February Alum of the Month: Rita Kovtun, Multimedia Storyteller

Rita Kovtun is a multimedia storyteller and a recent graduate of the University of St. Thomas. She participated in CIEE’s Contemporary French Studies Program in Paris in 2012. She’s currently volunteering and traveling in Costa Rica through Workaway. We spoke with her about storytelling, photography, and her experience in France. 

CIEE: How did you get started in the field of journalism?

Rita Kovtun: I delved into journalism when I joined my high school newspaper and found that I greatly enjoyed writing and taking pictures. In college, I added videography and a little bit of graphic design into the mix, working for St. Thomas’ student news organization TommieMedia. However, I consider myself more than just a journalist – I see myself as a storyteller. In reality, all people are storytellers in one way or another. Telling stories is the way humans naturally communicate, whether for the purpose of entertaining, persuading, or informing. Aside from journalism, I’ve created multimedia stories for magazines and arts organizations.

Marrakech, Morocco. (Photo credit: Rita Kovtun) 

CIEE: What media projects from your semester abroad did you most enjoy?

RK: I took an art history course in French while I was abroad. For my final paper, I wrote about American artist Edward Hopper’s years in Paris and the influence that time had on his work. The timing was ideal because the Grand Palais in Paris had an exhibition of Hopper’s work, so that helped me do a large chunk of my research. It was fascinating to see Paris through his eyes.

Dijon, France. (Photo credit: Rita Kovtun) 

For a course on intercultural communication [with CIEE], I examined the languages in which people listen to and write music (home language or foreign language), and the reasoning behind their choice. Music is a different medium than a visual one like photography, and one I’m also passionate about (I sing and play piano and guitar). For my project, I talked to an American friend who had tried writing songs in French and a French friend who wrote in English. I also looked at some internationally recognized French artists like the band Phoenix, who write in English, and Yelle, who writes in French, among others.

CIEE: How did your study abroad experience influence your career path?

RK: I really value the intercultural communication class I took abroad. Learning how to communicate effectively is important in any profession, but especially for someone like me who studied communication and journalism. Taking the class, as well as studying abroad and traveling around to different countries, helped strengthen my cultural sensitivity by interacting with people who grew up with different experiences and different backgrounds.

To view more of Rita’s work, visit her blog.