A Few Minutes With Natalie Devitt

Natalie Devitt, AmeriCorps Member - Media Education Associate, Outside The Lens

Because most of her relatives were teachers, Natalie Devitt always assumed she’d be a traditional classroom teacher, or something close.

Now that she’s in her second year with Outside the Lens, the San Diego digital media nonprofit that teaches photography, film, and media literacy to young people and adults, she’s found her comfort zone – but without the classroom.

Because of the pandemic, Outside the Lens conducts its courses on-line, so Natalie spends more time at home than she did a year ago. 

Thus, along with teaching the visual arts that empower her students to be creative through self-expression, she’s able to play her guitar more frequently and spend more time listening to the many musical artists who comprise her eclectic 1,000-album collection. 

Hired full-time through LISC-funded AmeriCorps, she’s a graduate of San Diego State University (BS in Television, Film, and New Media). Previously, Natalie spent three years working with youth, often in justice-related settings. 

In her earlier years, she was a child and teen model who was featured in numerous catalogues. She modeled for companies like Nordstrom and Buick.

What encouraged you to join a non-profit like Outside the Lens?

Being involved in the arts has added a lot of richness to my own life. So, I like to share that love with others. We help our students learn about their own creative process, so they’re better able to express what they’ve learned, along with their own hopes and dreams, in a more fulfilling way.

What gives the most pride about what you do?

I would say it’s when we showcase our students’ work in their end-of-course exhibitions. You see how much they’ve grown and how proud they are of what they’ve created. That’s always a rewarding time.

What did you learn from being part of LISC AmeriCorps?

A lot. On a personal level, I learned about how to be a better teacher and, on an administrative level, how non-profits operate through grants and funding. I had worked before for a non-profit, but being at AmeriCorps gave me an inside look on how things actually work from the inside.

When you play guitar, what’s one of your favorite songs?

I usually prefer to write my own songs, but growing up, I studied classical guitar and, of course, everyone who does that has to learn to play Malagueña – a Spanish Flamenco song from the 1930s that a lot of country musicians and rock groups from the ’60s seem to cover. I also grew up playing songs by the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. 

Besides teaching the skills of photography and multi-media, what’s one of your “big picture” themes?

In our classes, we talk a lot about narratives and the importance of telling your personal story in your own words and with your own images. I prefer to tell my own story, which is what we emphasize in our curriculum.

What’s your favorite monster movie?

I’d have to say Universal’s “Frankenstein,” the first one with Boris Karloff from the early 1930s. As a kid, I responded to monster movies because they tried to tell the story of “the other.” Coming from a multi-ethnic background – my mother is white, my dad’s Black – I had experience being the “other,” so I’ve always related to that feeling.

What have you most learned about yourself during the pandemic?

I’ve certainly learned how flexible I can be. Having to go through this experience has made me more confident in myself, which has made me a better teacher and a stronger person.