Northwestern University Athletics
Kabiller Award Winner Umanskiy Chases Dreams in LA, Israel
5/19/2015 8:06:00 AM | David G. Kabiller NU for Life Program
Umanskiy was chosen as one of five winners of the Irving Kabiller Memorial Award for Excellence in Character, Community and Commitment
By Carly Shagrin
The NU for Life program has been invaluable for Northwestern's student-athletes who have made the most out of the program's offerings. Senior fencer Tina Umanskiy, a Chicago native, is studying Radio/Television/Film (RTVF) in the School of Communications and has taken advantage of the program's extensive professional development opportunities. The chance to study in such a specific school has provided Umanskiy the educational background necessary to achieve her career dreams of becoming a comedy writer.
Umanskiy has supplemented her classroom experience with NU for Life programming and it has paid off. Last year, Umanskiy was chosen as one of five winners of the Irving Kabiller Memorial Award for Excellence in Character, Commitment, and Community. As the winner, she received a $5,000 grant to be used for her own professional development.
"My experience with NU for Life helped me learn the art and patience of networking. From my sophomore year to my senior year the programming and events that I have participated in have truly assisted me in navigating the job search and meeting amazing Northwestern alumni and other employers."
Umanskiy has always dreamed of writing for television. She joked, "while the other third graders were shouting out to the teacher that they wanted to be vets, astronauts or NBA players, I quietly said, `I want to write for Saturday Night Live.'"
To get the most out of her Northwestern experience, Umanskiy wanted to translate her knowledge gained in the classroom into meaningful professional experience. Umanskiy was able to use the Kabiller Memorial Award grant to fly to Los Angeles and meet with alumni of the Northwestern RTVF program who are now working in Hollywood. This was an excellent networking opportunity as Umanskiy met with three Northwestern alumni in working in the entertainment industry.
"I learned a lot about the entertainment industry and was pushed on what about it I actually wanted to pursue. No one before had really been interested in what moved me the most about working in entertainment, so my idea of it was very wide. Meeting with these alumni made me consider what it is exactly that I wanted to do in entertainment."
While meeting with alum Jeff Jacobs, a talent agent at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Umanskiy mentioned that she was hoping for the opportunity to meet with another fellow Wildcat, Jill Liederman, executive producer of the Jimmy Kimmel Live. Jacobs immediately called Liederman to schedule a meeting for Umansiky.
"I truly felt that every Northwestern alumnus wanted nothing more than to help every Wildcat in any way that they could" the senior said.
After gathering information and making connections in Los Angeles, Umanskiy developed a more complete plan of arriving at her goal of becoming a television writer. She decided her next step was to experience the creative and innovative aspects of the start up industry, and chose to do so at a startup in Israel.
Umanskiy hoped to bring the same innovative and creative traits that attracted her to comedy writing to the start up industry and explore further career options. She used the grant from the Kabiller Award to travel to Israel and pay for the extensive internship programming.
Umanskiy spent her time abroad to develop professional skills that she could not achieve solely in the classroom.
"One skill that I've been trying to master is writing to produce change. I've been a writer for awhile in various realms like public relations, screenwriting and comedy but I've always wanted to write to be able to persuade someone to change the way they act, whether it is through a comedy skit that has a moral of the story as they all should, or through a project proposal to get an investor to put money down for a new venture."
Umanskiy gained instrumental experience and skills in marketing, public relations, and influential writing that will ultimately help her become a well-rounded and multi-faceted professional, while also connecting to Israel, a country that she has felt a connection to since a young age. This experience not only helped Umanskiy with her mechanical skills, but also provided a global perspective for her writing.
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