Field Notes: The Media School Travel Blog

An important lesson I’ve learned in college is to try anything and everything. You never know what you will obtain from it.

Exposing yourself to work outside of your comfort zone could possibly be life-changing. If not, you’ll at least gain new information to make yourself more well-rounded. So when auditions for the workshop of the audio musical “Ed Wood! The Musical” were announced, I leaped at the opportunity.

After landing the role and enduring many long rehearsals, I found myself in Kansas City at the HEAR Now Festival. I was surrounded by people I didn’t know in this audio storytelling world. I didn’t know the names, the technical aspects and the important work that came from this creative outlet. I was terrified. It was hard to jump in there and make conversation when I couldn’t even speak the language of these professionals.

I attempted to gather all the information I could so I could try to make valuable connections. But none of it felt genuine. I barely knew what I was talking about. I felt like I was always saying the wrong thing and struggling to be someone I wasn’t. That’s when I made a choice — a choice that worked out for me and that I hope works out for readers of this blog.

Own up to your ignorance.

I began approaching people and sharing my story. I told them how exciting I found this new world of storytelling, but that I hardly knew how to squirm my way into this community. Their eyes lit up. Suddenly it was as if they morphed into their younger selves, back when they realized that this work was what they wanted to do as a career. I heard about how they got into the business, the peaks and the valleys, the luck and all of the fun. The conversation became less about the credentials and more about the passion of the work they did. No name dropping, just storytelling. Which is what we were all there for, right? After this change, the business cards and connections came so much more naturally and became so much more valuable.

So put yourself out there and own up to your ignorance. You’ll never know what you’ll find.