Even though Pacific doesn't have a broadcast journalism department, I did what I could as a journalism major and taking film classes to get where I am today. I will always be grateful for the connections I have made at Pacific.

My ultimate goal is to be a sportscaster at ESPN. I cannot wait for my job to take me somewhere big someday. 

Trotter '12 was a journalism major at Pacific and also enjoys photography, volleyball and outdoor recreation. She describes herself as a "sports junkie" and that ESPN never leaves her television! More more information on KTVL you can visit the website, www.ktvl.com.

Commencing Adulthood

By Stephanie Haugen '12

Haugen '12

Four years have passed quickly and tomorrow I graduate from Pacific. The day I never thought would get here has arrived and this dream still doesn’t seem like a reality.

With a week full of activities for seniors, I’ve met a lot of people I haven’t interacted with my entire time here and heard about a lot of things I never got the chance to do. Through it all, I’ve felt a little regretful I didn’t take advantage of every opportunity and satisfied with what I’ve accomplished at the same time. One day I feel sad it’s all coming to an end and the next I feel so incredibly light with happiness I can’t wait until it’s all wrapped up.

Although sometimes I wish I had done more, most of the time I’m satisfied with how much I have grown and how many new things I tried during my time at Pacific. The academics are rigorous and it keeps you busy. Especially living off campus, I don’t know if I could have done any more than I did.

One thing is for sure, though. I needed this experience at Pacific to develop into a person ready to leave here and try more new things and keep growing. Pacific pushed me. It pushed my limits and forced me to discover my potential both as a student and a person.

I thought the day I graduated from college I would officially be an adult, with a plan and without fears. Well, neither of these things turned out to be true, but I am ready for the next step. I’m not completely sure what I am meant to do with my life, but I’ve definitely ruled out a few possibilities, which is a start. I am excited to do everything I never had the chance to because I’ve been in school my whole life.

I’m going to paint, craft, draw, make jewelry, read for fun, write for fun, learn to wood work, cook, bake, sew, make soap, garden, get a job doing something completely different just to try it out, buy a bunny and maybe a llama. I am going to spend every spare minute outdoors and with the people I care about the most, many of whom I’ve put largely on hold these last four years.

It’s fairly terrifying graduating with your future wide open, but it’s also really exciting.

You can do anything you want.

There’s nothing holding you back or tying you down now.

You can do anything.

You can try anything.

You don’t have to stick around this area and you don’t have to worry about finishing your classes to get your degree and you don’t have to worry about setting your weekends aside for homework.

These were important things for four years, but that time has passed.

It’s easy to fall into something safe—something that will merely pay the bills or advance you along in a career path you think you’re stuck on because that’s what your degree is in or that’s what all your previous experience is in. But it’s never too late to entertain thoughts of a new life. Pacific has prepared you to be dynamic. Pacific has prepared you to be wide-scoping in your thoughts about yourself and the world, to be adventurous in your decisions, and to make the most out of the times in life that are short-lived but possibly the most influential.

The time has come to explore, to make those dreams you’ve been coming up with your whole life a reality. Don’t worry; Pacific has prepared you.

I’ve learned a lot of things at Pacific, but mostly I’ve learned that every stage before you should be better than the last. I should be growing and getting better at every stage of life.

I loved my time at Pacific, but I hope I never wish I was back in college.

I hope I never wish I could go back to these years.

I hope I never long for a time in my life that has already passed.

I hope I never feel like I’ve already peaked.

I hope whatever I do next and whatever I am at that moment will be better than the one before, and that I’m always moving forward to reach my potential and grow as a person. 

Haugen '12 was the Communications Assistant for the Office of Alumni Relations. You can follow her journey at Pacific through previous blog postings. Haugen is graduating with a degree in journalism and minor in English literature and was a member of the Phi Lambda Omicron sorority. She is keeping her next step open for anything and everything.

A Dirty Word

By Devin Higgins '10 

I don’t like to admit it, but I used to be one of those people.

One of those people who thought depression was a dirty word. A word too often used as an excuse by those who just couldn’t cope with how hard life gets sometimes. I thought antidepressants were just something to make a person feel happy, and in our present hyper-medicated society, they were being dished out in favor of doing what was necessary to “get over it.”

Higgins '10

I may have been a little late in coming to the Pacific campus as a non-traditional student in my early 30’s, and by the time I got there, I’d lived quite a unique life.

My parents divorced when I was young.

I survived physical, emotional, and sexual abuse before I was a teenager

I spent time after high school homeless

I was in prison for over a year as a 19-year-old and have dealt with the stigma of being an ex-felon ever since.

I don’t say offer those things to gain sympathy or to portray myself as a victim. Rather, they are simply the facts of my life, and I wouldn’t be a good journalist if I didn’t work with facts, no matter how unpleasant they may seem.

And yet, despite all that and more, I’d somehow found the strength of character to think I could achieve my dream of a college degree. So In 2007, I went back and earned not just one, but two degrees by the time I was done.

It took a complete nervous breakdown a year ago to discover I had severe depression, along with elements of social anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and it made it all seem pointless. Like I’d wasted my time and that I was one of those people who just couldn’t “get over it.”

I felt terribly alone.

According to the World Health Organization statistics from 2011, over 121 million people worldwide are affected by depression and its component ailments. By 2020, the WHO projects depression to be the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease and productivity lost to total disability.

Right now, it’s fourth.

What’s potentially more frightening is the WHO estimates fewer than 25% of those affected have access to the care which makes depression manageable, and much of that comes as a result of the social stigma surrounding it.

According to recent statistics, suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens and young adults ages 14-24, and the second leading cause of death among college students ages 20-24.

Depression is not an isolated illness. It doesn’t care how old you are, your gender, or where you come from. And not dealing with it and refusing to accept help to treat it is probably the worst thing a person can do.

If you, or someone you know is showing signs of depression, they need your help. They need you to listen to them and have someone to talk to and be non-judgmental. It’s far from easy for everyone involved, but it’s necessary to know they’re going to be okay.

Since my diagnoses and I can tell you some days are easier than others. I take medication every day to help my brain heal, but have struggled to find counseling or therapy because access is limited by health care providers. Yet, I’ve soldiered on on my own, hoping to find some peace of mind.

There are days where I want to give up and stop thinking I still need to go through all this, but I also know that it’s part of a very long process that requires patience and a willingness to accept change.

People with depression often feel alone. The best thing we can do is make sure they know they’re not.

Higgins '10 was a journalism major with an emphasis on writing and broadcasting at Pacific. He was the Sports Editor for The Pacific Index. He is now the play-by-play voice for Linfield Men's and Women's Basketball, but asks you to not hold that against him. He is also a Staff Reporter for The Reflector in Battle Ground, Wash., covering news and sports in Northern Clark County and  a Producer/Field Reporter for KFXX/ESPN Sports Radio 1080AM "The FAN" in Portland. He lives in Vancouver, where he enjoys writing, reading, movies, photography, travel, and spending time with his infant son, Daniel.