I've always been pretty restless. I don't like staying in one place and doing one thing for too long. I hated high school because it seemed like the same thing every day, every year. College, though, has been quite different. Looking back, this year has been especially crazy.
Last semester, I produced a documentary in New Orleans. I found myself in the car for a total of 80 hours with people who were once strangers. I was stranded in Tuscaloosa for 24 hours. I filmed at jazz clubs, and hung out with amazing musicians. I even ended up sitting in a bar that I was too young to be at, in the middle of a confrontation with a former NFL player because he didn't like our doc.
This semester, I've been to Buffalo and back countless times, often just for the day. I went to Canada for a couple of hours just because. I filmed a family being reunited after 15 years. I decided to not be a vegetarian for a day, and ate goat from an African market. I tagged along while an Ethiopian couple went grocery shopping in the U.S for the first time. I stayed at a hotel that was allegedly haunted by a child ghost. And I even went to a Trump rally...
That's right. A Donald Trump rally.
Of all the things I have been through this year, the Trump rally was easily the strangest. People were selling shirts on the street that said "Hillary sucks, but not like Monica. Trump that bitch." There were protesters corralled into a small section, and people protesting the protestors. A seemingly average lady told us that refugees take perfume as a sign that it is okay to rape a woman. And Donald Trump accidentally said 7/11 instead of 9/11.
One of the strangely surprising parts of the rally was the fact that we were able to get media credentials. I woke up that morning assuming we would just film outside the rally, and ended the night on the media riser, sandwiched between Time Warner, CNN and Fox. One of the reporters there was extremely helpful: he found us a spot next to him on the riser, got us hooked into the mic box, and gave us a run down on what we should expect. At first, I was shocked that he was helping us without us even asking, but then I realized that Evin and I definitely stood out. We were the youngest people in the press by at least 15 years, and I was the only female cameraperson.
The rally ended by Trump walking off the stage to the Space Jam song, while his supports all chanted. The entire thing was bazaar, disturbing, and the perfect way to wrap shooting for the year.
Being a doc major has been pretty crazy, and I'm excited for the adventures that still lie ahead.
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