Goodbye to TWU and hello to Alaska
This spring Josh Burdick, a Communications major and Political Studies minor, looks forward to trading his textbooks for road maps. This Washington native will work for Holland America driving a motor coach full of tourists through the beautiful Alaskan wilderness. It looked like just the fun and adventurous job he wanted after graduation.
“It seemed like a good buffer before stepping out into the real world,” said Burdick about the job he discovered at the Success Centre’s annual career fair.
After his stint as a motor coach driver, this 2010 grad hopes to continue his passion for documentary film making. He would love to work with a non-profit company to tell someone’s story through the medium of film. He is drawn to sharing the stories of people suffering injustice and is willing to go abroad if the stories take him there. Burdick believes “a well told story can really impact people and make a difference.”
Burdick’s leadership involvement at TWU gave him skills and experience he will have as tools in filmmaking. During his fourth year, Burdick was on the Student Life Integrated Media team (SLIM) as photographer and videographer. The website you are on is the product of the SLIM team, a group of 5-8 students who write, take pictures, shoot video and share what’s going on in students’ lives.
He appreciated the professional development workshops in SLIM every other week. Talking with filmmakers, writers, photographers and other professionals gave him a taste of life in the fields he plans to pursue. Being thrown into photography for the website created in Burdick a new passion for this medium.
Every year Burdick found ways to give something to the community as well as enrich his learning experience. In his first year, Burdick was part of a leadership team for new students, the LITE program, which is now discontinued. His second and third year he brought us the Reel Video, used in the SOS program to tell the story of a few new students and follow them through-out their first year.
Burdick’s involvement wasn’t limited to official Student Life leadership roles. His first and second year, he was on the prayer team and part of discipleship groups.
When asked what advice he would give to new students, Burdick said: “Stay involved on campus, volunteer in ministries, make your years at TWU more meaningful.” Thinking about how to enrich your TWU experience? Browse this website to find out more about many ways to be involved on campus.
Wanna be a part of SLIM? Find out how.
Story by Gwendolen Gower.