Meet them. Learn their stories. Enjoy.
I met Akasha when I did work for the sexual assault awareness club at my high school. At the time, she was the Oregon state senator for our area, doing significant work with high school students around Oregon. She was always so excited to speak with the club leaders and offered us so many opportunities for legislative work. A year later, when I reached out to her for this project, I was once again by her generosity and kindness in offering her time. She never wasted our time, always gave me answers that furthered my knowledge of her work, and even reprimanded me slightly for not reaching out to her after she hadn’t responded. I am so grateful to have her in my corner and to have been able to talk to her again for this project.
When I visited Mr. Mazet at the Eugene Saturday Market, he was swarmed by customers. He sold a small hanging glass bee and a glass frog in the five minutes I stood there, all while telling me when I could show up to his brother’s house to take photos of him. It was clear to me that he was childishly excited about glassblowing. Mazet spoke to me for an hour and a half straight and made three glass pieces while I snapped photos. He talked about the history of glassblowing, his book, his documentary, Buddhism and meditation, his family, and how his hand was too shaky to become a tattoo artist. Mazet’s perspective on life was introspective and individualistic, and I appreciated his honesty. I was grateful to learn the lessons he preached from his experiences, and was inspired by his obvious passion for his work.
Mia lived in my residence hall for the first couple of terms of my freshman year. One of the first days of school she showed me and my friends her thousand-dollar mountain bike. I was amazed. I had never seen someone with a hobby like mountain biking. She was the first person I thought of when I got this assignment because I knew she would have a story. She was always welcoming, comfortable talking, active, fun, and sweet. Our sunset hike up Spencer Butte was challenging and educational. I heavily enjoyed talking to her and worked on this project in record time, purely out of excitement to create this story. Mia’s joy and story of spending her time more consciously was rejuvenating, and I am so grateful for it.
When I first saw Lauren dancing in the studio the day before her final Duckstreet performance of the year, I was entranced by her smile. The community in the studio was familial, and Lauren was like the excited younger sister of the older dancers. Talking to her reminded me of the power of artistic expression. Balancing college, research, and social life is not inherently easy, and adding a dance troupe may seem like too much. But for Lauren, dance is therapy and an important part of her life. She dedicates time and energy to the craft and watches it pay off. It was my pleasure to witness a small part of that craft and be able to share her passion in this video.
Julia the Journalist 