By Jennifer Blohm
We’re about a week or so away from the end of the program.
It’s very bittersweet. I love this island, the people, the culture, the food… everything. I’m going to miss it. On the other hand, I cannot wait to go home. I miss my bed, cooking, friends, partner, and family. (And my dogs, of course.)
I think that this trip has been a great test of my knowledge and application of everything I’ve learned over the last three years. Getting to apply all of my skills, and fine-tune new ones, has opened up the possibilities for me to work (almost) anywhere on sets I might find myself on in the future.
I’ve also been so enamored with the stories I’ve been involved in, including my assigned projects about Marios and Annelize. I have never interviewed two more unique individuals in my life,
and getting first-hand accounts of their stories really reminded me of two things.
The first was how far I’ve come from when I first started college in 2019 as an art student hoping to study graphic design and transferred to the MAS program a semester behind most of my peers. Now I’m graduating the fall after this trip. I don’t think 18-year-old me would have ever been able to picture studying abroad at the time. I hope I’ve made her proud.
The second thing was how much I really do love storytelling and listening to people talk about their lives. People don’t need to lead the biggest, boldest, richest lives in order to tell the best story. Every time someone tells me about their lives, I’m in instant awe of how much they’ve been able to accomplish in so much, yet so little, time. It’s humbling; a good thing to keep in mind when the looming crisis of graduation and the whole wide world starts to trickle in.
I’m young. I’m only 21. I have time, and I cannot wait to see how my own story is written.