 Interview with Zoe D’Angelo |
 | Zoe D'Angelo "Just be yourself! Everyone at Inspiring Teens is super welcoming and loves when new people join! We get so close to each other and make long-lasting friendships. Don't be shy. Don't be afraid to share what you're thinking. Every thought counts. I hope you enjoy your time here!" |
 | Sierra Zaccagnino "Inspiring Teens was such a great decision because I have been able to develop my leadership skills, and have fun while collaborating with other teens who have the same goals as me." |
 | Grace Mahony "I like how we get to use our creativity as well as leadership and public speaking. We make friends, learn stuff, and it is just all around awesome." |
 | Emma Clopton Coming into the program, I didn't know what to expect. While getting involved with everything, I instantly fell in love with Inspiring Teens Magazine! My advice to any new member is to be yourself. You can find amazing people through being who you truly are. Embrace and love yourself and don't be afraid to show off what you've got. Accept any challenges you may face and never give up! You are beautiful and inspiring and deserve to be here!" |
 | Cyrena Spafford I love how everyone who participates in the program has the opportunity to show a unique part of their personality. The advice I'd give to new girls starting is to be yourself and enjoy every moment in the program! |
 | Sarah Smith "My advice to any new person joining Inspiring Teens would be to challenge yourself. I found that I could do this best in the Leadership Program working with businesses in the area and sharing my ideas with the group. Voice your opinions, don't be afraid to get in front of the camera, and continue to inspire those around you." |
 | Nicole Linder "Don't be afraid to talk and make sure you are yourself. Everyone is so welcoming and will love you for you. Any ideas are good. If you have an idea for an article, raise your hand and share! Good Luck :)" |
 | Mikayla Havers "Just be yourself and open your mind up to meeting other people. I came in here not knowing anyone, and I left the very first meeting feeling like I knew the other girls a lot better. You're amazing and beautiful - always remember that. Best of luck!" |
 | Olivia Bush "I love Inspiring Teens because you get to meet so many new people and have fun. Some advice I would give is to step out of your comfort zone because no idea is a bad idea." |
 | Marie Suttmann "When you join, don't be afraid to really get involved. Getting involved really gives you the full experience of being a part of the programs." |
 | Madison Cavallo "Having a space here at Inspiring Teens to collaborate with other girls your own age is beneficial, inspiring, and very fun!" |
 | Kari Jim "The main thing that I love about this program is all the opportunities that are given. I've met a lot of new people over the years by doing this and I'm really glad I did it!" |
 | Kimberly Wang "What I love about the program is wearing different outfits for different photo shoots, meeting new people and making friendships that could last a lifetime. Advice for new girls: Be confident, be yourself, gain self esteem, believe in yourself, and always have a positive attitude no matter what." |
 | Delila Matara "Follow your heart, inspiring is an art. Don't forget to laugh and smile and always be sweet. Hope you stay a while!" |
 | Jillian Cardinal "My advice would be to just be yourself and not change anything about you because who you are is who you are meant to be." |
Zoe D'Angelo, Jillian Cardinal, Carly D'Angelo, Brittany Shugrue, Ellie Kuhnle and Olivia Bush
Olivia Bush:
Olivia Bush, Sorority interview question and answers for Carly and Brittany:
1. How do you balance your time between school and sorority events?
In order to stay in a sorority, you have to maintain a 2.5 gpa, and you earn points for earning A’s and B’s and for going to the library to study. There is a scholarship chair in the sorority which is just in charge of making sure every ones grades are up to par. So it is pretty easy because we mostly know that we have to get are homework done and that our grades come first in order to actively participate.
2. How do you become more involved in your sorority?
Mostly just going to everything and being really involved. Even if you don’t know someone that well text or dm them asking if they want to go to lunch. Go to events and activities and actively participate.
3. How much time commitment is a sorority?
There are mandatory meetings once a week that are normally an hour, and then there are volunteer events, fun activities and socials. I would say around five hours a week.
1. How do you balance your time between school and sorority events?
In order to stay in a sorority, you have to maintain a 2.5 gpa, and you earn points for earning A’s and B’s and for going to the library to study. There is a scholarship chair in the sorority which is just in charge of making sure every ones grades are up to par. So it is pretty easy because we mostly know that we have to get are homework done and that our grades come first in order to actively participate.
2. How do you become more involved in your sorority?
Mostly just going to everything and being really involved. Even if you don’t know someone that well text or dm them asking if they want to go to lunch. Go to events and activities and actively participate.
3. How much time commitment is a sorority?
There are mandatory meetings once a week that are normally an hour, and then there are volunteer events, fun activities and socials. I would say around five hours a week.
Questions by Jillian Cardinal
Are there a lot of volunteering opportunities?
Yes
Have you done any?
Yes we have done adopt a block which is when you go into town and clean up the streets, we have also done bake sales, and many diamond donates.
What were your favorite type of volunteer opportunity?
The 5k on Veterans Day and we raised 5 thousand dollars for David’s Drive 831 ,an organization helping homeless & hospitalized veteran’s.
Yes
Have you done any?
Yes we have done adopt a block which is when you go into town and clean up the streets, we have also done bake sales, and many diamond donates.
What were your favorite type of volunteer opportunity?
The 5k on Veterans Day and we raised 5 thousand dollars for David’s Drive 831 ,an organization helping homeless & hospitalized veteran’s.
Questions by Ellie Kuhnle
What are team building activities you do in the sorority?
-on bid day we get all social medias and follow everyone . Before social media was big, we’d do cross over the line, where people cross over the line with statements they relate to. Each assignment is fulfilled with someone knew, so you get to know everyone!
What is your favorite activity to do with your sisters?
-a lot of sister hood events, Brittany is sister chair, she sets up event for everyone. Activities like Zumba, pumpkin picking, bowling, & various social events. Ice Cream at the house is common and annual, a movie night is in the planning process. Sisters go out to lunch together and act like “normal friends,” and during finals they all study at the library together.
Have you gained confidence from becoming a sister? If so, how?
-YES! “I’ve seen such a personality difference in myself...” (Brittany) “Almost impossible not to change” (Brittany) Carly plans special events, and Greek weekend (annual) “getting people to come to special events has given me confidence” (Carly) “You have to be outgoing, you have to ask for things” (Brittany) a little weird at first, similar to a job, weekly meetings, etc. positions can last from semesters long to years long.
-on bid day we get all social medias and follow everyone . Before social media was big, we’d do cross over the line, where people cross over the line with statements they relate to. Each assignment is fulfilled with someone knew, so you get to know everyone!
What is your favorite activity to do with your sisters?
-a lot of sister hood events, Brittany is sister chair, she sets up event for everyone. Activities like Zumba, pumpkin picking, bowling, & various social events. Ice Cream at the house is common and annual, a movie night is in the planning process. Sisters go out to lunch together and act like “normal friends,” and during finals they all study at the library together.
Have you gained confidence from becoming a sister? If so, how?
-YES! “I’ve seen such a personality difference in myself...” (Brittany) “Almost impossible not to change” (Brittany) Carly plans special events, and Greek weekend (annual) “getting people to come to special events has given me confidence” (Carly) “You have to be outgoing, you have to ask for things” (Brittany) a little weird at first, similar to a job, weekly meetings, etc. positions can last from semesters long to years long.
Zoe D'Angelo, Jillian Cardinal, Carly D'Angelo, Brittany, Ellie Kuhnle, and Olivia Bush
By Jillian Cardinal
As Ambassadors for Inspiring Teens, we get to interview some pretty cool people, and on this day some of the high school ambassadors got to interview two sorority sisters from West Chester University.
West Chester University is a college in West Chester, PA - which is a really cool town about an hour from our headquarters. We decided if we were going to drive that far, we should do a photo shoot and tour the campus a little.
We first went to some cool stationary trains on dead tracks (that could have something to do with the next issue.. spoiler alert - it's the Travel Issue!) and decided to start our photo shoot there.
West Chester University is a college in West Chester, PA - which is a really cool town about an hour from our headquarters. We decided if we were going to drive that far, we should do a photo shoot and tour the campus a little.
We first went to some cool stationary trains on dead tracks (that could have something to do with the next issue.. spoiler alert - it's the Travel Issue!) and decided to start our photo shoot there.
Jillian Cardinal at the trains
Also, we did a little bit of wandering around the WCU campus to find a few hidden gems, like the whispering archway of the Phillips Memorial Building. So this is how it works; two friends stand at opposite sides of the arch and can whisper to each other through a small ridge in the arch without anyone passing by hearing what you said.
We wrapped it up with our interview with a sorority group to learn about how they managed their classwork along with sorority commitments such as volunteering. We also talked about the process of getting in to a sorority group (pledging). *The full interview will be in a second blog coming shortly!
We wrapped it up with our interview with a sorority group to learn about how they managed their classwork along with sorority commitments such as volunteering. We also talked about the process of getting in to a sorority group (pledging). *The full interview will be in a second blog coming shortly!
Zoe D'Angelo at the Whispering Archway
If you like to travel, interview cool people, and do photo shoots, consider joining the
Ambassador program with us!
Ambassador program with us!
Zoe D'Angelo, Emma Doughty, Brylee Briggs, Cyrena Spafford, Jillian Cardinal, Emma and Kimberly Wang
By Jillian Cardinal
Style Wars is a friendly competition that involves going to different stores with fellow Inspiring Teen (or two). The way that it works is that you would have a certain amount of time to pick a store with your team, interview the employees about what is trending and about their store, pick out a stylish outfit, take pictures - and post on social media - all in a HALF HOUR! And then you have your friends and family cast their vote on who put together the better outfit.
You can check this out on our Instagram page. Just search InspiringTeens_Style
We did this in February over President's Weekend when we had off from school. We come from 6 different schools in two counties, so getting together is always fun!
If you want to do this or another fun challenge with us, fill out the form on our JOIN page to get started today!
Style Wars is a part of the model program at Inspiring Teens. Our most recent Style Wars was with Zoe, Brylee and Emma at Monkeys Uncle in Doylestown which is a Philadelphia sports attire store that has all our sports team for both the pros and a lot of the colleges.
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Jillian and Cyrena had a battle of their own at VIP Fashion in the Willow Grove Park Mall, which is a store that focused on gorgeous long prom and short sweet 16 dresses.
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Finally Emma and Kimberly were also at the mall but visited Francesca’s which is more of a trendy/casual store. The thing that I like about Francesca’s is how their main goal is not to just sell clothes but to help people find the perfect clothes to fit their bodies to make them feel good about who they are in their own skin.
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If you want to do this or another fun challenge with us, fill out the form on our JOIN page to get started today!
Interview by Zoe D'Angelo
. 1.) What is directing a film like? - This is somewhat difficult to answer. For me, directing a film is like an algebraic equation with only variables and operations. It is up to the director to choose what each variable’s value should be, which in the end, determines the answer. The operations are like the script; they represent the story itself. This may sound a little complicated, but the job really isn’t. Or, it could be. It’s all about perspective- and that is the director’s job. I can’t speak for all directors. But for me, it’s a mixture of thrill and slight over thinking.
. 2.) When did you start to realize that filming was going to be a big part of your life? - I think I realized film was going to be a big part of my life after we successfully raised $10,000 on Kickstarter to film Beyond My Skin. At that point, film felt like a responsibility in a way. It was no longer JUST a fun hobby I loved to do. We had hundreds of different people’s money and trust, and a bit of pressure was on. I understood that it wasn’t exactly common for an indie film to pass the funding phase, so once we hit the jackpot, I took the whole thing as something way bigger than just making a film. It’s beyond my comprehension at the moment, but we’ll figure it out one day!
. 3.) How did you get started? - On April 8th, 2015 at 3:45pm, I had gotten a spark of inspiration while being on an NYU student’s short film set. Later that day, I got started by just doing it! I didn’t exactly have a camera, I had my mom’s phone though! Haha! I began recording my own YouTube videos, watching others’ YouTube videos, and just creating. Anything I didn’t know, I could figure out with a little research. We have a lot of free resources for anything we need to know, and the internet is a big one. Oh, and even just experimenting too.
. 4.) Did you attend film school or camps? If so what were they like? - I didn’t attend film school or any camps. For a while, I visited a youth media program at Philly Cam in Philadelphia once a week, but the majority of my knowledge on film came from YouTube and websites like nofilmschool.com. Shout out to DSLR Guide, an incredible filmmaker on YouTube!
. 2.) When did you start to realize that filming was going to be a big part of your life? - I think I realized film was going to be a big part of my life after we successfully raised $10,000 on Kickstarter to film Beyond My Skin. At that point, film felt like a responsibility in a way. It was no longer JUST a fun hobby I loved to do. We had hundreds of different people’s money and trust, and a bit of pressure was on. I understood that it wasn’t exactly common for an indie film to pass the funding phase, so once we hit the jackpot, I took the whole thing as something way bigger than just making a film. It’s beyond my comprehension at the moment, but we’ll figure it out one day!
. 3.) How did you get started? - On April 8th, 2015 at 3:45pm, I had gotten a spark of inspiration while being on an NYU student’s short film set. Later that day, I got started by just doing it! I didn’t exactly have a camera, I had my mom’s phone though! Haha! I began recording my own YouTube videos, watching others’ YouTube videos, and just creating. Anything I didn’t know, I could figure out with a little research. We have a lot of free resources for anything we need to know, and the internet is a big one. Oh, and even just experimenting too.
. 4.) Did you attend film school or camps? If so what were they like? - I didn’t attend film school or any camps. For a while, I visited a youth media program at Philly Cam in Philadelphia once a week, but the majority of my knowledge on film came from YouTube and websites like nofilmschool.com. Shout out to DSLR Guide, an incredible filmmaker on YouTube!
. 5.) Do you have a place that you resort to get creative? -
Well, I’m not that cool! I don’t exactly have a place or any methods I use to get ideas flowing. They are really spontaneous, but listening to music never fails to brew something!
. 6.) What piece of advice can you give to beginning directors? - I’m very much still a beginning director as well, but one thing I’ve understood, and it took me a while to digest, is that before anything, you need to know your story. At the very least, you need to understand the purpose of your film. I feel like once you know that, all of your last-minute decisions become a little bit easier to choose from- and well, everything else too. Oh, and this may sound a little cliché, but it’s so true and I feel like I have to add it. There’s only one rule: and that’s no rules!
. 7.) Is there anyone you’d like to work with one day? - I’d love to work with Ava DuVernay! Not only do I appreciate her work, but her personal beliefs as well. Listening to her speak is like a song. Haha! Directing-wise, she seems like she knows exactly what she wants, which is a quality I sometimes lack because any new idea sounds good to me. Then later on, it’s either a disaster or a masterpiece in the editing room. It’d be an honor to shadow her.
. 8.) Any shout outs? - SO MANY SHOUT OUTS! God has definitely blessed us with so many opportunities and has put amazing people in my life, so I’m definitely grateful for that! Firstly, I wouldn’t have even discovered my passion for film if it wasn’t for my parents. I love them so much and I’m so grateful to have such a support system. My entire family and few friends have just been so unbelievably supportive, and I did nothing to deserve it. All of the love on social media has been a blessing as well. I’m very appreciative for all of the shares, reposts, comments, and the simple likes! They all help get the film out there, and that’s all we could ever want. Without those simple things, we would not have reached our monetary goal to film the movie. I’m extremely grateful for everyone who donated, whether it was $5 to $1,000. Every single amount helped the film in some way. Lastly, but certainly not the least, the cast of Beyond My Skin. From the leads to the extras, everyone contributed their time and energy to creating this piece; and them giving it to a 14-year-old girl means everything to me. I thank them all the time, but I don’t think they get it. They’re truly amazing.
. 6.) What piece of advice can you give to beginning directors? - I’m very much still a beginning director as well, but one thing I’ve understood, and it took me a while to digest, is that before anything, you need to know your story. At the very least, you need to understand the purpose of your film. I feel like once you know that, all of your last-minute decisions become a little bit easier to choose from- and well, everything else too. Oh, and this may sound a little cliché, but it’s so true and I feel like I have to add it. There’s only one rule: and that’s no rules!
. 7.) Is there anyone you’d like to work with one day? - I’d love to work with Ava DuVernay! Not only do I appreciate her work, but her personal beliefs as well. Listening to her speak is like a song. Haha! Directing-wise, she seems like she knows exactly what she wants, which is a quality I sometimes lack because any new idea sounds good to me. Then later on, it’s either a disaster or a masterpiece in the editing room. It’d be an honor to shadow her.
. 8.) Any shout outs? - SO MANY SHOUT OUTS! God has definitely blessed us with so many opportunities and has put amazing people in my life, so I’m definitely grateful for that! Firstly, I wouldn’t have even discovered my passion for film if it wasn’t for my parents. I love them so much and I’m so grateful to have such a support system. My entire family and few friends have just been so unbelievably supportive, and I did nothing to deserve it. All of the love on social media has been a blessing as well. I’m very appreciative for all of the shares, reposts, comments, and the simple likes! They all help get the film out there, and that’s all we could ever want. Without those simple things, we would not have reached our monetary goal to film the movie. I’m extremely grateful for everyone who donated, whether it was $5 to $1,000. Every single amount helped the film in some way. Lastly, but certainly not the least, the cast of Beyond My Skin. From the leads to the extras, everyone contributed their time and energy to creating this piece; and them giving it to a 14-year-old girl means everything to me. I thank them all the time, but I don’t think they get it. They’re truly amazing.
