Commentary: End of year wrap-up

My four years on The Feather Online have come to an end after winning four CSPA Gold Crowns, two NSPA Pacemakers and a Letter of Recognition from the Mayor. After making the decision to join journalism in the middle of freshman year, it quickly filled up my schedule with so many great opportunities.

Some people I would like to thank are Feather advisers Greg Stobbe and Kori Friesen. Stobbe. Thank you for sticking with me and pushing me to write better and realize the importance of writing in my everyday life.

Friesen, I don’t know where to begin. I owe my photography skills all to you. Even when I took my break from the team junior year, you never stopped pushing me to be better and better every day.

Some of my fondest memories in journalism is going to New York and teaching at the CSPA conferences at Columbia University. Also just being on a team of like-minded individuals that are all pushing for the same goal makes it easy to have fun while working.

This past year I stepped into the role of Video Editor with a full team of rookies. The struggle of a rookie team was difficult to overcome at first but through some reorganization and extensive training. I have created a team that quite possibly could be some of the most top-notch video creators to come out of FC.

The Feather helped me to create an amazing portfolio and groom my professional persona in a workplace. Through the training on The Feather photo team, I was able to start working at Windsong Productions. Also, this past month I have worked with Archer & Hound in making three commercials promoting enrollment at FC.

Fellow video journalist Clark Zhu, ’17, and I created a teenage suicide PSA to go along with a sister article on the ways to prevent suicide. We received a special nomination winning the 51st Annual California Student Film Festival. The award will be presented to Clark and me at Zipper Concert Hall located at the Colburn School, Los Angeles, CA.

Thanks to the NYC Goat Group (Phillip Christoper, ’17, Julian Castro, ’17 and Nick LeBlanc, ’17) for making my last year so much fun.

Jarrod Markarian will be attending Fresno State in the fall and will be majoring in Business Administration. Markarian wants to pursue a career in Federal Law Enforcement through the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

This videographer can be reached via email at Jarrod Markarian and via Twitter at Jarrod Markarian

For more senior reflections, read Senior Reflection: Phillip Christopher.