It”s interesting that the most embarrassing moment can also be the most uplifting.
Last week, after months of planning, I took part in the Every 15 Minutes program at Middletown High School. I was the media coordinator, in charge of planning out and editing the video produced from filming the drunk driving crash simulation and other parts of the day”s events.
For most of Thursday, I had a video camera in my possession, pointing it at what was going on in front of me. For most of that night, I stared at my computer screen, logging footage from the day and editing it together into what became a 48-minute video of the day.
Unfortunately, technology only moves at the speed it wants to move, which meant editing the video continued from late Thursday night into early Friday morning. I sat in agony as I watched estimated times for logging footage and rendering edited video grow from minutes to hours, knowing that every minute I didn”t get to edit would hurt my chances of finishing the video in time for Friday”s assembly and mock funeral.
I didn”t want to let anyone down and soldiered on, finding time to rest for about two hours while video rendered.
I sat in a conference room in the high school office with approximately three hours to finish and approximately half to three-quarters of the video complete. I knew it would be a race against time, one I believed I could win.
Little did I know that it wouldn”t have mattered if I had finished the video in time to try and get it onto a DVD to show to the hundreds of parents, teachers, community members and students. By the time I was able to compress the finished video file to fit onto a DVD, it would take approximately six hours to compress. All I could do was laugh about it once it was done.
But that was Monday afternoon, after I had an entire weekend to finish the video, during which my computer nearly crashed the first time I tried to compress it.
On Friday at noon, after running the gamut of emotions realizing I wouldn”t be able to get the video onto a DVD in time, I begrudgingly took my computer and external hard drive over to the assembly in an attempt to play the video from the video editing program, my last resort.
For the 10 minutes that Principal Bill Roderick, myself and others attempted to get the video to run, I felt all eyes on me and that I was letting everybody down by not being able to finish the video in time. I felt awful, guilty, ashamed.
And then Bill acknowledged to the crowd that I had been working for nearly 24 hours on the video, and everyone began to applaud. Suddenly, everyone began to stand. I had never received a standing ovation before. In the next instant, all 26 student-participants surrounded me, thanking me for my work and comforting me with hugs and kind words.
The entire experience overwhelmed me. I felt so embarrassed and incredibly rewarded simultaneously. It was a unique experience, one that I won”t soon forget.
I”ll tell you one thing: I still love technology, even when it messes with me like it did. Also, I take my assignments way too seriously, but I think that”s a good thing, usually.
I want to thank everyone involved in the Every 15 Minutes program and all in the Middletown High School community who helped me, believed in me, thanked me and comforted me. I know now that I did not let you down. I hope you enjoy the video.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14. Twitter @KevinNHume.
