Pecha Kucha Transcript
Slide 1: Introduction | Hi everyone! I’m Matt Shadbolt. I’m a dad, a husband, survivor, movie junkie, and lifelong Cleveland Browns diehard. And today I’m going to share with you some of my journey back to Penn.
Slide 2: Designing Helpfulness | I’ve spent most of my career in digital product and design, building helpful experiences like the ones you see here for The Corcoran Group in New York, for millions of people to find a place to live.
Slide 3: A Career in News | And over the past ten years I’ve moved into a career in news media, where I’ve worked for The New York Times, and currently work for NBC News where I run all of the core experiences across web, mobile and streaming apps.
Slide 4: Hearing Penn’s Call | But during the pandemic, I felt a strong personal motivation to go back to school after almost thirty years, and heard Penn’s call. In early 2021, I took the leap and began a fresh set of undergraduate studies in literature and tradition.
Slide 5: Building Resilience | I began with grit-building classes which would give me the tools for my journey, ultimately taking six applied positive psychology classes and earning Penn’s advanced certification.
Slide 6: A Passion for Antiquity | And I took it all I’d learned and along the way discovered a deep passion for studies of faith and antiquity, independently learning Latin and crafting a path for the odyssey of potential graduate studies.
Slide 7: Digital Futures | But for me the past has always also felt the pull of the future, and I spent a lot of time in incredible digital culture classes building future-facing experiences. Interactive worlds, generative visualizations and speculating on what’s next.
Slide 8: Can I Write? | And through it all I wrote. I told stories of my own past. But also stories of what might be. I imagined different histories of New York and populated them with its ghosts. I found my voice and built an archive of tales.
Slide 9: The Soviet Challenge | The work was never easy. I spent time wrestling with the politics of Putin’s Russia. Easily one of the most challenging but intensely rewarding experiences of the journey, but which unlocked a new fascination with Russia cinema.
Slide 10: Finding the Moviegoers | And so along the way I found my people. I wrote for The Penn Moviegoer, eventually becoming the club’s Design Chair and rebuilding the website for four years, but also getting the opportunity to work with on-campus students.
Slide 11: Designing for Democracy | I joined the Penn Dems and redesigned their website, hosting live online streaming events such as state of the union watch parties, and driving a large new audience to the club, blending my work and academic lives together.
Slide 12: How did it Work? | My journey involved a lot of highly organized early mornings and late nights tackling quizzes, threads, and responses while balancing professional and family life. Proactively finding ways to make it work, but also asking for help when I needed it.
Slide 13: Virtual but Never Alone | And while I’m a virtual returning student, I’ve never been alone. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some incredible professors and students along the way. I feel so grateful to have been in the same room with them.
Slide 14: What Happened to Me? | As a result, I became clearer and crisper in my communication with others, more thoughtful and measured. More succinct and purposeful in my writing. More appreciative in my listening. And more speculative about the future. Ours and mine.
Slide 15: How is Work Different? | Work changed a lot over the years. I enjoyed incredible professional support, without which I could never have done it. But whatever I was learning I always brought it back and applied it to our teams.
Slide 16: Bringing it Back | I implemented positive psychology methods into our performance review process, regularly held character strengths workshops, coached through positive interventions, and actively built programs based on grit and resilience.
Slide 17: What Have I Learned? | So what have I learned? There’s so many experiences which have encouraged me to be the best version of me I could possibly be. I’ve learned how to ask better questions and seek out their answers. But I’ve also learned that spending time in the distant past is really where my passion is.
Slide 18: What Will I Remember? | I’ll remember the pride I felt becoming a Quaker for life. And those who cheered me on. Those who pushed me while lifting me up. And the honor of the brief times I got to spend on campus and those I got to meet in person.
Slide 19: What’s Next? | So what’s next? I’m going to write. I’m going to indulge my passions for ancient languages, antiquity and travel. I’m going to warm up an application for graduate study. And I’m going to help others like me find their own path back to school.
Slide 20: In Gratitude | In particular I want to thank my family and work colleagues for their support, everyone at the Moviegoer, and especially to professors Krieger, Harrold, Millar, Brinley, Johnson, Davids and McDaniel. Go Quakers.
Self-Evaluation
There have been many opportunities for reflection so far in class, but this is the project where, for me, it all came together. Here I was able to see really how far I’ve been able to go at Penn. Assembling all of the discreet moments of joy along the way, and structuring it all into a narrative which connects to my professional life, I can see just what Penn has encouraged me to be professionally and academically. I feel so proud to be part of the Penn community, and to be a part of an institution which has embraced me for being the best version of me I could possibly be. It’s through making this video that I see what I did, but it also gives me a vehicle through which to share with others what happened. A means of demonstrating just what happens when you choose to apply. And the wealth of opportunities which, if you seek them out, are at Penn in abundance.
Explanation:
My response demonstrates the strong connections to experience, effectively synthesizes moments of joy and learning at Penn, and linking my personal growth to my journey of academic and professional development. The reflection and self-assessment envision the potential of my future self, and highlight how my journey at Penn has shaped and augmented my professional and academic goals. I’ve included clear examples seeknig to illustrate the dimensions of mastery and understanding, and my language is crisp, showcasing a strong control of syntax and mechanics. My conclusion logically follows from the reflections, and emphasizes my experience of the wealth of opportunities at Penn.
