Enlightening Projects
During my Communication Arts studies at UW-Madison, I participated in several assignments and projects that shed light on my professional aspirations.
Alex Garza
Pursuing a Communications B.A. Degree, in the School of Letters & Science at UW-Madison.
Student Documentary
In the fall semester of 2023, I was taking a video production course, and one of our major assignments was to create a documentary with the topic of our choosing. One of my close friends that I had met at school had been running a social media account with a respectable following. I was quite fascinated with his content and how it had evolved from the time we met, to the time of filming, so I chose him to be the subject of my documentary called holeepot. The goal of this documentary was to tell the story of my good friend Lucas Ho and how he began his journey as a content creator. The project was particularly intriguing for me as it opened my eyes into the world of journalism and interviewing techniques, as well as the technical aspect of video editing and sound management. For example, this documentary took roughly 2 hours to film and took upwards of 6 hours to edit. It was extremely gratifying to watch the final cut of a documentary that you put so many hours into, and I think this project was a very important stepping stone for my professional career. If you're interested, feel free to watch my documentary on the left!
Current Conflict Essay
Another project from my time at UW-Madison that highlights my strengths as a writer and reflects my opinions on current events/issues, was a research paper on the Venezuelan elections. During the summer term of the 2024 school year, I had taken a course on Communication & Conflict Resolution. Our final paper for this particular course was to pick a current conflict issue, diagnose the elements of this conflict, and propose potential resolution options for this conflict. I chose to center my paper around the current conflict in Venezuela, regarding the presidential elections and the severe inflation the country suffers from. This assignment had a significant impact on me because it taught me how to dissect conflicts, conduct thorough research, and allowed me creative freedom to explore potential resolutions. In particular, I think this paper highlights the passion and urgency I can incorporate in my writing, as well as the way I construct and display my arguments. To read a copy of my article click here.
Another project from my studies at UW-Madison was a video assignment where we were tasked with making a YouTube Short, addressing a current issue on UW-Madison's campus. I chose to highlight certain intersections that, I feel are currently a safety issue. This project allowed me valuable practice time with several Adobe applications like, Premiere Pro, Adobe Rush, and Photoshop. This project also shows my ability to convey information and urgency, through new online media outlets like Shorts, Reels, etc. This project, in particular showcases my comfortability on-camera and my ability to effectively communicate current issues and/or events. I believe that short-form media will become more incorporated into our society and is already a large source of information for many people across the globe. Being able to effectively communicate information through these platforms will become key to social media accounts across all industries. To view my YouTube Short, click the icon to the left, under YouTube Short; Current Issues.
Gallery
CU Baseball cap
Person lounging on a couch with, their arms stretched out.
Red Bull Vehicle CU, with different angle of person behind
CU Baseball cap
These images were taken by myself, in the spring of 2025.