The brief

During my final semester at Michigan State, graduating seniors were invited to apply for the honor of commencement speaker. I submitted an outline on a whim and after making it to callbacks, I was equally elated, terrified and a little nauseous.

But it wasn’t meant to be and I was named runner-up.

Despite my trepidation about public speaking, I was devastated by the decision. I had agonized over each and every word of that five-to-six-minute speech, and now no one was going to hear it.

The pivot

Turns out, working with the college’s communications team has its perks, and I wasn’t the only one reluctant to throw away the script. After a few creative meetings, manuscript tweaks and recording sessions, we reimagined the speech entirely. Rather than a podium address, it became the narrative backbone of ComArtSci’s end-of-year video.

The deliverable

The video served not only as the ComArtSci’s end-of-the-year recap, but also as a key feature in an alumni ceremony held just weeks before graduation. A speech written for one moment found a bigger, more lasting audience than a single commencement address ever could have.

The result

This piece taught me something I’ve carried into every role since: just because content is created with a specific purpose doesn’t mean it can’t be repurposed into something new and equally intentional. Content has to work hard these days. Knowing how to find a piece’s second life isn’t a bonus skill—it’s the bare minimum.