Journalism within a school can have an enormous impact on the student body and how they receive information. Senior Zach Burleson has been a part of broadcast class for the majority of his high school career and has helped shape the culture of CPHS. His job within the class has been to operate the mysterious machine known as the Tricaster, something only few know how to do. Certain skills are required in order to operate this piece of technology, not only must he pay attention to what is going on in front of him, but he also needs to direct the anchors and cameramen. He presses buttons while simultaneously giving cues to the anchors, letting them know when to talk. The physical aspects of this job not only represent Burleson’s ability to direct an eight minute school broadcast, but also reflects his personality. His calm and collected nature allows him to operate in stressful situations such as the control room and is able to lead a group of people who might not be the easiest to work with. These skills have not only helped him in broadcast, but also in his hobbies.

Burleson loves making gaming videos and uploading them to YouTube. The skills necessary for Broadcast have helped him create these videos for his channel. Burleson is also working towards becoming a professional Smite player, and is currently working with friends across the U.S to achieve this goal. Smite is a third-person multiplayer online battle arena video game that requires teamwork and strategy in order to win. Burleson competed in the season three pro scene for a couple of months before becoming a coach for other Smite players. Although the professional gaming scene is difficult to get into, Burleson has been able to get his name out there by becoming friends with some big gamers.

Burleson plans to go to Stephen F. Austin University in August to study graphic design and minor in film and digital media. Graphic design has been an interest of Burleson’s ever since he got into high school, and while he has studied it in the classes offered in high school, he wants to continue studying it in college. His knowledge of graphic design has allowed him to do freelance work for some small game companies and he hopes to use his creative skills in his future career.