Wednesday, January 23, 2013

To Serve

My first mission upon graduation is to use my major to benefit someone else.

No matter how small the issue, the group I'm focusing on, or the amount of money in my pocket, I want to use film and media to draw attention to the issues that matter - that should matter if they don't already.

I grew up in a neighborhood that nurtured me and taught me what it meant to be a good girl, a good student, and an even better person. As I grew up, things began to change. The toddlers that I watched move on to elementary school became eighth-graders that started doing drugs with the older kids during dewy mornings at the bus stop. Cops began to show up regularly on my street because one of our neighbors used to beat his wife, though he appeared to everyone else as a half-way decent guy.

You couldn't go to the gazebo without seeing spray-painted genitalia or every curse-word known to man sprawled on every piece of wood that wasn't kicked from its foundation. If the drainage ponds weren't trash cans for all, they were near-death traps for kids that dared each other to go out onto the ice after it snowed, no matter how thin the layer.

No one cared anymore.

It became the norm to overlook the small things that once made our community beautiful. It was acceptable to rip down the net within the tennis court and allow children  to play, though no rackets were in sight despite the "Tennis Playing Only" typed boldly on the sign outside of the court. Every walk from school featured broken glass from spent beer bottles, crushed cigarette cartons, and other trash that could've easily been discarded in a waste bin.

With media, I want to erase fear. I want to erase doubt. I want to obliterate and unravel the horrible standards and assumptions that we've allowed to run and ruin our lives. I will help my community take back its power by seeking out the good still left within it, inspiring the youth that will eventually make the important decisions in our world, and outing those that pollute our streets and our ambitions.

 I want change, and many before me have said that it starts with your contribution.

So I vow to make something great happen, no matter the size.