Journal #4

February 15, 2007
Students from Jordan High School came to UCLA for the Flesh and Blood performance and discussion with the Fowler Museum. It was wonderful to see the familiar faces of the students in our classes come to the UCLA campus to get a glimpse of the campus that I call home and to see the opportunities that they have to pursue their education here as well. As I stood waiting in front of the Fowler Museum this morning, I found myself eagerly anticipating the arrival of the students. Who would be coming this morning? Who would I recognize? I first caught sight of Shaqueal and Nashale, then Orly, Mani, Yuri, Nubia and about 20 other students in Ms. Hamilton's class. I had a smile plastered to my face for some reason--I was just so excited to see the students. I was in charge of videography for the day, documenting the group's activities and taping interviews. The coolest part was seeing a group of four students--3 of which are in our classes--working on their own videography of the event. Jordan High School just opened up a media center where the students will be working on their own documentaries and shaping their skills in the Media Arts. This will be an amazing opportunity to work with students after our residency to make collaborative projects.
After the day's planned events were over, the students had some free time to get food on campus. I had gone to return the video camera, then I went to get something to eat for myself and I ran into a group of kids in teh Cooperage. It was Shaqueal, Nashale, Coco, and two other girls (whose names I didn't get). In this more relaxed setting, the girls asked me questions about UCLA and what it was like to choose classes, who inspired me to go to college, who helped me to get here, and what I thought about community college. Nashale told me she already knows that she wants to be an Orthodontist, and the other girls expressed their own goals for attending college as well. This was inspiring, and Nashale told me that she would be contacting me when the time came for her to apply to college. I left them, once again, with a smile on my face.