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Dec
Dec
Education is extremely important, no matter what you choose to do with it. And education doesn’t stop when you’re handed that diploma. At Avalaunch Media, our team is made up of marketers from all different types of educational backgrounds. Some of our team’s diverse majors include journalism, business, art, digital media, English, graphic design, and even law. Somehow, we all made the journey to digital marketing. And with our unique backgrounds, we’re able to help our awesome clients tell their stories.
We’re passionate about education—our own and the next generation’s. That’s why we regularly offer our employees off-site training and learning opportunities. It’s also why this year we’ve launched our annual $1,000 Avalaunch Media Scholarship Contest to help students on their paths to lifelong learning, no matter where their degrees take them. To learn more about how #avalaunchgivesback, take a look at our scholarship page.
At Avalaunch Media, we strive to “create believers” out of our clients, whether that’s believing in digital marketing, the Avalaunch team, or their own brands. We know the importance of believing—that’s why our mascot is a yeti.
We wanted to know what current college students, aka the future of this country, think about creating believers. To enter the Avalaunch Media Scholarship Contest, students were required to create an essay or video centered on one of the following topics:
We’re thrilled to announce this year’s winner, and the first-ever Avalaunch Media Scholarship awardee, Kaitlin Gray. Kaitlin is a freshman at Utah Valley University studying Commercial Music and Cello Performance, and is from Eagle Mountain, Utah.
Kaitlin wrote about the importance of believing in your own talents—after all, how can you expect people to trust you if you can’t trust yourself? Read Kaitlin’s essay below:
“A believer is someone who trusts in a certain outcome of some desirable or effective thing. To believe in a story means that you support it, cherish it, make sacrifices for it, and give your entire heart to whatever future successes are foreseen because of it. All of us want believers on our side. As human beings, we crave reinforcements, support systems, momentum. We crave that feeling of being believed in.
But how does one, exactly, create believers for themselves? Simple: they lead by example. As long as I’ve been alive, I’ve tried to make my triumphs a top priority. I’ve bought ponderously into the idea that I am worth a bright future and lofty successes. I’m worth this scholarship that I’m applying for; I’m worth that new computer program I’m going learn to make money with. And that trust within myself–not only that I can do hard things, but that I think I can do them well–is what creates the fiery believer inside me. When you must make a decision, being your own biggest fan is an absolute necessity. If you can’t even trust in yourself, how can you expect others to buy stock in your cause?
Consider people you know that are awful decision makers. I’m confident everyone is familiar with this breed, since uncertain unbelievers are presently more common than not. Awful decision makers are the ones who look for confirmation in everything they do, from choosing their outfit to buying their lunch each day. These are the people we see snapchatting pictures of work to their friends, posting their bathroom selfies three times per week, and documenting their entire life on Facebook so that friends can look at their posts and comment their respective oooh’s and ahhh’s. While I’m not saying this lifestyle is inherently bad on its own (and believe me, every teenager would be found guilty on these charges from time to time, myself indubitably included), this is not the way a believer should live, and it isn’t an effective way to create a system of real fans. Believers with true confidence in themselves don’t need validation from others. They don’t need ten different opinions on what shoes to wear to their meeting; they’ve already got a pair picked out, and they’re going to work great. That sandwich for lunch sure does photograph pretty, but showing it off to the online world isn’t going to further a believer’s pleasure in eating it. They appreciate it’s suavity enough on their own. Catching the difference?
I like to create believers in myself by building a fanbase from square one: and that starts with me. After crafting plans I will stop at nothing to achieve, I invite people to hop onto that ‘Crazy Train’ with me, promising an eventual arrival on the doorstep of my dreams. My believers can have confidence in the certain outcome of my story because I do, too. And that has become one of my life’s greatest strengths.”
Thank you to every student who took the time to enter the Avalaunch Media Scholarship Contest. We wish you luck on your educational journeys. And congratulations, Kaitlin!
- How have you created believers in yourself and your story?
- How will you create believers in your future endeavors?
We’re thrilled to announce this year’s winner, and the first-ever Avalaunch Media Scholarship awardee, Kaitlin Gray. Kaitlin is a freshman at Utah Valley University studying Commercial Music and Cello Performance, and is from Eagle Mountain, Utah.
Kaitlin wrote about the importance of believing in your own talents—after all, how can you expect people to trust you if you can’t trust yourself? Read Kaitlin’s essay below:
“A believer is someone who trusts in a certain outcome of some desirable or effective thing. To believe in a story means that you support it, cherish it, make sacrifices for it, and give your entire heart to whatever future successes are foreseen because of it. All of us want believers on our side. As human beings, we crave reinforcements, support systems, momentum. We crave that feeling of being believed in.
But how does one, exactly, create believers for themselves? Simple: they lead by example. As long as I’ve been alive, I’ve tried to make my triumphs a top priority. I’ve bought ponderously into the idea that I am worth a bright future and lofty successes. I’m worth this scholarship that I’m applying for; I’m worth that new computer program I’m going learn to make money with. And that trust within myself–not only that I can do hard things, but that I think I can do them well–is what creates the fiery believer inside me. When you must make a decision, being your own biggest fan is an absolute necessity. If you can’t even trust in yourself, how can you expect others to buy stock in your cause?
Consider people you know that are awful decision makers. I’m confident everyone is familiar with this breed, since uncertain unbelievers are presently more common than not. Awful decision makers are the ones who look for confirmation in everything they do, from choosing their outfit to buying their lunch each day. These are the people we see snapchatting pictures of work to their friends, posting their bathroom selfies three times per week, and documenting their entire life on Facebook so that friends can look at their posts and comment their respective oooh’s and ahhh’s. While I’m not saying this lifestyle is inherently bad on its own (and believe me, every teenager would be found guilty on these charges from time to time, myself indubitably included), this is not the way a believer should live, and it isn’t an effective way to create a system of real fans. Believers with true confidence in themselves don’t need validation from others. They don’t need ten different opinions on what shoes to wear to their meeting; they’ve already got a pair picked out, and they’re going to work great. That sandwich for lunch sure does photograph pretty, but showing it off to the online world isn’t going to further a believer’s pleasure in eating it. They appreciate it’s suavity enough on their own. Catching the difference?
I like to create believers in myself by building a fanbase from square one: and that starts with me. After crafting plans I will stop at nothing to achieve, I invite people to hop onto that ‘Crazy Train’ with me, promising an eventual arrival on the doorstep of my dreams. My believers can have confidence in the certain outcome of my story because I do, too. And that has become one of my life’s greatest strengths.”
Thank you to every student who took the time to enter the Avalaunch Media Scholarship Contest. We wish you luck on your educational journeys. And congratulations, Kaitlin!
Congratulations, Kaitlin. And good on ya, Matt and the Avalaunch team!