Jaden Moser Selected Winner of Wyoming Teens Take 2 Video Competition
Published on July 01, 2020
Wyoming Teens Take 2 challenge encouraged high school students to share their story of social distancing with a brief two-minute video
Jaden Moser YouTube video
CHEYENNE – On Wednesday, Mayor Marian Orr announced Jaden Moser as the winner of the Wyoming Teens Take 2 video challenge; a statewide competition encouraging teens to share their social distancing and quarantine story.
Moser, a 2020 Cheyenne East High School graduate, details in her video the experience of an altered spring semester, the personal impact of coronavirus on her mother, and efforts to support both family and community with a part-time job.
“It was a combination of three things that motivated me to create this video. My parents, my passion for media, and the story that I had to tell. I love to tell stories and seeing that this was a video contest made it perfect for me. In total, it took me about two weeks to completely finish the video.” Moser stated.
In March of 2020, a national media convention for high school students placed Moser in Washington, D.C. The trip was short-lived as Moser and her classmates were informed the convention had been cancelled due to the coronavirus.
“The night we got there, we went to dinner at this cute restaurant in D.C. And that's where I was informed that the convention, I had worked so hard to compete in, was cancelled. I was heartbroken, and I still am,” Moser added. “This meant over 3,000 students from all over the U.S. had to go home, some schools, the same day they arrived. We went home two days early. We had won a regional award and had the opportunity to win national awards as well. But that was all unfairly taken away from us.”
After arriving back in Cheyenne, Moser’s newfound virtual relationship with peers was certainly different but a positive was hearing quarantine stories from friends and classmates.
“Not only was I in D.C. at the time that the President announced the national emergency, I was right in front of the White House. I was in tourist mode rather than real life mode when everything went down, so when I got back from DC, I experienced a kind of culture shock because everything was completely different from when I had left.”
At East, Moser was a member of the school’s media program for four years where she served as a producer, anchor, and reporter. Moser will attend Laramie County Community College (LCCC) in the fall. Following LCCC, she intends to enroll at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.
“In the future, my senior year will be described as unique to say the least. It was sad, and ended abruptly, but it also was full of opportunities, this contest being an example,” Moser said of the class of 2020. “This year has truly made history and will be remembered forever. One of my classmates said it best: It's a blessing in disguise and made us take a step back and not take things for granted."
The Wyoming Teens Take 2 challenge was a partnership between the City of Cheyenne Mayor’s Youth Council (MYC), the University of Wyoming Athletic Department, and Governor Mark Gordon to encourage Wyoming teens to share their COVID-19 social distancing stories and experiences.
As a contest winner, Moser receives four (4) complimentary tickets from the University of Wyoming to the first home football game and a meet-and-greet with Governor Gordon.
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