Abigail Wolfenberger ’17 prepares for a career in videography
When she first came to Stony Brook University, Abigail Wolfenberger identified the pre-pharmacology program as her area of interest. But she struggled with her courses, and by sophomore year had fallen so far behind in her studies that she ended up on academic probation and had to apply for a conditional reinstatement.
Because she always loved to write, she decided to rethink her career path and apply to the School of Journalism. When she got her first “A” in a multimedia course, she knew she had made the right choice. After that, the A’s kept coming.
Now a broadcast journalism major ’17 with a concentration in public affairs, Abigail is using her experiences at Stony Brook to launch a career in videography — a decision she made in her junior year.
At the time, she was assigned to cover performance-based art on campus. Because she always loved string instruments, she decided to create a video of the Escher Quartet performing “Madness and the Death of Ophelia,” a piece by Eugene Drucker, a violinist with the Emerson String Quartet, at the Staller Center last October.
Unable to compile footage during the performance, Abigail refused to let anything get in the way of completing her assignment. So she doggedly logged nearly four hours shooting video of the quartet rehearsing. She followed that up with more than 12 hours of painstaking edits.
Her diligence paid off: The assignment was a success.
Now she looks forward to graduation in May and already has a job offer at WJHL News Channel 11 in Johnson City, Tennessee, where she completed an internship.
“The reason I love journalism so much is I am determined to find the truth,” says Abigail. “I also want to add color and brightness to the world.”
— Glenn Jochum
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