MIDDLETOWN- The cycle of starting, stopping, and restarting coursework is fairly common for students at community colleges, who often find that life’s circumstances can get in the way or they realize they need more time to figure things out. SUNY Orange New Media student Amanda Lafratta understands this, as her higher education path has not always been crystal clear either.
As a graduate of Chapel Field High School in 2012, Lafratta, a Pine Bush native, settled on SUNY Orange due to its locality, familiarity and convenience. “Initially when I first got out of high school I had no idea what I wanted to do,” says Lafratta “I settled on SUNY Orange because my mom was an alumnus, it was local, and it wasn’t going to require me to go anywhere. I have a brother with a disability and being around to help my mom with him was really important.”
Lafratta initially pursued a degree in criminal justice, however, she took a break from school and returned in 2021 to study in the New Media program. Her return was spurred by some changes at SUNY Orange that made the idea of returning to college more attainable.
“As somebody who is working full time, the traditional college offerings didn’t work well with my schedule. The expanded offerings online made it easier for me to both work and study,” she says. “I initially started at SUNY Orange in 2012. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, left and came back in 2021 because I saw that they offered a course in screenwriting.”
Screenwriting, one of the many program outcomes of the New Media program at SUNY Orange, is an extension of where Lafratta finds her passion: writing. Writing is something that Lafratta has always done, but has recently taken the necessary steps to independently publish her own novels, even scoring an internship with upstart publishing company Inimitable Books LLC.
Lafratta describes her works as “fantasy with some aspects of other genres mixed in,” such as Young Adult Paranormal and Dystopian Fantasy. This independent passion is what put her in the right place at the right time for the internship.
“Part of how I got the internship was just asking for it,” Lafratta explains “The person who runs the business is a part of the same Self Published Authors community that I’m a part of. So I’ve interacted with them before and when I found out that they had their own company now I figured it was worth a shot, the worst thing that could happen is they say ‘No.’”
So how does SUNY Orange’s New Media program tie into Lafratta’s already established writing portfolio? She is dreaming bigger and the course sequence offered at SUNY Orange has given her a path to get there.
“I’d like to one day adapt my novels for movies, TV and video games. I’ve learned a lot about video editing in class. I’ve learned a lot more about how to use Adobe Premier and what I can do with it. I’ve also learned a lot about the screenwriting format.”
When she is not attending class on campus, Lafratta supports her brother who is a student in SUNY Orange’s BRIDGES program, an inclusive, community-based educational framework for students with intellectual disabilities (ID), developmental disabilities (DD) or autism spectrum disabilities (ASD).
“I keep him on task and focused in class,” she says “He graduated in 2021, and now he’s taking the more advanced ‘Pathway to Independence’ part of the program offered on the Newburgh campus.”
After graduating from SUNY Orange, Lafratta has her eye on continuing her path in screenwriting that started here.
“I’m interested in transferring to SUNY Empire to go deeper into screenwriting and get a bit more experience in video game development or web design.”
Screenwriting and a New Media degree are quite a distance… in time and content… from the criminal justice degree Lafratta initially began more than a decade ago but, as with many community college students, the path to a degree can take many twists and turns, and time, before reaching the finish.
