Historical Autobiography

I am pursuing a MA in Media studies at The New School because I want to be informed and a part of the technology revolution that is overtaking all aspects of media in our society. Everything is happening faster in the media, and the technology which we use is advancing itself just as quickly. I want to pursue a MA in Media Studies at the New School to stay informed and up to date on what is happening with this while working on combining my two passions, filmmaking and film studies. These two professions have been fascinations of mine since a very young age, and I am thrilled to be studying them collectively at the New School.
As a child I always thought of myself as a film lover. It was a cognition process for me, opening doors to lifestyles and cultures in two-hour blocks. Even at that time in my life I sensed a common thread in film that I wanted to be a part of, and it seemed I was building an encyclopedia in my head to complement this. Watching films became a process of self-awareness, as I learned about myself in relation to parts of the world through people I would never have had an opportunity to connect with.
I never really thought I would make films or be a part of them in any way because it was not something taught in the public schools I grew up with. There was a filmmaking class I took my senior year in High School, but it was more of a “Here’s a camera, now make a movie” kind of thing. There were no fundamentals of the filmmaking process, nor any chance to explore film technique.
When it came to college I chose architecture as my area of study because I loved to work with my hands drawing and molding clay, so this seemed a natural fit. I attended the University of Minnesota and was looking forward to building my architectural framework as a professional, but soon realized through classes that my fascination with architecture came from looking at buildings and replicating them in various forms. I thought I would love to design a home for my family to live in someday, but my desire to create buildings ended here.
I was in search of something more internal to focus on, something real and inspirational that already had roots within me. I found that connection with an Intro to Film course offered through the art history department. I knew immediately it was the right decision because of the course reading, which fascinated me. I devoured film history books and would eagerly watch films and write about them.
During this course I began to realize that in writing about films, maybe I see a little of myself in the characters or maybe I wished I saw some of myself in them. I was recognizing something in these films and I wanted to know why I was so intrigued by them. Japanese cinema had a particular attraction for me in this class, and “Rashomon” (Akira Kurosawa, 1950) was the film that opened the gateway to my enchantment with South-East Asian cinema. After declaring my second major as studies in cinema and media culture I started to explore this foreign art form through classes titled Oppositional Cinema, Kurosawa, Chinese Film, and South-East Asian Cinema. I trained myself to look beyond the images and sounds present in a film, recognizing and illuminating the qualitative and historical aspects being represented.
After graduation I chose to explore various career paths related to writing and filmmaking, and took photography and filmmaking courses at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in an effort to heighten my awareness of all that goes into a film. I also had the privilege of studying abroad in China during the 2008 summer term through the University of Minnesota, just before the summer Olympics in Beijing, and learned more about the deep artistic and cultural history of the country. These opportunities focused on areas of study that intrigued me, and extending my passion for Chinese cinema.
I came to New York to grow as a writer, to work in multiple styles and genres, and to broaden my approach in pursuit of writing as a career. I purchased Final Draft for screenplays, have taken a memoir writing class through the Gotham Writer’s Workshop, and now rent an art studio with two fellow writers to work on my craft. I have successfully fulfilled an internship with the Onion News Network, the weekly publication and online network, and the Broadway Artists Alliance, a workshop for children that want to perform on Broadway, both of which have taught me valuable lesions in fields that have interested me for many years and opened doors to careers that I would have thought out of my grasp. And now I am taking classes at the New School in pursuit of a MA to further my understanding of media prevalent in society today.
With an MA in Media Studies I see myself working as a programmer/curator for film festivals and museums, and exploring cinema from around the world. I will play with the ways it can be represented on the large screen versus on a television/computer, and I want to use these platforms to reach out to communities, sharing my passion for viewing films with audiences of various backgrounds. I also want to work as a freelance writer during this time, working on screenplays and movie reviews, with the larger ambition of sharing my understanding of cinema through analysis with others. My long-term intention is to serve as a film historian, to write about films and styles of filmmaking from around the world, and advance the way people view cinema and the cultures that produce it.
I hope to make the most of my experience in the New School with research papers, class choices, language study, certificate programs, friendships, internships, potential job prospects, and a strong thesis choice when the time is right.
I strongly believe that one can never stop learning, especially in the digital and multimedia-driven world we live in today, which is why I applied to the New School because I recognize it was founded on similar principles. I will always be a lover of film and cinema, and now I have a unique opportunity to work on a larger scale and follow my creative instincts in these fields while learning about the entire media industry. I want to continue my studies on film theory and practice while learning about the current changes in the media, and the expectations as it continues to evolve. My journey of self-awareness has brought me to the New School, and now I have to chance to really make a name for myself in the busiest city in the world.