Full Sail University’s new livestream show Taking Flight, hosted by Director of Graduate Studies Dr. Heather Dartez, recently premiered. The first episode, “Continuing Education: The Return on Your Investment,” brought in three Full Sail graduates who returned to school to get their master’s degrees and went on to advance their careers using their newfound skills and knowledge.

The three guests sharing their stories were Hall of Fame inductee and Entertainment Business master’s grad Victor Herrera da Silva, Public Relations master’s grad Maria del Mar Herrero, and Business Intelligence master’s grad Tracy Wiu.

Victor is the founder and managing partner for ReadyAnt Studios, a Metaverse and Extended Reality product development company. Meanwhile, Maria brought her insight regarding networking and navigating the entertainment industry as a TV reporter and assistant producer for a local TV show in Orlando. Lastly, Tracy Wiu, actor and the Director of Strategic Implementation for Full Sail’s in-house creative team, shared her career journey and how getting her master’s transformed her professional life and mindset.

The importance and intricacies of networking were among the many topics discussed. “Start networking. Look at all your classmates that are around you. Those are just your first networking connections,” said Maria.

“Try to always serve first and then … what you're trying to do will eventually come,” shared Victor.

When Heather prompted a discussion about overcoming difficult challenges, Maria offered this advice: “I feel that you have to always be able to fall and get up…. We're always going to make mistakes.”

The graduates also provided viewers with a look into how Full Sail’s curriculum focuses on real-world skills, especially in the entertainment and technology industries. “Our industry is just constantly evolving, particularly technology…. Entertainment makes such [important] use of technology for different things, and you have to stay up to date,” said Victor.

The panel answered audience questions about career development and continuing education. When asked about feelings of imposter syndrome, particularly when it comes to comparing yourself to others on social media, Maria said: “You have to believe in yourself and know that you are doing everything you want to keep going.”

“If there's things you love, you have to do them right. You have to keep pursuing your passions,” said Victor.

After the livestream, Heather and the panelists enjoyed an in-person meet-and-greet session where students networked with the guests and were able to ask more questions about furthering their educations and making the right career development choices.