By Abla Gorashi, Staff Reporter
I am a pretty introverted person – a homebody, if you will. If you were to ask me to check out an event on campus, I can’t say I’d be too interested to go. I’d much rather be at home watching a movie on the couch while enjoying an iced coffee.
There’s only one problem with this, though: it doesn’t really serve my professional goals and pursuits. Most careers require you to be out there, and as a journalism student, that’s an important aspect of the job. If I wanted to succeed in my courses and have a hopeful career, I knew I would have to step out of my comfort zone. The universe must have known this, too.
One day, I came across an email about a storytelling workshop offered by Hollywood by the Horns, a Communications Department program that connects students with professionals working in film, television, and entertainment. The program is sponsored by the Golden Globe Foundation (formerly the Hollywood Foreign Press Association), and the workshop would focus on teaching students how to use their experiences to tell great stories.
Journalism is storytelling, after all, and even though I was a bit nervous to change my everyday routine, I signed up for the workshop. Over the course of the four-month workshop, I learned about narrative storytelling, creative writing, and public speaking – all skills I felt I needed to improve. The workshop was an amazing experience and I learned a lot.
“The benefits of having a class where the entire idea is to get to your authentic self is unlike any other experience that you have in college,” said Lisa Callamaro, who instructed the workshop. She said the workshop was a unique opportunity, because some students don’t often have the space or platform to share their stories in creative ways.
Film, TV, and media professor Toddy Eames is the program director for Hollywood by the Horns. She told me the program received less foundation funding, so resources had to be redirected toward other initiatives. Further, the storytelling workshop had poor enrollment following the pandemic. Although the workshop hasn’t been dropped entirely, it is on hiatus indefinitely.
This is unfortunate, and I was saddened to hear that this was the case. The workshop was tremendously beneficial for me, and I know others on campus would likely benefit from having an opportunity to tell their stories, too.
I hope the FTVM program will reconsider the priority it gives the workshop in the future. There’s no getting around the lack of funding, sadly – there’s only so much to go around, especially now – but I would love to see the workshop make a comeback. If not, I hope the Communications Department will consider developing a similar initiative that could serve the same function.
The storytelling workshop taught me that sometimes, all you need to step out of your comfort zone is the right opportunity. In my case, when that opportunity came knocking, I’m glad I got off the couch to answer it.
