Erika

Erika is a another student at Sheridan College and understands what it means to sacrifice her hard earned time and money. Erika Eckensweiler is a first year Journalism Student at Sheridan College, She currently works at a Pita Pit restaurant at the other end of the city hoping to make ends meet. She works long and hard hours. Leaving her little time to study outside of school. “I spend a lot of my time outside of school working, doing favours for work, or stressing about work. The money I make from this job is honestly not worth what it’s giving me for school, I can barely pay for it as it is.” Eckensweiler feels as though her work situation is causing her to make sacrifices in her education. “I definitely make major sacrifices. I work 9 hour shifts on Sundays alone and it kills me. I never do assignments after work because I’m exhausted. Working late keeps me up late which makes me sleep in and miss a lot of my classes.” Eckensweiler made a point to say that she has made many sacrifices in her social life as well. “On the nights I work I’m there until 11 pm and I go home and go to bed. On my days off I am too exhausted to do anything. I can’t say I get out much anymore at all.”  The amount of time and effort put into her work schedule took a huge toll on her relationship as well.

Another aspect that many students are facing is the mental health aspect. Eckensweiler feels that she is sacrificing her mental and physical well being to stay in school “I have one day off a week, that’s Saturday, and it is spent doing assignments or commuting home to see my parents, So really I have no time off” She went on to say that she has very little time to cook healthy meals considering she isn’t had home very often. Her lack of sleep has taken a large toll on her as well “I don’t sleep much because I’m working late, or doing assignments, or both as I have to be up early the next day for class. It’s physically and emotionally draining. As of lately I’ve been feeling really jaded.

Eckensweiler was sure to mention that she really doesn’t fully see the light at the end of the educational tunnel, she said that she knows there is a light somewhere but she feels pretty far from it right now. “I mean; I am hopeful for my future, but at what cost?”

Emerson’s Story

At What cost will it take 2 Sheridan College students to pursue their educational goals?

Emerson Delcogliano is a returning student to the Media Fundamentals program at Sheridan College. Delcogliano’s struggle didn’t start there. At age 11 he started to work at a mom and pop shop as a cashier. At the time he was only making about $5 an hour. By the time he had gone into grade 11 he had a breakdown about how he had wasted his childhood. “Some complications made growing-up very lonely. I knew I wanted to go to school for film since I was 11 years old and that’s why I got that job.” Delogliano explained that money was always an issue for him and that he made many sacrifices at a young age to work towards a bigger and brighter future, however he faced some complications along the way. In his first attempt at taking the Media Fundamentals program in 2014 He got pneumonia and suffered through the loss of his grandparents. “When I got pneumonia I felt broken. It was as if Sheridan didn’t even try to help me. It made me not want to continue into Sheridan’s Bachelor Program.” Delcogliano stressed that he didn’t want the people around him to give up on him just yet. He was ready to persevere. He knew that he had already sacrificed so much in his life. “I sat down, and ran it through my head, I knew it was going to happen, it had to happen…. It Just a matter of when”

Delcogliano returned to the Media Fundamental’s program in September of 2015 after being denied acceptance to Sheridan Colleges film program. He had weighed his odds again and still didn’t want to give up. He had thought about about working and came to the conclusion that “Time is money, but knowledge is a commodity, if it was on a scale, personally I would spend the rest of my days making money over learning but I want to learn because I need to get something out of all of this.”

I asked him that if he could change one sacrifice he could change to stay in school what would it be?  “If  I could have one thing back, I wish I could have my childhood back.”

Emerson and his brother play in the leaves

 

At what cost Radio Show

At What Cost?

The Video explains it.

As the blogging assignment comes to a close I uploaded a video as a call out to people who want to tell me more of their stories. if you Click the link below it will bring you to youtube. Always remember that who you are matters and so does your story.

Your story Matters

 

Interview with the Story Teller

 

My Blogging assignment has come to an end, but due to the gaining interest It will still continue. A lot of students and other people were interested in tell me their stories. People really love just getting the chance to talk share about all of the hard work that they do. I wanted to share a bit about my story.

Interview with a story teller:

What is your favorite song?

Hands down Miracle Mile by the Cold War kids. It got me through so much. It is the song I always playing in the background when I pictured someone reading my story.

miracle mile – Cold War Kids

I Always knew that I was meant to do great things. I didn’t know what they were. I was really lost for a long time. I dealt with a lot of mental health issues for a really long time. I suffered manic depression and anxiety since I was about 10 years old. I grew up pretty quickly and went through a lot. I had so many opportunities that felt like Miracle Miles with no end. I lost sight of who I was for a really long time.

I was goal oriented with no ambition. I went to Fanshawe College when I was 18 because it was the only place I got into (I actually got wait listed at Sheridan back then) I flunked out pretty quickly. I had made great friends that had bad intentions.

I had just flunked out and still went home for Christmas about 6 years ago. That was the last time I was in Timmins. After Christmas break I then tried to go back for a general arts program. But OSAP denied me.

I didn’t have enough money to pursue my education. I got caught up in the party scene for a few years. My great friends with bad intentions were slowly fading away. I told one of my friends that he wasn’t going to make it past 25. He told me I should go back to school. He died a few months later from an overdose.

I had decided that London had nothing left for me. I moved away and started a hellish journey trying to get back to school. I wanted with everything in me to pursue an education and to meet people who wanted that as well. I worked at a number of Jobs with terrible Bosses. One who yelled in my face and told me I wasn’t going to accomplish anything and fired me a week before Christmas. At the same time, I stayed in a basement apartment and the man upstairs would abuse his wife and his mentally disabled mother It was like there was no sense of peace anywhere. One day I went to work and came home to police and cruisers around the house. I grabbed my cat and we went to my boyfriends. He is one of the best things that ever happened to me.

During all of the chaos I had filed an application to Sheridan for the Media Fundamentals program. I didn’t tell anyone until I knew I got in. I will never forget my moms face. She was so proud of me.

Going to Sheridan has really changed me for the better. I am working towards my future everyday. I still work 2 jobs to stay in school.  I am a Teachers assistant for the Media Fundamentals program. (I have a much better boss now) I also Supervise at a Subway.

Now life is different. I live in a much better place.

But if there was one thing I would tell people who want something better then what they have. Is to run that miracle mile, run it hard until the very end. A mile feels short but when you are not used to running it can feel like forever. My mile was on a long and hard road with many road blocks along the way. I know I have more to come, but what changed is that I know that I wont ever give up. If I can over come this much in 24 years. Anyone can.

So always go that extra mile….you never know where it will lead you

 

What happens from here?

I will still run this blog because I feel it can bring a voice for those who have a lot to say but don’t wish to publicly speak. I think that everyone has a story to tell, just remember that You matter. Your story matters and I want to tell your story. .30.

 

 

 

 

Interview with a film maker

K.C is a first year film student and film enthusiast. She gave one of the most insightful interviews I have ever done.

DO you consider yourself a film maker? “Yes. But not a good one right now, I’m getting there though.”

What makes you different from the other kids taking film?  “I think its our personal experiences that make us different. Our experiences reflect in our films, my perspective will always be different from someone else’s, and you can see that in the films I make.”

Can you describe a personal experience that motivates you to create your films? “I think what motivates me is years of not being good at anything and a newly found motivation to prove a lot of people wrong. It was clear from a young age; I wasn’t too bright or I wasn’t artistic in a way that teachers could see. I guarantee that none of my High school teachers took me seriously when I told them I was interested in film. Because they couldn’t immediately see talent in me. And I was dumb enough to think that was a good enough reason that I couldn’t do film. It’s take awhile, but I’m learning to stop comparing myself to others and I’m determined to prove wrong the people who didn’t think I was good enough.”

DO your parents support your Journey? “They support it as much as they can. I think they were just happy that I went to college at all. I can still sense some doubt from them sometimes, but I think they’re too scared that I might second guess myself and give up. They don’t want to deal with another emotional mess.”

what activates do you do outside of film? “I like going to clubs at my college like the GSA (Gay-Straight alliance) club. Where I can be in a safe environment and be around understanding people as I come to terms with my sexuality. I also volunteer for charitable organizations, like Habitat of Humanity. Keeps me busy.”

Do you have any advice for new film students who are worried about being openly gay in the industry? “I can’t say that you won’t encounter discrimination. We still live in a world where homophobia is very real and prominent. But any hardships that you face, should add to your determination. Just smile and nod through all the bullshit, because once you prove to them that they were wrong, you’ve started opening doors for others in the LGBT+ Community.”

Last question: What do you hope to achieve after film? “I hope after film, that I’ve made an impact. I still have a lot of growing to do and so much more to learn. But hopefully with a lot of hard work, I can use my films to connect to people. Even if I only impact a small group of people, I’d considered that a major win.”

K.C is an inspiration to many students who are going into the Arts and Media Industries. She is brave and bold. I Think she will be very successful and is a great example for students to identify with. Good luck K.C
.30.

 

K.C

 

The Journalist Interview

 

I got the chance to tell E. E’s story. A First Year Journalism student at Sheridan College. Telling E. E’s story was important because it left me to wonder if more people feel the same way?

Why did you want to go to Sheridan College? “The atmosphere, I am not really into books and shit, I’m into the arts and hands on things and Sheridan is a very interactive and (obviously) art filled school. Especially this campus. I like that here everyone is different.”

Do you find yourself invested in the Journalism program? “Not really. I enjoy many of the aspects of the program. But the more I’m here, the less I feel like it’s the route I want to go in. But that may be myself just getting sick of school. I just want to get out there and do, not listen.”

What do you like to do outside of Sheridan? “Video games hahaha. The majority of my evenings are spent playing video games with friends. Pc games that is, not console games. Aside from that I like walking. I try to go for a walk every other evening. Helps me relieve stress.”

What is the biggest stress your facing at the moment? “My job. As we speak my owner is texting me asking to call her and it’s giving me anxiety because I don’t know what for. Am I in trouble? is she going to ask me to pick up another shift? Work puts a lot of stress on me. Even on my days off I’m thinking about it and getting texts about it.”

What is your dream job? “My dream job? Writing/Directing for documentaries, something along the lines of writing or directing in general really.”

When you were a kid, what did you see yourself going into journalism? “Not always. Growing up I wanted to go into archeology or geology, then I wanted to be a paramedic. But throughout high school I was really torn between Journalism, theatre production, or film production. Journalism seemed to be the most practical, and my parents will only contribute money to practical. so I went with it. I figured it will give me experience in more fields anyway.”

If you could tell yourself something before you went on the journalism journey here what would it be? “Stay focused and stay passionate. I think I was lazy first semester and lost a lot of my passion for the program since I wasn’t doing well.”

Where do you see your self after your done your program? “No idea. I have less of an idea now than I did when I started this program.”

Interview with E.E
First Year Journalism student.

E.E