Campus Events

Apple iMovie Contest

The first campus event I attended was the Apple iMovie Contest and Festival. Being a film studies major I thought this would be so much fun. First I had to find some people to help me come up with a proposal for the theme ‘An Appalachian Experience,’ and then submit it to the two guys in charge. I ended up working with two close friends and we came up with the idea of a mockumentary of a day in the life of an Appalachian student. The only thing was that the day before we were to start the ‘documentary’ the main character’s girlfriend dumped him, so he’s just trying to get through the day so he can hang out with his friends at night. He ends up seeing Sara, his ex, just about everywhere he goes, so he gets frustrated and eventually ends up at Cook Out.
Everything for the contest was provided for us. We got a video camera for a week to shoot all of our footage, and then the next week they provided us with MacBook Pro laptops to edit on. Even though we only had about two weeks to make these films it was so much fun! My group did all of our shooting in two days but then had a few problems transferring the footage to the laptop. We got the film done and turned in on time and then we just had to wait until the premiere date to watch all the other ones. There were originally about ten groups but only four made it to the end. Out of the four groups my group got best drama and we won some things from the bookstore along with gift cards around Boone and two free lift tickets to App Ski Mountain.
I would say that this event was interdisciplinary because I had to draw from different disciplines. I had to draw from previous knowledge about shooting and editing. I had to draw from emotional experiences and think of what other people would think or feel in similar situations, and I also had to think about what would be appropriate or acceptable to the judges.


Appalachian Leadership Forum

The second event that I attended was ALF, the Appalachian Leadership Forum. This event started with a key note speaker and then had three different sessions that had about four or five speakers each on different topics. The key note speaker talked about failure and how for you to succeed you have to fail first. He was a little dry but he got his point across. The sessions I attended were ‘Finding a Job: making your resume,’ ‘Civic Involvement,’ and ‘Financial Planning.’ Then after the sessions there were refreshments and a concluding speech by the Leadership Team.
The first session I attended was very eye opening to me. I had not put a resume together before this because I did not really know how. Now I have a general idea of how but I do not have very many things to put on it. If I were to make one right now all it would have on it would be my education history and the one club I am a member of. The session went beyond resumes too, which was nice. The speaker also talked about what to do after you land an interview. Overall, that session was every informative.
The next session I attended was ‘Civic Involvement,’ and I did not particularly enjoy it. It was informative, but not my cup of tea. The speakers talked about problems in the local, state, and country-wide environments and economies. My only contribution to this session was that I thought the campus smoking policy should be strictly enforced. I have asthma so it is hard for me to breathe when there are people all around me smoking constantly. We talked about how to strictly enforce the policy, but there really is no way to ensure enforcement. I have not seen anyone actually enforce this policy and it is very upsetting. I’m sure that if someone were to say something to someone smoking less than 50 feet from any campus building nothing would happen short of a flick on the wrist or a disappointing finger shake.
The last session I attended was just about as eye opening as the first. I am no good with managing money and this only furthered my fear of being on my own. The speakers talked about IRAs and managing your money and estate and even talked about insurance, death, and wills. After the session I walked out scared to graduate and be out from under my parents insurance!
I would definitely say that this event was interdisciplinary because it took from many different disciplines. Some of the other speakers in the three sessions that were offered talked about Yoga, playing games to de-stress, time management, and making and keeping commitments. I only wish there had been more than three sessions because I would have liked to have gone to more of the presentations.