Pacific Index

Pacific’s Media Arts Department says goodbye to two seniors as they prepare to graduate this winter

   “It’s definitely been a home away from home,” reflected soon-to-be-graduate, Precious Brown, on what Pacific has meant to her. Brown is one of two Media Arts Department seniors who will graduate this winter, and she’s beyond appreciative of her time spent at Pacific. “Just being surrounded by all this love and support and just these welcoming arms is what really made me stay here.” 

   Brown transferred to Pacific at the opening of her sophomore year after spending her freshman year of college at a university in Iowa. During that year, Brown faced a lot of challenges that she’s gracefully turned into art. “I created a ‘zine,’ which is like a shorter version of a magazine,” she explained, painting a picture of the capstone project she’s designed for capstone project. “My thesis kind of surrounded desexualizing native cultures through a western lens and I tie in my experience from my previous school, and I talk about the microaggressions I received or the over-sexualization I received from students and professors.” 

   The opening year of Brown’s college experience was a rough one, filled with misdirection and uncertainty. “When I was applying for colleges, it was in the height of COVID,” she shared, describing how the university in Iowa was one of the rare places still looking to recruit for their women’s soccer team, which led Brown to decide to enroll there. “I had so many people tell me, ‘Don’t do it.’ And obviously that made me want to do it more to prove them wrong.” Brown mustered the strength to stay the entirety of her freshman year in Iowa, but in that time she faced a lot of cultural differences that put her through a lot of emotional turmoil. 

   “Looking back on it and being able to create this zine for people who also felt similar experiences or been through them- it’s definitely felt like a lot of growth,” Brown thoughtfully expressed. The journey of creating her capstone was another emotional challenge for Brown as she had to bring herself to relive some of her more negative experiences and describe what she had gone through in great detail. “I was just confronting these emptions and kind of putting them into play; it felt like déjà vu or like PTSD,” she joked with a laugh. “But it was definitely rewarding getting to overcome those emotional barriers and those technical barriers.”

   Within the Media Arts department, Brown will graduate with a major in graphic design. Throughout her college experience, Brown has shifted her focus a few times, starting with her sights set on a degree in psychology, and then shifting toward business and communications, before finally realizing that graphic design was a perfect combination of all her interests. After graduation, she’s looking forward to moving back home and learning what it means to really be an adult. “I’m kind of excited for the new journey,” she shared with enthusiasm and energy. “Being an adult, paying bills, living life, navigating the world…I’m excited.”  

   Graduating alongside Brown in the winter will be Cole Weber, his degree being in Sports Communication. Sports have been a major passion for the bulk of Weber’s life, which is what drove him to this major in the first place. “I love sports, played sports my whole life,” he shared thoughtfully. “Sports has to be a part of what I’m doing for the rest of my life.” 

   Weber has set himself up well for that ambition as he plans to pursue a career in sports broadcasting after he receives his degree. “After graduation I either want to work here in the Sports Information Department, or try to call games somewhere,” he explained, laying out his plan for the next few years. Throughout his time in college, Weber has played the role of sports announcer for many Pacific games. He’s also completed two internships that helped him gain experience calling games. It’s this broadcasting knowledge and experience that gave Weber inspiration for his senior capstone project. 

   “My capstone is kind of based off my summer research,” Weber described. “I went to 10 different baseball teams—some minor league, some college summer league, some Major League Baseball teams—and I listened to them over the radio.” While he listened, Weber graded each broadcaster’s play-by-play and compiled his notes to decipher what the broadcasters were doing right- and how Weber could learn from them. “Moving to my capstone, I expanded it from baseball to football,” he said, explaining his desire to compare baseball broadcasters to football broadcasters. “For me the biggest thing was career takeaways- what did these guys do that I can implement into what I do.” 

   Weber focused on the baseball and football teams from four cities: Philadelphia, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Seattle. His big question at the beginning of this research was how much silence the broadcasters used. “I feel like, when I did it, the more that I talked, the more annoying it was,” he began, illustrating his personal critiques of his own play-by-play. “So, I thought the pros would talk less- but that wasn’t the case. They talked a bunch.” Weber realized that the reason the pros can get away with so much yapping is because of their knowledge. “If you’re going to talk that much, you need to have the necessary information.” 

   Weber’s research and study of broadcasters has shed some light on the techniques he can practice to one day make it to the big leagues. “Ten years down the road I’d want to be the main play-by-play guy for either a professional sports team or a college team,” he offers. Weber has his sights set high and his work ambition is a clear sign that he’s cut out for those goals. 

   Brown and Weber will present their capstone projects on Dec. 6, and then they’ll say goodbye to the life they’ve known for the past four years. As their graduation date approaches, Pacific can proudly say goodbye to two inspiring individuals who will doubtlessly achieve all their aspirations, and then some.