semester one: a final revelation
Before coming to the University of Cincinnati, I attended Lexington High School in Lexington, Ohio for six years. Most of the students that I graduated with had gone to Lexington for most of their lives, and seeing these people on a daily basis seemed to not necessarily lessen my appreciation for their talents and goals, but made me much more adjusted to them, accepting them as the norm. It seemed like in high school, we could say whatever we wanted about what we wanted to do with our lives, but none of our words became serious until we came to college and actively pursued our visions. Upon arriving on the University of Cincinnati, I was astonished to suddenly realize that the people around me had these amazing hopes and dreams, from pursuing fashion design to having a big, happy family to becoming Broadway stars. The bombardment of pragmatic questions such as, “What’s your major?” and “What career do you want to have?” did not blind me from seeing what all of my fellow freshmen were dreaming of, and it has been truly inspiring to see them work towards their goals.
This revelation could be summed as saying that the people that I have met and will continue to meet have inspired hope in me for our generation, and made me realize all that we are capable of providing to our society. The immediate circle of students that I am surrounded with have shown me real friendship and passion through the lenses of honesty, reflection and compassion. The past three months of college have felt like a much longer period of time because of them, but in a good way. After every fun night exploring Cincinnati or staying in and watching movies, we talk about everything we have done, remembering each moment for the lessons we have learned and how they play into the grander schemes of our lives. It’s refreshing to be around such motivated and thoughtful people, and they have all left an impact on me in a special way.
I chose to make a video that captured some of these friends, asking the question, “What do you want out of life?” Some took a long time thinking about what they wanted, while for others, the answer was obvious. While filming, I really wanted to capture them laughing, because more often than not, our conversations always end in laughter. I hope that we will be able to look back on this project someday and reminisce on what we wanted freshman year compared to later, and see how radically we change or how consistent we become. Nevertheless, I will always have the people in this video and many more to thank for inspiring me to achieve all that I can every day.
This revelation could be summed as saying that the people that I have met and will continue to meet have inspired hope in me for our generation, and made me realize all that we are capable of providing to our society. The immediate circle of students that I am surrounded with have shown me real friendship and passion through the lenses of honesty, reflection and compassion. The past three months of college have felt like a much longer period of time because of them, but in a good way. After every fun night exploring Cincinnati or staying in and watching movies, we talk about everything we have done, remembering each moment for the lessons we have learned and how they play into the grander schemes of our lives. It’s refreshing to be around such motivated and thoughtful people, and they have all left an impact on me in a special way.
I chose to make a video that captured some of these friends, asking the question, “What do you want out of life?” Some took a long time thinking about what they wanted, while for others, the answer was obvious. While filming, I really wanted to capture them laughing, because more often than not, our conversations always end in laughter. I hope that we will be able to look back on this project someday and reminisce on what we wanted freshman year compared to later, and see how radically we change or how consistent we become. Nevertheless, I will always have the people in this video and many more to thank for inspiring me to achieve all that I can every day.