ePortfolioPatrick Sullivan

Hello! 

Thanks for visiting my ePortfolio. My name is Patrick Sullivan, a rising freshman the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College due to graduate in May 2015. I am majoring in Television-Radio with a minor in History and a pending minor in Sports Studies. 

I graduated from Norwood High School in Norwood, Massachusetts -- a small suburb just outside of Boston. The majority of my time in high school was split between juggling two jobs while excelling in school as well as participating in extracurricular activities. 

My passion has always been in media. Audio, video, anything! When I am asked what I'd like to do with all of that, I find it very difficult to come up with a straight answer. For example, I enjoy video editing a lot. Yes I would love to be an editor for Dreamworks or Paramount or whoever, but I am not entirely sure that is where the end of the road is for me. There are jobs today that did not even exist a couple years ago. When I graduate three years from now there is no telling where the industry will be. There might be a job that doesn't exist yet that I find more enjoyable than editing and I don't even know it!

The globalization of the media and communications industry is a large contributing factor to those new jobs. Overseas jobs are becoming more and more common amongst the business. The ability to speak different languages and to smoothly communicate with others is more important than ever before. This means a need for more well rounded individuals. Here at Ithaca College I am expanding my horizons by doing many a different things. Taking minors in history and sport studies, for example, is helping me focus on non-communications based courses. There are plenty of other liberal arts courses that are available to take here that will help produce more of a "renaissance man." 

Modern technology is a fantastic way to become more immersed in the media/communications industry. My generation grew up with the internet. We are often referred to as "The Internet Generation." For me it started elementary school with AOL dial-up. Then in middle school with AIM chat and MySpace. It then led to more sophisticated means by way of Skype, Facebook, and Google (docs, plus, etc.). My knowledge and use of these technologies/social medias has really given me a fantastic perspective on how modern media has developed over the years. And while it is difficult to see where the future will take us, knowledge of the past can definitely help. 

My dedication in the classroom is not the only thing I am doing to perfect my skills. It is often said that after 10,000 hours of practice you can master anything. I am personally taking this to heart. Hours upon hours of my life are being spent fiddling in Final Cut, Adobe After Effects, Pro Tools, and Photoshop. There are days when I go out to the woods behind campus and just take pictures and shoot video. Oftentimes I take that media and play around with it in the previously mentioned programs. With a lot of practice and a strong passion I can climb any mountain or accomplish any task.

Many a times I've heard that passion can trump grades. While that does not give me an excuse to slack off in school, it does inspire me to not let the little things get me down. If I fail, I can try and try again. I need to improve upon the industry, I will not be just another face in the crowd.

Thanks for taking your time to read this, feel free to check out the rest of my ePortfolio!