Summer in Action: Meadows Students Take Their Talents Beyond the Classroom

JAKE WILLEFORD | DIVISION OF FILM & MEDIA ARTS

Film & Media Arts student Jake Willeford spent the beginning of his summer directing the program’s Summer Film Production, a feature-length period film he also wrote. Set in rural Texas during the 1930s and ’40s, his film When the Azaleas Bloomed follows a man from childhood into adulthood as he grapples with his relationship with his estranged mother and the ways it has shaped his life, exploring themes of legacy, heritage and generational trauma. Willeford’s script was selected by faculty from a pool of student submissions, after which he went through a separate pitch process to earn the role of director.

From May 23 through June 6, Willeford led a crew of approximately 20–30 people through two nonstop weeks of filming in Maypearl, Texas. Much of the production took place in a century-old farmhouse without air conditioning or running water, with long shooting days, summer heat and thunderstorms adding to the challenges of an already ambitious production.

“Part of my job as director is to not only manage the chaos, but keep a straight and level-headed mindset through all the obstacles,” explains Willeford. “It was the hardest work I’ve ever done in my life, but it was the single most rewarding and meaningful experience I’ve ever had.”

Amid the challenges, Willeford watched a story and characters he had imagined for years come to life. The long-vacant farmhouse became a home again as the cast and crew transformed it into the world of the film, an experience he describes as deeply emotional. With filming complete, Willeford and his team are now in post-production, working toward an early assembly cut this fall and an early premiere in May 2027.


Willeford on set in Maypearl, TX filming "When the Azaleas Bloomed."

REBEKAH NAYLOR | DIVISION OF ART

Second-year M.F.A. student Rebekah Naylor spent part of her summer in Mexico City as an artist-in-residence at Womb, a residency that primarily hosts artists working in performance and other interdisciplinary practices. Having previously completed two international residencies, Naylor knew she wanted her next experience to place her in a major arts center where she could connect with artists, curators and other creatives while immersing herself in a new cultural environment.

At Womb, Naylor had her own studio space to continue developing her painting practice while taking part in dinners and gatherings that introduced her to members of Mexico City’s arts community.

“Residencies in big art cities tend to offer a lot of opportunity to meet other artists, curators and creatives,” she says. “It can be very eye-opening and an easy way to feel embraced by a city’s inner circles that you wouldn’t necessarily happen across if you were visiting as a tourist.”

With the Spaht Family Immersion Fund helping support the experience, Naylor created a small body of work over the course of the residency and concluded her time in Mexico City with an artist talk presented entirely in Spanish. The presentation offered an additional challenge for Naylor, who had arrived at the beginning of the month speaking very little of the language, and became another unexpected part of an experience that pushed both her artistic practice and her confidence in new directions.


One of Naylor's paintings she created during her residency in Mexico City.


TYLER WELCH | DIVISION OF JOURNALISM

Journalism student Tyler Welch took his sports reporting skills abroad this summer, spending six weeks as an intern with the sports desk at the Illawarra Mercury, a newspaper in Wollongong, Australia. The opportunity came through SMU’s Applied Physiology and Sport Management program in the Simmons School of Education and Human Development, where Welch is pursuing a dual degree alongside journalism. After beginning the experience with a two-week learning trip visiting Australian sports teams, organizations, and companies, Welch joined the Mercury for an immersive look at sports journalism in another country.

Working alongside the newspaper’s sports editor and reporters, Welch participated in daily team meetings before heading into reporting and writing assignments of his own. By the end of the six-week internship, he had written 35 stories covering everything from professional and youth basketball to rugby, soccer and baseball. His assignments were equally varied, giving him experience writing profiles, features, lists, game recaps and first-person narratives.

“My favorite part of the experience was the variety of sports and stories I got to write,” Welch says. With more than one story published for nearly every day of his internship, the experience gave Welch the opportunity to build his portfolio while adapting his journalism skills to new sports, story formats and an entirely new media environment.


One of many Australian sporting events Welch experienced during his summer internship.


RACHEL RODGERS | DIVISION OF ADVERTISING

Graduate student Rachel Rodgers spent her summer in New York City as an Art Director Intern at NEON, an Omnicom Health agency specializing in healthcare advertising. Working with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, the agency develops strategic creative campaigns designed to help healthcare professionals and patients better understand complex medical treatments and conditions.

Throughout her internship, Rodgers collaborated with copywriters, strategists, account managers and medical experts to develop creative concepts for healthcare clients. Her work ranged from brainstorming campaign ideas and conducting competitive research to designing presentations and visual concepts, including contributing to an integrated pharmaceutical campaign from initial strategy through creative execution. She also had the opportunity to serve as both Art Director and Project Manager for her internship team’s campaign project, taking responsibility for the creative vision while coordinating timelines, deliverables and collaboration across the multidisciplinary team.

“Being trusted to lead the creative vision while also coordinating timelines, deliverables and collaboration across our multidisciplinary team has been an incredibly rewarding experience,” says Rodgers. “It’s challenged me to grow as both a creative thinker and a leader.”

The experience also gave her a deeper appreciation for the role creativity can play in healthcare, particularly in helping give a voice to people living with rare diseases. Rodgers hopes to carry that sense of purpose, along with the collaborative and leadership skills she developed at NEON, into her continued studies and future career.


The bustling city view from Rodgers' NYC internship office.


UMA GEORGETON | DIVISION OF DANCE

Undergraduate student Uma Georgeton explored a different side of the dance world this summer during a nine-week internship with Bruce Wood Dance Dallas, made possible through the SMU Meadows Intern Fellowship Program. Georgeton, who is also an English major, gained firsthand experience in the administrative work that keeps a professional dance company running by taking on projects ranging from grant writing and costume inventory to ticketing, marketing and customer relationship management. Her primary responsibility was writing and reviewing grant materials, an experience that introduced her to a skill she hopes to carry into a potential future career in nonprofit work.

“My favorite part of the experience was getting to know the team over at Bruce Wood Dance,” Georgeton says. “They’ve all inspired me to look into nonprofit business as part of my future.”

Along with completing independent projects, she participated in staff and marketing meetings, grant-writing webinars and weekly check-ins with her supervisors, giving her a broader understanding of the many roles involved in supporting a dance organization behind the scenes.

Georgeton also spent part of her summer as an assistant teacher for a modern dance class offered to SMU student-athletes, working alongside Dance Professor Anne Westwick with students from several sports. Having taken Westwick’s Pedagogy course the previous semester, Georgeton was able to see teaching methods she had studied put into practice as the athletes developed flexibility, footwork, power and balance through modern dance and yoga. For Georgeton, an aspiring teacher, the opportunity provided another perspective on where her dance education might lead, while giving her valuable experience working with beginners and observing their progress firsthand.