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On Nov. 12, 2013, a 15-year-old girl sat in front of a camera to share 10 facts about herself. After editing the content, she uploaded the video to YouTube. A year and a half later, junior Kate Mulligan has posted 69 more videos, reaching more than 3,300 subscribers.

“My channel is called katexone,” Kate said. “I started my own channel, because I had always been watching other people’s videos and short films on YouTube. It inspired me. I thought, ‘If they could do it, why couldn’t I?'”

Although she started her channel less than two years ago, Kate’s passion for film began in elementary school. After she found her mom’s old camera and started making stop-motion videos, she was determined to purchase her own camera and continue making short films and videos.

“The [thought] of creating an idea in your mind and then actually making it into something you could show someone was amazing to me,” Kate said. “I wanted to do it myself.”

Most of Kate’s videos are vlogs, or video blogs. She has a few short films on her channel as well. YouTube has led Kate to some amazing experiences. Just this year, one of her short films called “My Sock Addiction: A Sockumentary,” made with the help of her friend junior Molly Stotts, was featured in a film festival.

“I’ve entered in a few competitions early this year, and my friend Molly and I had our film screened at the Alamo Drafthouse during the Austin Youth Film Festival,” Kate said. “It was crazy seeing our film on a big screen.”

In February, Kate went to Playlist Live, a huge convention for online creators to come together and share their ideas and meet others with the same passion.

“Playlist Live was one of the greatest things ever,” Kate said. “Getting to meet some of my YouTube friends in person was amazing. Being around a group of people who understand what I do and why I do it was really awesome.”

Although she made her channel to express her ideas through videos, Kate has also had the opportunity to bond with old friends and make new ones.

“I have met so many people through YouTube that I never would have met without joining,” Kate said. “Being able to connect with people who are doing the same thing as you is great. Most of my friends that are on YouTube are out of state, but [senior] Sarah Holland is one of my friends here at Westlake, who is also on YouTube, and her work is amazing.”

Kate has plans to expand her channel even more in the future.

“I’m trying to make my channel more focused on short films and more creative content,” Kate said. “I want to work more with designing for my channel and experimenting with different styles of film to find out what I like best. I’m just excited to look back on what I created when I’m older.”