Brittany Devasure, a 2013 graduate of Early College of Forsyth, has won a $5,000 scholarship from Project Yellow Light for her video that encourages peers to avoid distracted driving. In addition, as the first-place winner in the high school seniors’ category, Devasure’s video will be distributed by the Ad Council and aired in May as a Public Service Announcement (PSA) through the Council’s network of more than 1,600 TV stations nationwide.
Devasure was invited to attend an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. on May 8 to receive her award as part of the kick-off of Global Youth Traffic Safety Month. There she met Kweku Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, who works on distracted driving issues in South Africa; the U.S. Ambassador for South Africa; and reality TV star Ernesto Arguello. She also heard U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood speak as well as David Strickland, Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
“The day in D.C. was phenomenal,” Devasure said. “I can’t believe how lucky I was to get the scholarship.”
Devasure created her winning video one night in just three hours with help from a friend (who appears in the video). According to competition rules, entrants could not use footage of a person actually driving a car while filming. Devasure got creative and used a chalk board wall in her friend’s living room as the backdrop for her video.
“I used a stop-motion technique, which is my favorite,” Devasure explained. “I took 675 pictures to produce the video. My friend and I kept thinking of things to add as we went along. She got really tired because for continuity, she couldn’t move when I was setting up a new shot. I had to edit the video overnight and add music before submitting my video by the deadline the next day.”
Devasure discovered a love for video with support from her teachers at Early College of Forsyth who gave students the choice of writing papers or producing videos for class assignments.
“I always chose to do a video. If it wasn’t for Early College teachers encouraging us to do video, I wouldn’t have discovered my passion for it,” Devasure added. “You can express more through video than writing.”
Devasure, a Crosby Scholar who received both her college high school diploma from Early College and Associate of Arts degree from Forsyth Tech during two separate graduation ceremonies on May 9, will attend Appalachian State University this fall on a full scholarship. She plans to major in communications and advertising.
Project Yellow Light is a film competition for high school seniors and college students across the country that invites students to create compelling videos that will encourage their peers to practice safe driving habits. It was developed by Julie, Lowell and Alex Garner in memory of their son and brother, Hunter, who died tragically in a car accident in 2007. Project Yellow Light/Hunter Garner Scholarship is designed to encourage young adults to play an active role in reversing the number of car crashes, which are the number one killer of teenagers and young adults in the U.S.
Project Yellow Light/Hunter Garner Scholarship operates in partnership with the Ad Council, Mazda, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and National Organizations for Youth Safety.
