Victoria Din

Where do you attend school, and what what are you studying?

I am currently attending Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, studying Multimedia Journalism and double minoring in Chinese Studies and Digital Marketing Strategies. For extracurriculars, I am currently one of the videographers for Shidae, a K-Pop dance team at Virginia Tech, the Historian for alpha Kappa Delta Phi Sorority at Virginia Tech, and one of the Public Relations Chairs for VT's Korean American Student Association. For the past year, I have been the Marketing Intern for Hokie Wellness, Virginia Tech's Mental Health Initiatives.

During High School, I attended MATA's TV Production and Moviemaking program from 2022 to 2023. I was also involved with the Technical Theater program at Stone Bridge High School, focusing on Lighting.

What have your teaching opportunities been outside of Fairfax Collegiate?

Some teaching experience includes working as a Teacher's Assistant for Kindergarten to 2nd grade for Northern Virginian Experimental Chinese School (NVECS) throughout high school. I assisted the teachers in managing students while keeping them engaged with Chinese language and culture.

During High School, I also worked as a Teacher Cadet at Cedar Lane Elementary School, focusing on (sophomore) 2nd grade and (junior and senior) 4th grade. I would arrive before high school started and helped the teacher with whatever they needed me to do, whether that meant individualized attention for students struggling with math, or leading the class in a class read-a-loud. I was able to understand these students so much more after working with them, seeing how many ideas they had, how much they wanted to say, and some times just needed that little bit of attention to keep them going.

For my senior year Capstone, I worked as the Technical Director for Cedar Lane Elementary School's Talent Show at the end of the year. I worked alongside ten 4th to 5th grade bright students, taught them not only how to use the various technical equipment they had on site, but also how to work professionally at such a young age, and gave them experience they can bring with them to any opportunity moving forward.

What sort of experience have you had in the subject you’ll be teaching this summer?

Some classes in high school I have taken include MATA's TV Production and Moviemaking course, and in college I have taken Intro to Cinema, Intro to Cinema Production, Intro to Communication, Communication Skills, Teams Leadership & Business, Visual News Reporting, and Media and Society. During my first year at Virginia Tech, I worked as a Production Technician, assisting behind the scenes at various campus events, including but not limited to assembling and disassembling LED video walls, various lighting and sound equipment, and occasionally setting up streaming services as well.

Some personal projects include filming, directing, and editing my own short film through MATA's program, directing another short film during my first semester at Virginia Tech's Intro to Cinema Production, and being the videographer for a dance team at Virginia Tech, which includes filming and editing ten videos per month, whether for YouTube or Instagram. I occasionally edit vlogs of my daily life as well for family overseas, including Mandarin Chinese Traditional subtitles for them to better understand as well.

What excites you about teaching and working with students?

I'm excited to get working with students again, as it was one of my favorite experiences in high school, and being able to work with them in a field i'm familiar with excites me as well.

Outside of work, what are some hobbies you enjoy?

Some hobbies I like to do include lyrical and K-Pop dancing, photography, volleyball, color guard, and getting sweet treats with friends!