Abby Deaton

Ready or not, I’m graduating in less than a week. While I’m not sure there is a lot I can do to emotionally prepare for what that transition means in my life, I’m very fortunate to feel that I am prepared for whatever challenges or opportunities come my way. My time at Goshen and specifically that work I’ve done in and around FiveCore Media has helped me to feel prepared.

When I was a sophomore, Kate Yoder, the assistant producer for FiveCore at the time, encouraged me to apply not only for FiveCore Media, but for the Maple Scholar’s project that Kyle Hufford was doing that summer. Had I not walked by her office on that day, had she not talked me into doing a last-minute application, had I decided to stick with my original summer plans, who knows where I’d be today.

I worked with Kyle over the summer of 2013 to create five short documentary style news videos for Goshen Commons, a local news blog site. Through this project, I really fell in love with the Goshen community. I met a variety of people, from local farmers, artists, government officials, to a man who was homeless. My world opened up and I was fortunate to document the whole experience. My final video of that summer, “Made in Goshen”, was submitted and won a bronze Telly award. Receiving the award was exciting, but more than anything it helped me to find a confidence in my abilities as a filmmaker.

Abby Deaton and Lauren Weaver filming in Kenya

The Spring semester of 2014, I began to officially work for FiveCore. I spent most of my semester working on the performance video for A Festival of Carols, which was a challenging, but rewarding project to edit. That semester, I also had the privilege to travel to Kenya with several other students to film two documentaries in conjunction with Food Resource Bank. The Kenya documentaries have fueled my passion for international documentary filmmaking and I hope to someday work with nonprofits to create similar documentaries.

In the summer of 2014, I worked with Kyle for a second time through the Maple Scholars program. That summer, we showcased the videos on a blog for the Elkhart Truth called, “Speaking of Goshen.” That summer made me think a lot more seriously about the challenges and the rewards of pursuing a career in video production. Though it was a challenging summer, I ended up receiving another bronze Telly, this time for the web series rather than a single video. This really affirmed my choice to work in film.

Very recently, I premiered a full length documentary that I filmed and co-directed and co-edited with my fellow FiveCore staffer, Elizabeth Derstine. Kyle supervised and many other people in the FiveCore staff helped give us advice along the way. Taking on such a large project and learning to work intensely with another person on such a personal video has been very life giving.

Abby Deaton filming in Kenya

I have felt very nurtured and cared for as a student at Goshen College and as a staff member here at FiveCore Media. I’ve developed skills that not many people have the chance to work on as an undergraduate student. I have the confidence and experience I need to take this next step. I might not have a clear idea where I’m going, but I know my passion for film will continue to send me on grand adventures. And that is something that I am more than ready for.