Breaking the mold and diving into something new isn’t always the most fun option, but for Communication Team Specialist Tyler Prendergast, it “is the most effective way to learn.”
That is precisely what he has done in college, jumping through several different majors and concentration hoops to finally end up majoring in strategic communications and advertising media with a concentration in media and film.
Working at the Digital Corps has helped Tyler explore the possibilities of the communication world, prepared him in ways he wasn’t always aware of, and enabled him to excel in aspects he already appreciates.
Outside of work, he enjoys writing creative screenplays and scripts. He also gets to address this passion on the clock with projects that challenge his perspective and make him wield the scriptwriting sword a bit better. Some projects still challenge him, for instance with The Loading Zone Project, “I’ve never had to write for a child audience before and I tend to write in a more technical way…So I had to completely change my style of writing, and also writing in such a condensed form is really hard…but I did learn a lot from doing it.”
Scriptwriting is not Tyler’s only passion, though, being in such a social job, he appreciates his downtime. He enjoys a good movie, hiking, reading, going to the beach, and pretty much anything to do outdoors. This work-life balance has allowed him to appreciate every aspect of the job, mainly the collaboration between students and teams.
“For pretty much every project, it starts with [the Communication Team], so you have no choice but to think about every other team that comes after you on the project. You think about what they need and think about if the work that you’re doing is the best I can be to help everyone else do their job better,” he explained. “Working here and talking to people who do stuff that’s completely outside of my range of knowledge, you really learn a lot just by being in the same room and listening to their conversations. I think it helps you do your job better.”
Tyler has nothing but appreciation for the Corps, and vice versa.
“The Corps has made me grow so much, not just in a professional setting, but as a person. It has made me realize I’m in the right field,” he said. “The Corps has been comforting because it’s given me a lot more confidence in what I am doing.”
Tyler is the perfect example to show that passion, reliability, attention to detail, and appreciation of collaboration give you the chance to grow into the person you want to be, and we wish him nothing but luck!
