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By Taylor Baker
Managing Editor
Luisa Torres, junior broadcast video and journalism major, has spent her time at Barton learning, leading and exploring both inside and outside of her major.
Torres is actively involved in the communications department. Her involvement ranges from helping on the Collegiate staff to working for Wilson Educational Television (WEDT).
Regarding the Collegiate, Torres has not only written articles throughout her Barton years, but has taken many of the pictures seen in previous editions of the Collegiate and has transferred articles and pictures to the online website. She has provided staff writers with advice regarding who to go to for article ideas, where to find them and how to reach them.
Jessica Pate, a Collegiate staff writer, friend and classmate of Torres described her as helpful and effective. Pate said, “She is always willing to help whoever needs help and does whatever needs to be done throughout the department.”
Regarding the WEDT, Torres said she is in charge of making sure that the cameras are ready for anyone in the department that needs them. Anyone that is in need of video equipment from the communications department usually has to go through her.
She said she is also in charge of the Barton Edition show that airs on the WEDT channel. She serves as the host of the show where she invites Barton faculty members and professionals to talk about their involvement on campus. The show is filmed once every month.
Though she appears in front of the camera often, her work extends behind the scenes as well. Torres said she spends a lot of her time editing video work for the shows put on WEDT.
Webster Struthers, associate professor of communication, said Torres does everything for WEDT.
“She does everything,” he said. “She takes care of the old professor; she helps with everything. She takes care of all of the gear and she always helps us with our productions and she is indispensable to the whole operation.”
For all of the work she does, Torres said she has her own office. She said she got her office by putting a sign up on the door that said “Luisa’s office” as a joke. Her office started off as an editing suite for editing video and a storage room for all of the video equipment, but because she worked in there often, she claimed it as her own.
“I worked in there a lot, so I had my sign up a lot,” said Torres. “It started off as a joke, but then I just claimed it as my own and nobody really complained.”
In her time at Barton, Torres has not only achieved entitlement to her own office, but has also gained the title “Queen of WEDT.” Struthers said she gained her title when she took over the editing suite and turned it into her own office.
Struthers said he has known Torres for two years and she goes above and beyond every duty on every single case.
“Her work ethic is unparalleled and her colleagues could learn a lot from her,” Struthers said.
He described Torres as incredibly smart, talented, responsible and as having an enhanced work ethic.
“She is a woman amongst boys,” Struthers said.
Torres said she decided to be a mass communications major after completing her senior project in high school. The project was designed to help students explore topics of interest and required them to research their chosen topic and present a final product.
Torres decided to create a short video of young Christians describing their beliefs and challenges they faced. Before she presented her final product, in her speech she shared a story about her great aunt who had recently died of cancer. Torres said she shared about how her aunt taught her to never take life for granted.
After she had presented her entire project, she said everyone sat there quiet and didn’t say anything. Torres said that everyone was left speechless in a good way. They had no questions.
“That’s how I discovered the power of communicating a message,” said Torres, “because everyone was impressed not only with my work but the message it had in it.”
“So that’s how I decided I wanted to do mass communications,” she said.
Having committed so much time working with video, Torres has faced challenges in the field.
She said her biggest challenge has been learning how to use her emotions effectively, because as a filmmaker it is important to know how to create feelings in people.
“So basically just learning that you have the power of emotion and learning how to use it in a good way,” said Torres.
In movies it is the goal of the filmmaker to create a particular emotion in the audience.
Torres has a lot of involvement with the communications department, but she has not limited herself only to helping with tasks in this department.
She said she has also helped with many theatre productions by working backstage, selling tickets, passing out programs and greeting people that enter the theatre during productions.
Torres said she has been in one play written by Adam Twiss and Gerard Lange called Hanger Flying.
Torres said she has been a part of the Barton acapella group called the Bartonaires for two years and is in her third year in the Barton choir. Earlier in her Barton years she has also been a part of sign choir.
She is currently an oral communications tutor.
Torres said by the end of her college career, the most important skill she feels she will have developed is playing well with others.
She said she certainly wants to acquire the technical skills of communications (video, audio, and writing), but overall she wants to have achieved the skill of working well with others.
“I think the most important thing for me is to play well with others,” said Torres. “It gives you a lot of wisdom in life. It’s not about me; playing well is one of the most important skills that you will learn in this field.”
Torres said one of her inspirations in life has been Audrey Hepburn. Hepburn was a famous actress in Hollywood.
“What I really like about her is that she is more than a beautiful face behind the camera,” said Torres. “She did a lot of things in her life to help other people.”
Torres said in her opinion a beautiful woman isn’t someone who is just physically attractive to people, but is someone who wants a better society and lives not only for themselves but for others.
Right after college, Torres said she would like to go to graduate school, but she isn’t sure where yet.
“If I didn’t have the opportunity to go to graduate school, I would love to work in my field in a TV station, hopefully in Atlanta because that’s where some of the best television is made,” said Torres.
Torres said she has an interest in filming documentaries because they have a way of bridging the gap between people. She said it is a way to help people with differences understand each other. She described documentaries as being “eye-opening.”
After college Torres may dedicate some of her talent to filming documentaries, but she said she does not plan on limiting herself to only that.
“It would be great to film documentaries, but I want to test my skills in everything, not just documentary work,” said Torres.
Torres said some of her hobbies include sleeping, browsing the Internet, swimming, photography, journaling, eating cake, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
