Career Makeover Contest:
Meet the Winners

Last semester, SF State Extended Learning gave away over $10,000 in classes to 15 Bay Area professionals who were ready to give their careers are makeover. We checked in with those who had started or completed their classes, and here are some of their stories.

Kristina Hontalas

Winner of the Digital Video Intensive

Originally from Sausalito, Kristina’s got a degree from UCSB in Theatre, as her passion lies in writing. She has even been commissioned by the Magic Theatre to write a play about stem cell research, and has remained actively involved in the San Francisco theatre. But having to have a “day job” as a receptionist of large firm to make a living was draining her creative energy. Kristina said: “After a couple of months I knew everything about this job. It was too easy, too slow.” She decided to go back to school and looked into graduate programs in both theatre and film, another great interest of hers. But she did not meet the requirement of previous film experience.

Enter a commercial on Radio Energy, announcing the chance to win a seat in the 16 week Digital Video Intensive. Her heart reportedly “jumped to Mars and back” when she heard this, and the rest is history.

At time of publishing, she’s been in the program for three weeks and “loves it” so far. Kristina’s interests and special talents are crystallizing around three different aspects of filmmaking, and she is looking forward to exploring the new medium to the fullest before deciding on new goals.

Lori O’Connor

Winner of the Conflict Management in the Workplace Class

Laurie is a novice school principal and quickly realized the importance of continually developing her communication skills in order to effectively communicate with teachers, parents, staff, students, and the community. Although she com-pleted many units of study beyond her bachelor’s degree, she never had any specific training in conflict management.

Laurie has completed the “Conflict Management in the Workplace” course and says: “Now that I have taken this class, I have been able to integrate the new skills into my everyday work as a school leader. Those skills are allowing me to reach new levels of communication with others when it comes to managing conflict. I now have greater efficacy and effectiveness when I encounter these challenging situations.”

Josh Srago

Winner of the Music Industry Career Planning Class

Josh grew up wanting to be in the music industry, yet not sure in what capacity exactly. Playing music and earning a degree in the SF State BECA/Audio Production program, he has achieved what many would consider a successful career. Josh worked in live sound for venues and event production companies, in radio as a producer and broadcast engineer, and currently works for an audio manufacturer. Yet Josh needed a change as he felt the love for music being less and less a part of his work. Surfing SF Gate he came across the Career Makeover ad and thought "what have I got to lose?"

At time of publishing, Josh has been back in the Music and Recording Industry program for a few weeks and says: “Class has been a reawakening for me. It became clear that the music industry was where I wanted to be. I have to shape my own career and take advantage of the opportunities around me.”

And Josh’s new career is taking shape already: “Ideally want to pull all of my experience as a musician, producer, and event production specialist together to coach up and coming musicians. I'd like to open my own venue to prepare them for the major venues that will hopefully come later in their careers. There will be internship opportunities for BECA and MRI students interested in live sound – as a way of giving back to the programs that helped me get where I am.”

Bridget Carberry

Winner of the Essentials of Integrated Marketing Class

Originally from Boston, Bridget earned her Bachelor's degree in Communications from Boston University. She then worked in video production in Boston and Burlington, Vermont. She moved to the San Francisco Bay Area last fall out of a desire to experience the west coast and to move her career along.

Bridget says: “Almost a year later, I found myself frustrated, still working entry-level video production jobs, and realizing that I want more to a career than just operating a camera. I entered the SF State Career Makeover contest hoping to get a chance to explore Marketing as a possible career. I've completed the Intro to Integrated Marketing, and I'm look-ing forward to taking a couple more classes this fall and next spring. I learned a lot from the instructor, and just from connecting with the other professionals in the class. I hope to eventually find a way to incorporate my video production and marketing skills. This intro class definitely gave me the motivation to keep learning, and evolving my career.”