The Story Listening Project is one that utterly shapes and defines my favorite college memories. It is a project that I feel all the life lessons, soul connections, and career monuments I’ve had the honor of experiencing thus far have led up to creating. I poured my heart and soul, gallons of coffee, too many days to count sitting on Dr. Michael Humphrey’s famed “therapy chair,” endless laughs, oodles of soul-binding memories, and months of salty-sweet tears rolling down my cheeks in a bittersweet melody into this project. Working alongside my one and only dream team, Dr. Humphrey and Soo Jin Skarajunsky, I created a beautiful story and intertwined passion and skill into a professional podcast.

The podcast itself seeks to illuminate a new form of storytelling and communicating. We seek to highlight the value of listening with not only your ears but your emotions, love, and curiosity to those around you. We redefine journalistic interviews and practices by defining storytelling as a practice of listening rather than framing a story. This podcast reinforces this skill’s importance across professional industries. Each season challenges different professionals in different sectors to consider how listening to the stories of those they interact with brings passion and effectiveness to their work. It additionally teaches others how to “story listen” using a set of skills Dr. Humphrey developed. I will continue to work on the first season of this project, on the health industry, well after I graduate.

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Completing this project has taught me skills vital to my future career. I learned how to mix and edit audio to a professional level using Adobe Audition and Premiere. Additionally, I learned how to develop rich stories through an innovative, new interview technique. I got hands-on recording studio experience, learned how to set up audio, and homed in on my audio editing skills through this once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can’t wait to learn more from this project. Stay tuned for the authentic, powerful, utterly-beautiful stories to come!