Me and the IMRC

By Brenna Martens

If, within my first two years at the University of Maine, you had asked me what the Innovative Media Research Center was, I wouldn’t have had an answer. I wouldn’t have even known that it was a building on campus. Then, last spring, I took a class there, which gave me a peek into the vast resources and tools available within it. 

One morning, when I came into class, our teacher announced that the facility was looking to hire new undergraduate students–and I happened to be in desperate need of a job. After class, I asked her for more information and she introduced me to Drew Hooke. Drew is the Operations Manager at the IMRC Center and is honestly one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He told me a little about the undergraduate position, and before I knew it, I was hired.

Walking in on my first day, I was full of nervous energy. I wasn’t an artist or a music producer; I had no idea how to use a 3D printer or make models. Drew gave me a quick tour of the various labs. My first couple weeks were going to be filled with training programs to familiarize myself with everything. By the end of the training programs, I still felt very out of place. My first actual task was to learn one of the recording programs that we were adding to our AV labs, and to make a training program for it like the ones I had been learning from. This took me a few weeks to get fully done, and in those weeks I met more of the staff, learned more of the equipment, and slowly became more comfortable. By the end of the semester, I had finished the training, helped on a few other projects, and started to feel like a part of the team.

Coming back this year, I wasn’t sure what my role was going to be. However, I knew that there would be a place for me, and that I would get to use and develop my skills to help create new and exciting projects and events for the IMRC. I started working more with some of the Graduate Assistants and was put on the communications team team. I helped plan, set up, and run events like movie nights for a film series. Now I’m working on a YouTube project and writing for our blog. 

I’m working on setting up my internship through the IMRC and possibly applying for Grad School and a Graduate Assistant position here within the next 2 years. I had never once considered getting a Master of Fine Arts before working here (I never thought of graduate school at all before working here). I have only just started learning and growing, and the differences I see in myself are life-altering. My views of the world have changed and my knowledge of the possibilities that are out there for creative people who don’t want a bored-to-death desk job has completely changed my path.

 I can honestly say that working at the IMRC Center has changed my life. I’ve been put on a new path that I always wished I could be on but wasn’t sure how to. I’ve started planning for a future that a year ago I didn’t think was a possibility for me.  I couldn’t be more thankful for that. Thank you for reading!