Malachi Choi 

This journey began as a young lad in elementary school. I was a big gamer—when I wasn't at school or eating, I was sitting on my computer playing Minecraft. And if I didn't have access to my computer, you'd find me watching someone else play video games on YouTube. I found these YouTubers inspiring—they could play games I loved as a job and be famous! Being the young kid I was, I craved that fame and glory, so I got to work learning how to record and edit videos in my journey to find fame on YouTube. 

For years, I consistently uploaded videos despite garnering little to no traction. The medium of a video was so different from anything else—it was a moving image with audio that could be manipulated and tweaked in so many ways. I loved how creative I could get with adding different photos, transitions, and sounds, testing what combinations of cuts and sounds would make the video more engaging. It made my day when someone left a comment on how they liked the video. The knowledge that my creation and effort could bring someone else happiness made me feel something that couldn't be replicated by anything else.

As the years passed into high school, I would still produce the occasional video. Each new project honed my skills, expanding my knowledge of video editing and the digital world. That passion and practice eventually landed me a video editing internship with Myla Sweet LLC in the summer of 2023. This professional experience served as an eye-opening adventure, as I learned the skills and effort I had developed and invested could be used for more than just gaming YouTube videos—I could make a career out of it! 

This new learning combined quite well with the next part of my character arc; when the summer of 2023 ended, my senior and final year of high school began. 

During my previous years of middle and high school, I was an introverted person—I was scared of being myself, anxious, and worried about others. So I played it safe and always kept to myself and my current friends. In the final days of my junior year, I realized that these years I was living and this experience that is high school is short, and precious. There was so much I had wanted to do in this time, but my own self inflicted fear and isolation stopped me from doing what I wanted to do. This caused me to feel that I had wasted these past years of high school. I realized that my senior year was my only year left to make the most out of this time, and I didn't want to feel this way anymore.

So, I put myself out there in scary, uncomfortable situations. For starters and on the topic of video editing, this year was my first year in student government as the Senior Representative, where during this time, I had the privilege of being able to create and edit videos to advertise and market school events on the high school Instagram. Along with this though,  I began socializing more, initiating conversations with unfamiliar people, talking and learning more about new people, building new relations, and going out to social events. Through this, I had completely life-changing experiences; some took me to my lowest points in life, and others took me to my absolute highest points in life.

By the end of 12th grade, as I finished my graduation senior speech, I looked back on this year, while at times it was hard and scary, I had done and fulfilled so much. All of this began just by coming out of my shell, I learned the importance of putting yourself out there and presenting yourself—marketing yourself.

All of this combined to earn me my most prestigious position so far after my senior year as a communications intern with the Beaverton School District during the summer of 2024. During this internship, I was tasked with taking photos and videos of school construction and events, editing those photos and videos, and then creating social media posts for hundreds of people to get information about ongoing updates within the school district.

I am now a freshman at Oregon State University studying Marketing, and I am continuing to edit and post videos of my now current music production endeavors. I hope to not only continue to build on my experience and skills but also use them to help others (which is hopefully why you're here!).