Durham Students Go Behind the Scenes at Duke and Discover Creative Careers

Part of Duke HomeGrown, the hands-on experience connects local students with real-world media and design work

Students check out a studio
Students from Durham's School for Creative Studies prepare to record a short presentation during a tour of the Bryan Center Studios. Photo by Travis Stanley.

Durham high school students gathered around cameras and lighting rigs inside Duke’s Bryan Center Studios, watching as Duke Media Production Manager Mich Donovan and Producers Devon Henry and Michael Blair explained how they bring a video shoot to life.

But it wasn’t until the students stepped behind the equipment to create short videos of their own that the experience clicked, and they grasped how fun video production can be.

“Oh cool!” one student exclaimed.

During the April 23 campus visit, students from Durham’s School for Creative Studies with an interest in visual arts got an up-close look at video production and communications jobs at Duke. The visit, coordinated by Duke Community Affairs and Durham Public Schools, was part of the Duke HomeGrown initiative, an institution-wide effort to deepen the connection between Duke and Durham.

Duke Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs Graphic Designer Izzy Nunez, right, helps a student make a screen printed version of the Duke HomeGrown logo. Photo by Travis Stanley.

“It’s exciting to see them learn from the people who are actually doing the jobs,” said Durham Public Schools Career Development Coordinator Sharon Johnson, who helped lead the visit. “We can tell them a lot, but I think it’s important for students to be exposed to the possibilities of what they can be, to get them outside of the classroom walls and let them see that they can do this.”

After visiting the Bryan Center Studios, students visited the Innovation Co-Lab, where Duke Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs staff, including Senior Marketing and Brand Manager Crystal Pratt; Social Media Manager Taylor Hamberg; and Graphic Designer Izzy Nunez explained their roles and shared examples of their work.

With the colorful Duke HomeGrown signature “Home” graphic projected onto a screen, Nunez shared how the design came together. She explained how the elements she drew by hand gave the piece an approachable and authentic feel and how the carefully selected iconography – such as magnolias, a cardinal and Durham landmarks – ensured it felt rooted in the Bull City.

Nunez also told the students how, when she was growing up, she figured it would be unlikely that she could weave her passion for drawing and love of visual art into a career. But once she was exposed to the possibilities of graphic design, she knew she’d found the path for her.

“If you can see it, you can be it. That’s huge,” Nunez said. “When I was a kid, I didn’t have a lot of role models who looked like me and that were doing the things I wanted to do. So, I’m just trying to be helpful and show these kids the different options that they have.”

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