JUD Talks 2021

2021 Finalists

View the JUD Talks 2021 Recording

Nick Markham ’23 (1st Place and Audience Choice Award Winner)
Communication Arts

CALCULATING ROUTE… Finding Peace When You Don’t Know Your Life Destination
We’ve all asked ourselves at some point in our lives, “What am I supposed to do with my life? What if I don’t find the right job? Where should I end up in my career?” These questions all imply the same idea: “I need to know where I end up in my career.” Instead of asking these questions, what if instead we focused less on our career destination and more on life direction? In this speech, we will explore why we ought think this way, how faith plays into our decision making, and new mindsets to apply throughout the rest of our college career.

Q Cole ’24 (2nd Place Winner)
Communication Arts

Love Thy Neighbor
My talk is on how to effectively love members of the LGBTQ+ community as Christians; how to show effective love to people that are different from us.

Sofia Jeanes ’21 (3rd Place Winner)
Communication Arts, Theatre Arts, Psychology

Embracing The Unknown
Shift to a growth mindset and go afraid, go joyful, go into The Unknown.

Rachel Bovee ’21 (Finalist)
Communication Arts & Music

Let’s Talk About Communication
Communication is part of our everyday life! We use our words and actions to interact with others. Do we always use our communication skills to the best of our ability? Let’s explore how we can effectively steward our communication to better engage with the world around us!

Peter (Daeho) Lee ’22 (Finalist)
Business Administration

The Pursuit of Positivity
I will be talking about how we are all trying to pursue positivity in our own terms in the world of negativity where I’ll be incorporating my story and show how we can practice positivity for changing the world for better.

About JUD Talks

RESULTS

1st Place and Peoples Choice Award Winner - Nick Markham
2nd Place - Q Cole
3rd Place - Sofia Jeanes

JUD TALKS 2021 NOTE FROM THE CHAIR
Communication Arts at Gordon is about communication for the common good. The JUD Talks honor the life and legacy of A.J. Gordon, providing students the opportunity to inspire and motivate the campus community to lead lives worthy of God’s calling. I’m delighted you can join us!

—Christine J. Gardner, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Communication Arts, Theatre, and Art

JUDGES

Rebecca Minasian‘18 Filmmaker/Photographer Rebecca Minasian is a 2018 graduate of Gordon College, where she majored in Communication Arts and Theatre Arts. At Gordon, she participated in many on-campus productions on and off the stage, using her creative skills whenever she could. After graduation, she began teaching theatre at Mount Hope Christian School, taught courses in Comedy TV at Lexington Christian Academy, and has worked on the production team at Arlington Children’s Theatre. Currently, Rebecca works as a freelance filmmaker and photographer, and is earning her Master of Arts in Comedy Writing at Falmouth University.

Samuel Florez ‘19 Implementation Support Specialist Modo Labs Samuel Florez majored in English Language and Literature as well as Philosophy while at Gordon and worked a wide variety of jobs on campus from serving in the dining hall to assisting at the CTS helpdesk. The latter helped Samuel transition from a humanities-focused degree to a career in software, working with EBSCO Information Services for his first year and a half out of college and with Modo Labs since early March of this year. Despite the technical nature of his work, Samuel daily relies on the communication skills honed at Gordon and elsewhere. All throughout high school, Samuel competed in policy debate and a variety of speech events, qualifying for both regional and national championships. At Gordon, Samuel was a finalist in the inaugural JUD Talks.

Shaulita Isla Francis ‘18 Communication and Marketing Coordinator Louis D. Brown Peace Institute Shaulita Francis is an aluma of Gordon College’s Communication Arts program. In her time at Gordon, she played for the Gordon College Women’s Basketball team and served as a MIO Ambassador. Shaulita believes that storytelling is vital to human connection and has the power to create shared understanding and spark conversations that break down barriers. In the past six years, she has worked with several non-profits in the Boston area to help develop and improve their online presence. In 2018, she received a B.A. in Communication Arts and Business Administration at Gordon College. During her undergraduate career, she was awarded the Humanitarian Award for her work with youth in the City of Boston. The work she does is driven by her passion for community