Hi! IT'S ME... Giovanna Montoya – Did you know that the name Giovanna comes from the Italian words Gio, which means "God," and Vanna, which means "gracious"? Probably not.
Then there's my last name, Montoya is a Basque and Spanish surname. It originally comes from a hamlet near Berantevilla in Álava, in the Basque region of northern Spain. During the Reconquista, it extended southwards throughout Castille and Andalusia. My last name roughly translates to hills and valleys.
Conclusion: I'm a God gracious mountain of hills and valleys.
I graduated from San Francisco State University in June 2024 with a Bachelors Degree in Journalism and a Minor Degree in Broadcast and Electronic Communications (BECA). Following a COVID year, and into my Sophomore year at SFSU, I became a staff writer for the SFSU School magazine XPRESS. Through my Sophomore, Junior and Senior years, my writing works were published in six separate issues and they are all posted here under "writings". In my senior year I was elected to the position of Editor-In-Chief (EIC) of XPRESS Magazine. I ran for the EIC position and was selected by my pears and teaching staff over five other candidates. I was chosen, I believe, because of my ability to not only write, but also my layout and design skills as well as my ability to manage my surroundings and the people who are in that circle.
As EIC I was tasked with managing staff, conducting editorial decisions for the magazine, choosing subject matter to write about, choosing story's that were pitched, choosing the look of the magazine, laying out the galleys for print, taking the galleys to the printer and managing the printing process of the magazine. Once printed I then was responsible for distributing the magazine through out SFSU and the surrounding SF community. I also managed the social media campaigns in the XPRESS Instagram account to promote the magazine and also published the online version of the XPRESS Magazine through the SFSU website. The links to each issue and articles are in the individual sections under editing-IC and writing respectively. I also contributed my graphic and design skills and contributed photography to the social media platforms.
I have a passion for photography and I love to be creative with my writings and designs. I also spent some time writing editing producing and directing videos for competition and also produced, filmed, edited and directed a couple of music videos for my friends who are musicians which you can view in "motion". One summer I also worked for a video production company in LA editing short videos for their online creators. In addition I also hosted with my colleague an episode of a podcast for Express Magazine called "An Artificial Future in Music" which you can listen to here on the podcast link.
If you have any questions for me concerning my work experience please reach out to me on the contact page and I can supply you with more details, I look forward to hearing from you.
Oh and that's my faithful little boy Pixel sometimes Pickle. He protected me for over 16 years and now watches over me from above. Miss and love you little boy! ❤️