“That’s an awfully long title,” someone recently remarked while introducing me on my 8th day on Cary Academy’s campus.
My business cards may read “Digital Content Producer and Social Media Manager,” but I prefer “community storyteller.”
“Okay,” you say, “but what does that mean? Why does CA need a storyteller? And, in point of fact: why you?”
First, I have to commend you on your ability to get straight to the heart of the matter.
Basically, my job is to work with the other members of Cary Academy’s newly-established Communications team to tell stories… stories that speak to the everyday experiences and extraordinary things that go on here at CA, how they are often one and the same and, how that’s part of what makes Cary Academy different.
My job is to curate, cultivate and celebrate those stories across every corner of campus. One week in, I already know that there are so many interesting, unique and downright exciting facets to learning, life, work and play at CA, that it would be almost impossible to know everything that goes on here, but I will share as much as I can. Connecting the different communities within CA will help strengthen our sense of community.
But ‘community’ and the importance of what makes Cary Academy such a special place extends beyond just our campus, past our homes and the dinner table conversations and the course of our day, into the broader communities in which we live, work and serve. Hence the second part of the job title: Social Media Manager. The work isn’t so much about drafting hashtags, amassing likes and inviting retweets as it is about building the modern world’s digital equivalent of the town square, in order to foster a place for the CA community’s connections to grow and for the public, potential collaborating organizations and our peers to be able to share in the conversations, for the sake of engaging as many perspectives of our increasingly interconnected world, as possible.
“Okay, I understand what a storyteller does and can see why CA might need one, but, again: why you?”
First and foremost, I’m from Durham – but my journey to Cary Academy was a bit more complex than simply heading east on I-40 (one does not simply head east on I-40 at rush hour). My career has wound a circuitous path from photography and graphic design work as a high school student to researching and advocating in the halls of government and amongst the foreign policy establishment as a recent college graduate, in Washington, D.C. However, it was upon my return to North Carolina as Assistant Director of Duke’s Center for International Studies, that things finally came into focus.
While at Duke, I often collaborated with scientists, researchers and artists whose work concisely and compellingly reached across time and distance, bridged culture and language, and related powerful and poignant experiences. In that work, I personally experienced the pedagogical power of art and technology: how it drives change in our lives, forms connections, provokes exploration of ourselves and others, and transforms the ‘everyday’ into the ‘extraordinary.’ Driven by that discovery, I took a leap of faith, went back to school, stepped outside of my comfort zone and shifted the course of my life towards telling stories in order to bridge understanding, engage empathy and encourage connections.
Following this newfound path, I have stumbled upon challenging, surprising and fun stories to hear and tell. I love exploring the concepts of community, culture and the fundamental notions of how we relate to one-another. I revel in the opportunities I have been granted to walk in someone else’s shoes, to roll up my sleeves and learn, hands-on, from others and then to share those experiences with the larger world.
And that is how I found my way at Cary Academy, already awed by the myriad stories that I can’t wait to tell.
“Tell me more,” you say.
And I shall…
…with your help. Please, tell me about the everyday things at CA that catch your eye, your imagination, your inspiration. Things that make you smile or stop and think, things that touch your heart and your mind. I want to know how you see this unique place and your place in this community.
