When I was initially told at Youth Radio that I was going to be partnering up with someone from KQED to create a video on health care that the average young person would want to watch, and do this, by re-telling several stories that KQED had already reported, I was very skeptical about the outcome of the project. The subject of health care is so vast and vague that it's very hard to understand and relay to someone else who's also uninformed. Even most people who have health care don't understand why, what, and how their health care and the current health care system works. I felt the process would be like trying to teach a blind person colors or a deaf person what sound an elephant makes. Basically, it would be a very hard thing to accomplish.

When I met Amanda Stupi from KQED, I related my concerns to her, as she did to me, and we found a middle ground. We listened to many KQED shows concerning health care and then we used the facts stated in the KQED pieces in the video. While listening to the KQED shows for information, I found that I had accidently fallen asleep a few times. Also, when I was awake, sometimes I would go into a trance where I could hear someone talking, but I wasn't actually listening to them -- it was kind of like the sound the teacher from Charlie Brown makes when she speaks in class.

At that point, I told Amanda that young people are not going to sit through this video if there's nothing entertaining for them to watch along with the facts. So I thought to myself, what is all health care related to? Answer: people getting sick or hurt and wanting to get well. What are the most watched videos on You Tube that young people love and watch religiously? Answer: music-related videos, and clips that are funny or show people getting hurt. I told Amanda that information and eventually, we both decided the roles each of us would be responsible for to create this video. Amanda's role was to make sure all the facts are informative and accurate and my role was to make sure the video was entertaining.

Long story short, working with Amanda Stupi on the project was fun and has broadened my horizons in many areas, such as executing a project step-by-step, conveying a specific message, and compromising and finding a middle ground with your team members to get the best results. During the process of making this video, Amanda brought to my attention that the public will not always fully understand what you're trying to portray to them, particularly if it is an issue they are unclear about. Not everyone thinks the same way, and you need to make sure that whatever information you're trying to spread needs to be as straightforward as possible without leaving any room for the reader to be unclear or to doubt the information. Thanks Amanda.