Remember that article about the Serenity Swing trampoline that blew up on BuzzFeed a few months ago? Well, that was written none other than Cal Poly junior Kate Baker, whose incredible passion and amazing talent are seriously wonders to behold.
Not only is she a gifted writer (someone from BuzzFeed DROVE UP FROM L.A. TO FIND HER AFTER THAT ARTICLE, Y’ALL), Kate has a knack for photography, videography, music and graphic design. Oh yeah, and she’s arguably one of the sweetest, funniest people around. HC sat down with Kate to find out how she gets all this good sh*t done.
Year: Junior (but graduating this year!! 2 quarters early!)
Major: Journalism, with a concentration in Public Relations and minoring in Media, Arts and Technology (AKA a long fancy phrase for Film)
Hometown: Santa Clarita, CA (where Magic Mountain is!). Also, fun fact: Netflix is releasing a new show about my hometown called The Santa Clarita Diet starring Drew Barrymore lol.
Relationship Status: My relationship status is complicated but I will say that there is someone in my life who is so incredibly caring and encouraging but he very inconveniently lives a couple thousand miles away.
Her Campus: What are your passions/hobbies?
Kate Baker: I think all of my passions and hobbies stem from my love for creativity. I have always been super fascinated with how I could take an idea from my head and make it real, whether it was with crayons and colored pencils when I was a kid or with Illustrator and After Effects now. Same thing with photography, a huge “hobby” of mine I guess you could say.
I started my photography business in high school and have grown it since then and have stuck with it because I love having the freedom to be creative with my photos, whether they are portraits of people or things. There’s always a new shot to find and I always want to find it! I love music as well, I play piano and guitar when I get a free minute, and sometimes I perform down at open mic night at Kreuzberg downtown!
HC: Tell us about the article you wrote about the trampoline!
KB: I (unwillingly) hiked up to the trampoline with my roommates—I’m not the biggest hiker —and when we got to the top, besides the wheezing and sweating, I was seriously amazed. I had never seen anything like the hills that surround that area, I honestly felt like I was Bilbo stepping out of his hobbit hole into Middle Earth. Not only was it gorgeous, but there were like 20 people already up there just hanging out and talking. There were dogs running around. It felt like this really cool Cal Poly get together that wouldn’t have happened if there wasn’t a trampoline there.
So that’s when I got the thought to write about it. I wanted people to know about this cool spot, not only Cal Poly students, but everybody! I had success on Buzzfeed before when an article I wrote last year was published and went viral so I thought I’d give it a shot again. It was really cool to see people I didn’t know sharing my post on Facebook and being really proud to go to Cal Poly and I think that’s how it became so popular on Buzzfeed! That was my whole goal: I wanted to show people how rad my school is!
HC: Who/what inspires you the most?
KB: I am most inspired by my parents. They are the two most incredible and hard-working people I know and if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I am today. If I end up to be half the person either of my parents are, I’d be stoked!
HC: Fun fact?
KB: I wrote and directed a short film last quarter that was screened at the SLO Film Festival!
Make sure you say hi to Kate when you see her walking around – who knows, she might be famous in a couple of years!