Design Team Apprentice Rachel Berg broke onto the Digital Corps scene over two years ago, ready to continue her love of animation in a professional setting. As everyone in the Digital Corps met Rachel and had the opportunity to work with her, it has become clear just how passionate she is.
When it comes down to three words, Rachel describes herself as motivated, creative, and kind. And to anyone who knows her, these words describe her well.
“Stereotypically I am a creative person, but I don’t think it is just because I am ‘artsy,’ but I find creative solutions, you know not the easiest path but the path that makes the most sense to me.”
As an animation major, Rachel was not a stranger to the tedious work of drawing and animating small characters. As she started working with The Loading Zone, the love she had for creating characters was evident.
The Loading Zone is a short cartoon for the Ball State University PBS channel, otherwise known as WIPB-TV, the characters in the show are named Billy and Penelope and are completely animated. They learn about different STEM subjects taught by Digital Corps students. The animation part of these cartoons are great ways for animation students like Rachel to practice their skills.
“I love the loading zone; it has always been fun to animate the characters.”
Beyond working with The Loading Zone, Rachel has also enjoyed working on projects such as those that are heavy with little graphics and small animation. Working on shorter graphics and animations has brought her a lot of satisfaction. However, working with animation can get tricky and very frustrating and is not always all love.
As she reminisces on some harder projects, Rachel brings up her first project at Digital Corps working with a program used by Ball State called Navigate. The task Rachel had was to create instructional videos for students on how to use this program. And she speaks on the struggles she faced of finishing this deadline on time and how it took a lot of effort to complete this task.
“I have this rule where I try to figure my problem out myself before asking other people for help, and then I will try using Google to help me. Then if Google doesn’t know, I’ll ask someone who’s higher in the design level, than me, like Riley. That’s how you learn.”
As graduation approaches in July, Rachel has only just begun a life full of creativity. Recently, Rachel has plunged into a new opportunity with the Disney College Program. The Disney College Program is an internship operated by the Disney Programs division of The Walt Disney Company.
While Rachel is still waiting for information regarding her specific role, she plans on spending six months in Florida working at Disney parks. Through an application and interview process she was ecstatic to hear of her acceptance.
“I’m so surprised I took this leap of faith. I told many of my professors and they say that this can open doors for me. I think of this small leap that can become a jump into a career.”
