The Making of a Multimedia Journalist: The Story of Voleer Thomas

The Making of a Multimedia Journalist:

The Story of Voleer Thomas

The Making of a Multimedia Journalist: The Story of Voleer Thomas
Being a journalist is one of the most rewarding things I experience every time I pick up a camera, a pen, and a notepad. It is an honor to be a storyteller in the community and inform everyone on what’s going on.

As a journalist, writer, and thinker, I am very reflective. I was thinking how far I’ve come and how far I can go. 

The idea came to mind to write a mini autobiography blog post on my journey in becoming a multimedia journalist. Since I have the passion to share other people’s stories, why not share mine for a change :)

EARLY STAGES
Childhood: How the passion to read and write developed
In kindergarten through the second grade at Hallandale Elementary School, my teachers would allow their students to have “free time.” 

This means they gave us the choice to choose an activity to do that will give us a break from the teacher’s curriculum. 

Some children chose to play house, draw, or go outside.

I chose (majority of the time) to walk to the classroom’s library and select a book to read until “free time” is over.

I loved how books took me to another world and made me understand each character vividly. 

Reading made me love words. 

From reading as a child, I knew how important words were and still are and that peaked my interest to write myself.

My mother and my father would rotate on who would teach me how to write my name after school. 

Soon, they would teach me how to write the names of objects and places. 

I was amazed at how I can put a thought on paper during the writing sessions. If I was thinking about an object or a place, I can write it down from my mind to the composition book. I thought that was fascinating.

Words became sentences and sentences became journal entries when I started doing my own writing sessions.

I would start writing journal entries as early as eight years old.


MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS
Middle School: Where passion meets purpose
The passion for reading and writing continued through my years at Attucks Middle School. 

My favorite classes would be reading and literature. 

In those classes, I would enjoy reading the books the teachers assigned to us and complete essays and quizzes. (I know. I’m a nerd and a proud one.) 

Career Day in my English & Literature class in the seventh grade is one of the most memorable days of my life— it’s when I knew what I wanted to be when I grow up.

I forgot who the presenter was but I will always remember what he told me.

He asked each person in the classroom what we loved to do and he gave a suggestion on which profession we should consider. 

It became my turn to share my interest to the presenter and my classmates, “I love to write,” I said.

“You should think about being a journalist,” he responded.

As he moved on to the next student, I was confused by his answer. 

What is a journalist? I thought to myself. I initially thought it was someone who sold journals.

When I looked up the meaning of the word, it was comforting and rewarding to know that it was not what I had in mind.

It read that a journalist is someone who writes for newspapers, magazines, or news websites.

I was thrilled to know that there was a profession out there for people who loved to write. I was grateful for the presenter’s suggestion and grateful to know what my purpose was.


HIGH SCHOOL YEARS
High School: More than Words
As I entered my freshman year at Hallandale High School, I was eager to apply my passion in writing for an elective I would select.

I walked to the front desk and the guidance counselor selected the classes I needed to take. When she was done she asked, “What elective class do you want to take?”

After months of researching the elective classes the school had to offer, I proudly said, “Newspaper writing.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “We no longer have that as an elective this year.”

I felt my heart dropped to my stomach. What am I going to do? I asked myself. 

I had a mini internal panic attack because I didn’t see myself doing anything but writing. I looked up at her and asked, “What other electives are there?”

She told me there was Band, Home Economics, and Video Production. (From what I can remember. My mind was still recovering from her response saying that there was no longer a newspaper class.)

I didn’t choose Home Economics because being the first child, I had a grasp on what taking care of the home consists of. Even though I love music, I didn’t choose Band because I didn’t have the passion to play an instrument.

“What’s Video Production?” I asked. 

“It’s where you learn about cameras,” she responded.

Cameras?! I thought. At that moment, learning about cameras seemed like a daunting task.

How can I operate such a thing with all of those buttons and switches? 

“I’ll take that as an elective,” I said. What are you thinking?! I quickly thought to myself.

It was a scary choice for me but I wanted to do something different and if I didn’t like it I can always change my elective.

To my surprise, it ended up being one of my favorite classes to attend. Dare I say it, I liked the class even more than my English and Literature classes (sometimes.)

My Video Production teacher my freshman year was Mr. Watkins.

The first half of the year, he taught his students the mechanics and the creativity of using the camera— zoom, wide shots, closeups, etc.

One thing from his lessons that always stuck with me was when he was teaching about videography. He was saying that cameras help us tell stories. 

In my mind, I immediately disagreed. How can videos tell stories when words already do that? I said to myself.

He continued saying that words along with video makes a powerful combination. He explained how it takes a lot to put a movie together— a director, a screenplay writer, a video editor, etc.

In his presentation, he didn’t shun the power of words when speaking about the use of cameras. In fact, he suggested how video can make words even more impactful.

His presentation blew my mind. Before taking his class, I never even considered that using a camera and can be a tool for storytelling. 

I’ve always thought that writing and words were the only form of storytelling. I learned that BOTH can be used in the art of storytelling.

Mr. Watkins retired after my freshman year. My classmates and I asked if he could stay as our Video Production teacher until we graduated from high school. He turned down the suggestion and moved forward with his retirement.

My next Video Production teacher from sophomore year to senior year was Mrs. Dawn Donnelly. 

She brought to my attention that there was a profession I can do where I can be a storyteller through words AND videography.

I was talking to her about the dilemma I was having in choosing what I wanted to do— should I be a writer or a videographer? She told me I can do both. I was puzzled and then she told me to consider being a TV News Reporter.

What in the world did she just say?! I thought to myself.

She explained that the job allows me to be a storyteller through words and video. 

She was an alum from the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Communications.

She talked about the programs they provide and how they have courses where I can learn to be a writer and a videographer in broadcast journalism.

Who knew that conversation would lead me to where I am today.


COLLEGE YEARS AND PROFESSIONAL YEARS
College Years & Professional Years: Laying the Groundwork
I enrolled at the University of Florida in 2013. Afterwards, I graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in the field of Telecommunications with a specialization in News.
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After graduation, I started working at WCJB-TV in May 2017.

Within my career, I became a freelance writer for the Gainesville Guardian newspaper in August 2018.

I’ve covered stories ranging from politics, education, community pieces, protests, crime, environmental stories, etc.

Being a multimedia journalist is something I want to do for the rest of my life.

I intend to grow, evolve, and better my craft each day and with each story I get to share.

I am grateful for the mentors, teachers, my family, and friends who guided me to where I am today.

If you’ve reached this far in the blog post, thank you so much for spending your time to read it. I hope it was worthwhile <3

STAY CONNECTED
YouTube: bit.ly/voleer-videos
Twitter: https://twitter.com/voleerthomas
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/voleerthereporter/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/voleerthomas/
Website: https://www.voleerthomas.com