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When brainstorming for this project I instantly knew that I wanted to focus on my experience trying out with the club water polo team as this has been one of my most profound, challenging, and valuable experiences here at the University of Virginia. Taking this a step further, I decided to make my theme “Start From Scratch”. This is a testament to the importance of coming to new places (like coming to Uva) and trying out completely new things with people that are completely different from you. In other words, I want to portray the importance of starting from scratch on something and developing new skill sets and gaining valuable experiences with the people around you as we so often box ourselves in with people similar to us. I knew that I wanted to somehow convey this experience in an aesthetic and interesting way. My next step was to think about my creative skills: drawing. I decided to use drawing to take snapshots of certain moments at Uva in which I would speed up in an aesthetic way. This would both display creativity and my desired message. The first snapshot is of my first day of tryouts for the club water polo team. At the club fair, the guys behind the stand convinced me to show up for the tryouts even though I wasn’t a swimmer and had never heard of the sport before. I showed up to the first day of tryouts with a normal bathing suit on not knowing that you were supposed to wear speedos. I was the only person not wearing a speedo. I was an outsider in the group: inexperienced and not properly equipped. These people seemed like foreigners to me. However, someone lent me a speedo and the captain of the team made sure I didn’t fall behind in the tryouts. I developed a new insight through this experience that at a place like Uva, people want to help you. If you take a leap of faith people will catch you. I stepped outside of my comfort zone and realized that I jumped into a community of caring, motivated people. Over time, with experience, I developed the necessary skill sets to compete at water polo. I also developed a mindset contra to a mindset I grew up with. Growing up, I believe that it was extremely important to be absolutely, 100% prepared for everything. After “winging” the water polo tryouts, I understood the importance of throwing yourself into the unknown. The color draws emphasis to the bathing suit I wore which was the root of my discomfort and nervousness at the moment.
The second picture is a snapshot of my friend on her first day of work at the Starbucks in Newcomb Hall. Having never worked before, she stepped completely outside of her comfort zone and jumped into an unfamiliar work environment. Her coworkers were all older than her, had families, and were of different ethnicities but by spending time with them and listening to their stories, gained their trust. They took her under her wing and taught her the tricks to being a barista. While I understand that this snapshot is not of me, I had almost the exact same experience while working over the summer. I really wanted to talk about this experience but it didn’t fall under my time at Uva. By using her snapshot, I’m trying to communicate that people have similar experiences starting from scratch. If you jump into a new unfamiliar work environment and feel uncomfortable, there are countless people who have been in your exact situation. When starting from scratch on something, this can be a tool used for comfort and motivation. By using her snapshot I’m trying to prove that no one is alone on their endeavors to start from scratch.
In addition, each new blank piece of paper represents starting from scratch. I hope that people who watch this video will be inspired to try something completely new and scary.