At the age of 10, senior Priscilla Garcia realized that she had an interest in camera work and making videos. She says that she would watch fan-made videos of artists and re-edit those published videos with online editing programs.
Through the use of such programs, Garcia taught herself how to make and edit the videos she produces. With that experience, Garcia launched her first channel titled “Priscilla” on YouTube.

“I was a very young, influenced human being and looked up to these Club Penguin (YouTube) accounts,” Garcia said. “Taking my inspiration, I decided to make my own stuff because I figured that if people were doing it, I could do it, too.”

However, those first experiences with creating and editing sit-down style videos on that channel are no longer available for the public to watch, as Garcia has taken them down.

“I mean it’s something I enjoy doing, and I don’t ever want to stop doing it,” Garcia said.

The next time that Garcia created videos on YouTube, under another channel titled “Priscilla Vlogz,” wasn’t until the end of her junior year. Garcia mentions that this is when one of her best friends encouraged her to pull out her camera and record some footage of the 2018 Coffee House, which was the first of her new style of videos: vlogs.

On a trip visiting relatives in Mexico, Garcia decided to pursue making more videos, like her Coffee House vlog because it gave her a way to stay connected with her cousins after leaving Mexico.

“They (watched) my videos and (they were) like, ‘Hey, you should actually do vlogs. You are actually good at them,’” Garcia said. “I thought how fun would it be to make videos knowing my family over there is watching.”

Garcia continues to add to her channel. There, Garcia posts vlogs of her trips, experiences and daily activities, which she videotapes and edits with her phone. She just posts whenever she feels the need to.

Garcia mentions vlogs have become the most common type of video she currently produces, as a result of a lack of professional equipment. In spite of this, Garcia hopes to be able to expand the content she can create, possibly bringing back a former style of videos.

“In the future, when I start doing (sit-down videos) again, I would hope that the content I make will be more relaxed,” Garcia said. “Just an average Joe talking about controversial things, topics and Q&As or whatever.”

In addition to her family, Garcia says that she is also motivated and inspired to continue her hobby by her friends and viewers. One of her biggest motivators is her best friend, senior Alyssa Smith.

Smith mentions that she supports Garcia’s interest by watching her videos, encouraging Garcia to upload and giving her confidence boosts when needed.

“As soon as she told me that she made a channel, I subscribed immediately, and I was like ‘notifications on, got to watch them all,’” Smith said. “I love her videos. I find them hilarious and each time she posts one it’s like a little surprise, and it makes my day.”

Smith mentions that sometimes Garcia will share concerns about videos with her. If Garcia does express a negative feeling or is having a bad day regarding either filming or editing, smith will encourage Garcia with kind words to motivate her.

The other source of motivation and inspiration Garcia draws on is her other viewers. She enjoys the comments that her viewers leave on her videos, including the negative ones because it shows that they are watching her content.

“Just knowing people care to view them is what makes me keep going,” Garcia said. “I mean I have very (few) viewers, but I get a lot of inspiration from them.”

One of Garcia’s viewers is her other best friend, senior Cory Mulinaro, who watches her vlogs to put herself in a good mood. Mulinaro says that Garcia’s hobby is both “cool” and “out there,” as vlogging is not a common activity people do. She believes that Garcia could advance her hobby further and make it bigger than it is now since she’ll have more reasons to vlog when she goes on to college.

“Priscilla’s videos are really funny, and she works very hard to make people happy and to make them laugh, so I try to take that from them,” Mulinaro said.

While Garcia’s overall interest for camera work has mainly fueled the ambition behind creating and expanding her YouTube channel, Garcia says that she, too, can see herself elevating her hobby and going big with it. Garcia mentions if that were to ever happen, then she would maybe consider a career from her hobby, not necessarily seeking fame or fortune though.

However, what Garcia does know is that her time spent on making videos is a long-run endeavor, and for the time being, she’ll keep her hobby as just that. She notes that she wouldn’t use her time any other way if she didn’t take time to make videos or vlogs.

“I think vlogging is just a part of (me),” Garcia said. “It’s just another extension to who I am, and I think if I didn’t do it, I’d still be doing what I (normally) do every day. I’m putting it out there for everyone to see.”