President's Medallion Winner Camille Jackson

It has been a doozy adjusting, doing school at home, while working at home. Socially, I feel strangely even more connected to the Loyola community. I’m seeing myself being more active with Loyola. With Covid-19, everything is remote, so now I’m able to do things I wouldn’t have been able to before because of the long commute from the South Shore neighborhood in Chicago. There are so many people connected with Loyola online that want to help out. There are campus events and programming that different departments and organizations are hosting.

When I got the email, I was like, “Whoa, you all even think about me?” I’m so glad I talk to my teachers. I felt like they appreciate my efforts, they see me. I was really glad I connect with my teachers enough so that they see how much I value their classes. And that they notice how much work I put into everything that I do.

 

I got really nervous about my career and the future. This [pandemic] is really going to change the landscape of film and media. I can’t go out and film things the way I traditionally would. But I can use my writing ability. I’ve been talking to other interns, young people who are other college grads in the field of film. We share internship tips, we help each other with editing projects, looking over each other’s documents.

 

It’s a small community that’s growing every day. It all started during this pandemic. We thought, how can we pivot during this situation and make the best of what we can with the tools that we already have. It’s called Young Entertainment Professionals. I invited other SOC students that I know into the group. People who are on TLC and other networks have posted on their job boards, but they haven’t publicly released it. But now I know about these positions through this group. We have meetups, talk about different aspects of film. We talk about feeling nervous, help each other prepare for interviews.

 

In the near future, I would love to go to graduate school. Possibly get a master’s in screenwriting, art administration, or filmmaking. I want to continue to figure out ways to combine art with advocacy, make sure that I can use both of my majors, film and sociology. There’s a part of me that has to create my own career.

 

I would love to create something of my own, in terms of a television show or maybe a small film. . I do really want to work within educational children’s media. Giving children a chance to say, “Hey, that’s me!” So they feel seen and listened to. Children are so smart. I want to create programming that doesn’t play down their intelligence. I think it’s easier to reach them because their minds are still growing and developing. They may not have the sociological vocabulary to express what they see, but they do notice. “Hey mom, what’s going on? Why are they protesting?” That’s a great area for advocacy, to promote social justice. To teach children to be smarter and kinder and more curious about the world around them.

 

Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood was groundbreaking. That’s one of my favorite children’s television shows. All the topics that seem too heavy for kids, Mr. Rogers said, children see this. They’re a part of this world, too. They want to know what’s happening in the world around them and they want to see how they can change it. Arthur is a good one, too. TV shows today like Stephen Universe and Craig of the Creek. How do you explain consent to a young child, that’s six or seven years old? These shows do it.

 

Make the School of Communication, particularly the FDM program, more interdisciplinary. Make sure that film students have at least one marketing course. Put it in the curriculum. Make sure we know the producing side of it. Make sure that students take at least one business course, so we understand how to budget a film, how to promote it. I think the film program is so solely focused on the old way of doing film that we’re not looking at what other programs are doing. We’re not working with the philosophy program, graphic design, even the business side. You have to be successful in film, yes, but you also have to know how to pivot. A lot of people who are camera-work people may not be able to do as much camera work on set now, during a pandemic. So now you night have to switch into the editing side. You have to be adaptable. I thought it was so surprising that we didn’t take a media law course, to learn about copyright. That seems really crucial to me. We may not be a film center here in Chicago, but we are a center for podcasting. Why not have film students take a journalism course to branch out? Film students could take a screenwriting track. Even being able to have a minor would be good; I was surprised that we couldn’t hold a minor. We think about this all the time; how can we make it better for the students that come after us?

 

My hope for the school is that it really embrace the different links. Being able to pivot. As students, we have to be able to pivot within our careers. Making sure that your learning doesn’t end after you graduate. You have to be a life-long learner. Make sure that you’re aware of the world that you’re living in, and reflect on that. What kind of world am I in? How can I tell stories that uplift people that make space for other people to come in and tell their stories? Being a storyteller is something that is passed down, so look at how you reach others with that process.