Humans evolved to be a social species in which connections,

communities, and groups were vital to our survival. The practice that most
captures the essence and importance of this has been human reliance on
storytelling -- a tradition that dates back thousands of years. We are in the
midst of one of greatest disruptions of storytelling since the printing press.
Since the development of the digital world, society has combined
communication and technology. They have already become inseparable.
Moving forward, we will continue pushing the boundaries of how we use
technology to communicate and tell stories in the 21st century.
When I was in the fifth grade, I signed up for MySpace. From my first
friend, Tom, to my hundredth friend, MySpace allowed me to express my
creativity. I would spend hours manipulating the HTML code of backgrounds. I
slowly learned how to get rid of advertisements and how to change the
stylings. In eighth grade, as an early adopter, I joined the world of Facebook.
I have been active in some form of social media for nearly half my life. In
addition to Facebook, there has been Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. I have
seen all the trends from liking, sharing, following, and friending to posting
results of Buzzfeed quizzes.
Each year, society asks 18 year olds to decide what they want to do
with their lives and then to proceed to get the skills to do it. When I was 18, I
knew two things: I loved communicating with people and I wanted to inspire
people to do something good with their life. This led me to Ball State
Universitys Communication Studies program, which was one of the best

decision I have ever made. Within the Communication department, I

developed the skills to connect people through words. As Yehuda Berg once
said Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We
can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or
destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the
ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to
humble. Understanding the competitive job market for Communication
majors, I have added minors in Leadership, and Marketing, but none
answered my question of what I wanted to do after college.
Earlier this year, I was contacted by my high school golf coach, and he
offered me a Social Media Marketing Internship. He was unable to fulfill this
role personally and thought that my communication skills would make me a
good candidate for this position. After some deliberation, I accepted his offer
to build a presence on Facebook for his business. This has been a wonderful
challenge and has required continuous effort in order to build engagement
within the Muncie golfing community. In the past seven months, our
Facebook community has seen over a hundred new followers. There had only
been 2 postings all of 2014 with the last one being in July. Since February
2015, the account has had three posts every day and the changes have
increased the number of people who have liked the page (+100 likes),
increased levels of engagement, and created a more efficient form of
communicating with MD's. I have also developed a website that has brought
them into the modern world where it is an expectation that every legitimate

business has an online presence. They now have five different forms of
media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, a website, and an email account. At
some point it occurred to me, my internship did not feel like a job; it was
something I enjoyed doing each day. Although media and technology are not
native to those outside my generation, it's an incredibly intuitive form of
communication that allows users to have information at their fingertips and
all they need is a bridge. That bridge can mean the difference between
communicating through email versus snail-mail, seeing grandchildren
pictures on social media or looking up a price and tee time at their local golf
course website.
In February 2015, during the BSU State of the University Address,
President Ferguson unveiled the Emerging Media Design and Development
(EMDD) Masters Degree. As I heard the description, I wanted to know more.
According to the Ball State Website The information problemeffective
storytelling across the wide range of ever-changing communication platforms
is one of the greatest challenges in todays emerging media environment."
I contacted the programs founding co-director, Brad King. Mr. King
explained that this program was more than social media, it was the process
of creating something bigger. Through storytelling, we create our own forms
of connection. Through his description of the program, I knew that it was not
just social media, but rather the process of creating a digital life. Media tells
our story and connects us to each other. With this new understanding I knew

that this program could be transformative for me. The EMDD program lets
you create inspirational work that leads others to do great things.
From my Communications major and Leadership and Marketing minors
to my intern experience, the EMDD program seems the culmination of what I
am passionate about: telling stories. I want to be part of creating something
tangible that connects people in a meaningful way. Whether it's compiling a
life story, creating content for tomorrow's educational system, or connecting
us to far-flung family and friends, digital media will be an integral part of our
lives. Where will this take us? Imagine interactive storybooks for children,
applications that we didn't even know that we needed and creative outlets
like art, literature, music and theater where you can be a participant and not
just an observer. Virtual reality and augmented reality are already being
implemented. How will we gain acceptance of this new frontier? How will we
bridge the competency gap between generations? Anatole France once said
To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only
plan, but also believe. I believe that EMDD will allow me to contribute to the
growing digital landscape and help in the creation of a better world.