By Madelyn Andrie
Caroline Berteletti’s underlying passion for media and theatre came forward as she pushed aside her fear of others judging what she wants to do and focused on what she enjoys in life.
Caroline, age 17, is currently a Junior at Oliver Ames High School. Ever since she was a child she has had a passion for the film industry, and strives to one day be in this industry herself. She would always spend her childhood playing outside and making different movies with her friends.
“When making videos and movies I would show them to my family and friends and I remember them being impressed and I was like this is something I am good at and really enjoy to do.”
Her passion for the film industry has always been there her whole life, and going into high school really allowed that passion to grow. Once she entered high school, Caroline decided to further her knowledge of media and the creation of movies by joining the Media Production course. It allowed for her to gain an extensive amount of knowledge of things to take into account while filming, and see the elements of what makes filming better. Caroline gleefully smiled as she was asked about her passion for filming.
“Making videos and making people laugh is what I am truly passionate about. So now being able to take a course in school where I get to learn more about what I am passionate about was something very cool to me.”
This ongoing passion that Caroline has had for film was never too prominently shown until she created her vlog channel “Caro-Line”. This channel allowed for her viewers an inside look into her fun and hilarious life, while also allowing Caroline to practice with her filming and editing.
“It all started when I was looking for colleges looking up orientation videos. And this girl who went to a university I was interested in had a bunch of vlogs on her channel and she even had a lot of subscribers to them. I was amazed at how cool it was and thought I would maybe be good at something like this.”
All of the ideas Caroline gets for her vlogs come from something exciting happening in her life. The vlogs range from showing her everyday routines, all the way to exciting adventures that she went on with her friends. The vlogs have turned into an area where Caroline can be herself and share her laughs and funny stories with all of her followers. A major issue that Caroline has come across with the making of her vlogs is keeping them interesting for her audiences.
“It can be very difficult to take something I find hilarious and interpret it to my followers so that they find it just as funny as I did. For example, me just getting out of bed and getting ready for school is nothing too interesting, so I have to add special effects and music to those clips so they keep the audience watching.”
Although Caroline has had a strong love for media and film throughout her life, she also has a strong passion for theater. High school can be a judgmental period of time, and Caroline was worrisome at first of certain people judging her for wanting to join the musical. However, she pushed away the negative thoughts and focused only on what would be best for her.
“For the longest time I was afraid of people controlling me and I completely let go of that now. Joining the musical was a way for me to be myself and enjoy theater and meet so many new people that I have never spoke to before.”
Theatre and media aren’t the only two things that make up the life of Caroline. In her free time, she also enjoys partaking in both cheerleading and track. She has been doing cheerleading since she was in 7th grade, and she has been doing track since 9th grade. Caroline also did gymnastics for almost all of her life however just stopped this past year so she could join the musical.
“Trying to juggle doing cheerleading, gymnastics, and track was a big struggle for me however I tried to keep up with all of them as much as I could. It was when I decided I wanted to join the musical that I knew I was going to have to sacrifice one of my sports which was upsetting, yet I knew it would be worth it.”
Caroline’s passion for both the film industry and musical theater are two important things that she’s had a love for all her life. Her love for those things is what allowed for her to preserve past her fear of people judging her actions, and learn to do what’s best for her.