UTC Rising Rock Student Places 17th in The Hearst

Allie English placed 17th in the Hearst for her short film, Raising Wolves. English is a student journalist in Rising Rock, a student-run multimedia publication, where her story was originally published. 

English explained her inspiration for doing her project on the red wolves. “Not many people are aware that red wolves exist and are actually historically native to our area and most of the southeastern US. I realized that this could be a great opportunity to spread awareness for the endangered species that exists right here in our city through conservation efforts. We as a society brought them to the brink of extinction, so it's our responsibility to repair that damage,” English stated. 

This was English’s first official video project in college, so with that came some challenges. Because she was unfamiliar with a lot of the equipment, she explained that the whole project involved a lot of trial and error. 

However, she explained that Rising Rock has given her the opportunity to learn the necessary and grow in skills she was previously uncomfortable with.  

“Rising Rock has taught me so much about how to be a compassionate and thoughtful storyteller. I've learned a lot about video and audio, which I had only a small amount of experience in coming into the class. I've been encouraged to go beyond my comfort zone with every story, which allows me to grow in being a communicator,” she stated. 

English just completed her second semester of Rising Rock; her team Editor Kylee Boone can speak to English’s compassion and talent. “Allie has been such a joy to work this semester. I can always count on her to show out for her teammates and produce stellar work. She always seems to amaze me with her incredible talent and I wouldn’t have asked for a better videographer to represent my team,” Boone stated. 

English explains that she hopes to continue her work in visual storytelling, as well as her work with the red wolves. She stated this about her future, “my dream would be to work on documentaries that are centered in empathy and explore the connection between humanity and the natural world. Aside from journalism, I'm also interested in fieldwork as a plant or wildlife conservationist.

As a potential plan for the short term, I'm considering expanding my project on red wolves into a short documentary. I think there is so much more to explore about this incredible animal and the incredible people who work with them. “ 

To view English’s story, visit https://risingrock.net/2022/12/14/raising-wolves/