By Sophia Eppolito
On the first day of high school, a nervous Rebecca Castillo shuffled into a classroom expecting to find the cool, comfortable confines of the debate room. Yet, due to a scheduling error, she found herself surrounded by story-hungry journalists from the student newspaper.
This random turn of events would spark Castillo’s love for journalism and a 24 year long career at the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA).
After high school, Castillo decided to attend Columbia University where she had hoped to major in journalism. Due to a lack of technology at the time, Castillo was unaware of the fact that that major was not offered at Columbia. This forced her to go out of her comfort zone and learn about new aspects of media.
“So I got here and felt kind of stuck because I didn’t know what to do,” Castillo said. “I fell in love with the campus though and I stuck it out.”
During her time at Columbia, Castillo also had the opportunity to explore the world of broadcast journalism so she majored in film. This forced her to learn how to tell stories in a new way as opposed to her previous experience with print media in high school.
“At the end of my sophomore year, they approved film as major, so I chose to do film because I wanted to learn about storytelling visually,” Castillo said.
Castillo continued her education in the field of digital media and broadcast journalism during her time at graduate school where she received her masters in journalism.
By doing so much work with film, Castillo found that she really loved photography and still continues pursuing that passion today. She started her own company called NYC Storyteller for which she makes video documentaries and photographs of the diverse kinds of people who live in New York City.
One of Castillo’s favorite stories that she was able to tell was that of a woman named Margie Elliott. Elliott grew up in Harlem and was constantly surrounded by jazz. When her son died at a very young age, Elliott decided that the best way to mourn him was through her music. So for the past 15 years, Elliott has hosted free jazz concerts at her home every Sunday in remembrance of her son. To tell Elliott’s story, Castillo made a short video documentary that can be viewed on her website, rebeccacastillo.com.
“When I met her, she just loved telling me about her love for her son and how every sunday she remembers him and so that story sticks out because I felt like she let me into her world,” Castillo said.
Elliott’s is just one example of the many stories that Castillo has been able to tell. Because of her extensive journalistic experience, Castillo has been able to combine her two loves of writing and visuals to create artistic pieces that she can be truly proud of.
“It has always amazed me how little respect written words and images receive,” Castillo stated on her personal website. “Photos recount details that fill the holes of the story. They tell the story for those that were not there and remind those that were. I want to perfect that balance [between written words and images] through my talents of photography, graphic design and writing.”
Scholastic Journalism Writing Resource 