“Basically, I looked at him and was like, ‘If you need elbow grease, you can have mine.’”
Norah Taylor, a junior digital media communications (DMC) major, is the student coordinator of video equipment for the Communication Arts Department and our very own multimedia editor here at Cardinal & Cream. She has also put in countless hours setting up the new podcast studio in Jennings Hall.
Walking into the podcast studio, I saw Taylor hard at work — double-sided tape in hand — measuring how much she would need for the cord covers she was about to mount to the wall. While standing on a step ladder, she explained that most of the final touches to the studio are aesthetic — like hiding wires — and how she has been slowly crossing these tasks off her to-do list.
Speaking to Taylor in the very room she’s had so much influence over and talking to her about the process of bringing it to life, it was readily apparent how much she cares about the work that she’s doing. She spoke about the process behind the setup of the podcast studio and the satisfaction she has found in the near completion of the project.
“It was just weeks of troubleshooting,” Taylor said. “And like, feeling defeated, but then the satisfaction of the moment when the troubleshooting works and you finally get it to work. And then just repeating the process the next day.”
At times, she found this constant troubleshooting frustrating. However, seeing her fingerprints all over the studio makes all the frustrations worth it, and having experienced those frustrations makes the satisfaction of a job well done taste sweeter.
Her dedication and hard work in the podcast studio and as the student coordinator of video equipment are finally paying off, and it isn’t going unnoticed.
“She’s done an incredible job, and we’ve had good student workers over the years, but she just has great initiative and sees need in certain places of things that need to get done,” Rachael Camp, assistant professor of communication arts and the person responsible for hiring Taylor for the position, said.
Camp revealed that Taylor’s initiative and drive are a huge part of what makes her stand out from previous student workers. She emphasized that these traits are a huge part of why Taylor has been so successful in the role.
“She would be successful wherever she is, whatever she’s doing, because she has that drive in her,” Camp said. “She finds her motivation for everything. That’s going to serve her. It’s already served her well, but that’s just going to continue to serve her.”
While initiative and being able to find the internal motivation to get the job done are a part of her success, Taylor admitted that pride has also been a driving factor behind her work at times.
“Because your name is attached to that, that’s another thing where the pride kind of sinks in,” Taylor said. “Because your name is on it and you want it to be really good.”
Taylor and I discussed where she draws the line between being proud of her work and becoming prideful about it. She said she realized that she was seeking the respect of peers and professors throughout the process of setting up the podcast studio.
“I want them to respect me, and I want them to see the work that I’ve done and know it was mine,” Taylor said. “Part of me loves the idea that when something goes wrong, someone’s first idea is, ‘Oh my gosh, let’s ask Norah.’ That shows that there’s a respect for me. The idea that someone trusts me more than Google? Yeah, that was like really self-fulfilling in a way it shouldn’t be. But I kind of craved that more and more.”
However, recognizing this, Taylor spoke about changing her approach to life — finding her identity in the Lord.
“It’s definitely going to change how I approach my attitude in my daily life. Realizing [that] with my walk with the Lord, my identity should not be in these different things,” Taylor said. “How, if I’m not perfect at explaining something, it’s okay and that my identity is in Him and not in the things that my name is stamped on, you know? Learning that has taught me humility.”
This shift in her mindset has helped Taylor realize that the process is just as valuable as the result.
“Sometimes, I get a sinful attitude about the work I do, and I have to kind of backtrack and realize that the process of learning and troubleshooting is so valuable in and of itself,” Taylor said.
With her face lighting up, Taylor spoke about how much she’s learned from her time spent in the podcast studio. Having gone from not knowing the differences between certain cables to being able to solve problems using that same equipment is just one example of all the ways she’s grown during this entire process.
“I’m obviously so thrilled at her growth, but, as instructors, we can only show the path. My experience has been that [we do this] so the student not only follows the path but then finds new routes,” Camp said. “I guess this is a long answer to say that she has grown a lot, and I feel very fortunate to be a small part of that.”
