In the Land of the Busy College Student…
…It’s easy to get distracted and miss out on some of the things you really wanted to experience most.
I attend one of the most reputable film schools in the country, and yet I’ve never been to a screening of a student-produced film. My name is Maddie, and I’m a junior at the University of Southern California (USC), and I’m studying Journalism, Multimedia Literacy, and Film.
During the second half of my sophomore year at USC, I really started wondering why my college experience hadn’t included more events centered around student creativity. Why had I not seen a student film? A student art show? A student poetry reading? Why had I only been to one or two shows where student bands performed?
I soon realized that although USC prides itself in its multidisciplinary approach to undergraduate studies and boasts a wealth of artistic programs, I was feeling a distinct lack of these kinds of events in my life.
And it certainly isn’t because they weren’t happening…the problem was that I, and many of my immediate peers, didn’t seem to know about them. Amid the hustle and bustle, studying, partying and everything else, these things seemed to slip right past our consciousness. I talked to many of my friends about how I was feeling, and they echoed the same thing I was thinking almost every time: “Yea, I’d love to go do that….but I don’t know when or where it’s happening.”
The Real Problem Was…
There may be a schedule of student films, a place to hear about student jazz performances, etc., and there is a wonderful newsletter called Visions and Voices that keeps students updated about guest speakers and performers visiting our campus. But I couldn’t find a news source in the USC community that was entirely dedicated to student-produced work in all the artistic arenas celebrated at my school.
What if there was some kind of blog that would tell you about an upcoming band performance, review a student film, AND give you the date and time of the next poetry reading? And it was totally run by and for students? What if, instead of fighting for an audience to see their next show, student groups would be able to tap into a group of people who were eager and ready to listen and support them?
And what if I made that happen?
But it Could be So Much More
When I first started working with Re-Vision Labs, I realized that what I was really talking about was more than just putting together a news source; it was about building a community. I wanted to foster collaborations between artists and get people attending parties and shows and screenings. I wanted to cinch together a wide-ranging, diverse group of people who would create and enjoy these things together, and would welcome other students to listen, watch, enjoy, and participate too.
I didn’t want to make a blog that was just a news source that people would sometimes look at and read. I wanted to make one that would get people talking about what was going on, inspire creativity and more than anything else, get people out and into a new social scene that would really be fun and stimulating.
I’m anxious to start supporting and cultivating the talents that are right here in our midst. I know there is enough momentum to keep such a community going far beyond my time at USC.
So next year I will start developing this dream community of mine.
What is your dream community?
