By Mary Arsenault, Staff Writer
Pellissippi State Community College offers many exciting majors and programs, making its student population diverse with many varying interests; however, because campuses are a busy place, really cool things are often happening right among us and most people have no idea. It’s no secret that the college has a good Media Technologies/Video Production program, but you might not know that it is home to some nationally recognized students in the field.
Along with other competing students from the school, Luke Brown, a dual enrollment high school student and Video Production student at the college and fellow Video Production major Viola Miklos travelled to Chattanooga, TN, in April of 2025 to compete at a state level in the SkillsUSA Competition. For those unfamiliar with SkillsUSA, they describe themselves on their website’s ‘Who We Are’ page as “the #1 workforce development organization for students. We empower students to become skilled professionals, career-ready leaders and responsible community members.”
In Chattanooga’s competition, approximately 40 teams of competitors were given a one-minute prompt before being given 7 hours to plan, film, edit and submit a video. Luke Brown and Viola Miklos worked as a team on the assignment and walked away champions with a gold medal in Video Production, with Brown winning a silver medal in Digital Cinema as well. The gold medal not only earned them a swag bag, but also a spot in the national championship.
Brown and Miklos then traveled to Atlanta, GA, in June and spent five days there at the national competition. This time Brown and Miklos competed against 15-20 top teams from across the country, each given 12 hours total for their projects, six to film and six to edit a video. This time their video prompt was “The benefits of AI in the work force.”
They got to work and did incredible things. Excitement was high when the time came for announcing the winners, and Brown and Miklos walked away with a silver medal for Video Production at nationals. When asked what makes Pellissippi State students stand out, Brown says it’s “because of its hands-on approach. There’s not much just sitting and listening, it’s more hands-on work.” Miklos agreed saying “we are encouraged to test things out and learn through exploration [through hands-on work]…There is a great support system and teachers are always available to answer questions so you never feel out of your depth.”
Another area that sets Pellissippi State apart is how they work with students to get internships with local professionals. Miklos commented on this real life experience can be a game changer for students and helps them excel in the post grad world, saying “most students have found jobs or internships in the field right out of school.”
Currently, Brown plans to get into the workforce after completing his Associate’s degree in Spring 2025; continuing his education afterwards is not off the table for him, but real life experience is what this industry is looking for and he plans to start there. Mikos said she still has a few semesters to go, but would like to find something steady such as broadcast TV or work in movies/short films, explaining that she’s not ready for the freelance world just yet. Until then, Brown and Miklos plan to compete again in the spring 2026 SkillsUSA competition.
So, next time you’re strolling around your campus(es), take a minute to look around and let your mind wonder about who you might be brushing shoulders with; there are a lot of amazing people like Brown and Miklos doing amazing things in our midst.
