The Intersection of Art and Academia
“My internship with the Media Institute for Social Change was one of my most life-changing experiences.”
Double major: Five College Film Studies and Anthropology
Fellowship: Media Institute for Social Change, Portland, Oregon
Internship: production house, Rome; Five College Student Film and Video Festival
Study Abroad: IES Rome
Awards: Abroad Sweet Abroad won the Innovative Student Video Award, IES Abroad Study Abroad Film Festival
During my sophomore year of college, I was torn between applying for a Fulbright to conduct research in the UK or apply for a fellowship with the Media Institute for Social Change, where I would make socially-conscious films in Portland, Oregon.
I was stuck between two wonderful yet very different opportunities: I would either pursue academia in a different country or feed my creative side and engage in the art of filmmaking. I eventually dove into the latter, which turned out to be one of the most life-changing experiences in terms of figuring out what I wanted to spend the rest of my life doing: making films that are intellectually engaging, thought-provoking, entertaining, and representative of communities that are not commonly represented in mass media.
Through my internship with the Media Institute (and later LEAP Presentation), as well as through the support of the MHC Film Studies department and an internship with a production house in Rome, my love for filmmaking and scholarship continually deepens. Eventually, I hope to apply my education towards owning my own production house that integrates my two areas of study at MHC — a company that represents minority/disenfranchised identities through TV and film.