“If you don’t know where you are,” Wendell Berry said, “you don’t know who you are.” It is believed that the environment in which people live, both present and past, has a fundamental influence on their character and identities. Shenzhen, as my hometown, has subconsciously influenced and shaped part of my character. Therefore, a sense of exploration, which is an essential feature of my young and innovative city, has been deeply instilled in me. When I first came to Emory, the completely different environment made me feel uncomfortable and the sense of being excluded was overwhelming. Even though I felt this way then, I have tried my best to engage in campus life because of my sense of exploration and have found a sense of belonging in this new place.
In my visual memoir, I exhibited a series of photos taken on campus. While I displayed some photos of the Emory campus at the beginning of my memoir, I mainly focused on the organization I joined, Emory Chinese Theater Club, which is one of the four main theater groups on campus.
In my visual memoir, I exhibited a series of photos taken on campus. While I displayed some photos of the Emory campus at the beginning of my memoir, I mainly focused on the organization I joined, Emory Chinese Theater Club, which is one of the four main theater groups on campus.
It is a student organization that performs Chinese plays to raise awareness for Chinese culture at Emory. During my first semester, I took the role of freshmen representative for the publicity team of ECTC. As a publicity team member, I helped to post flyers around campus, distributed posters in student dorms, and publicized each new play in Chinese classes before it was preformed. Although there was plenty of preparation work to do before each final performance, I enjoyed meeting different people and making new friends during the time I spent on the publicity team. While I advertised our club, I got the chance to meet not only Chinese students but also some American students who were interested in appreciating Chinese art and performances. The sense of being excluded decreased as I participated more actively in our club. ECTC, a unique organization on campus, was the first place that started to make me feel a sense of belonging at Emory.
Later during my freshmen year, my responsibilities mainly changed to contacting as well as building relationships with different organizations. Because communication is essential for any community, we need external support and cooperation with other groups in order to further promote various events. Whereas it is necessary to publicize on our own social media pages, collaboration with others is a more efficient way to attract more people to our events. Being in charge of outside connections, I had an opportunity to coordinate with professors in the Emory Chinese Department. As a result, ECTC now offers help for tutoring programs held by the Chinese Department and teachers promote our new plays as extra credit for students if they attend. Maintaining good relationships with the Chinese Department not only provides an advantage for the development of our whole organization, but also benefited me. Since I was responsible for keeping in touch with the Chinese Department, I became close with Chinese professors. When I was anxious, talking to Chinese professors reduced my stress and they always helped me figure out a way to solve my problems. Although my advisor is also helpful, communicating in Chinese is easier for me to express my concerns more completely. In an environment where people talk to each other in English, talking in my native language provides a temporary “home” for me.
Later during my freshmen year, my responsibilities mainly changed to contacting as well as building relationships with different organizations. Because communication is essential for any community, we need external support and cooperation with other groups in order to further promote various events. Whereas it is necessary to publicize on our own social media pages, collaboration with others is a more efficient way to attract more people to our events. Being in charge of outside connections, I had an opportunity to coordinate with professors in the Emory Chinese Department. As a result, ECTC now offers help for tutoring programs held by the Chinese Department and teachers promote our new plays as extra credit for students if they attend. Maintaining good relationships with the Chinese Department not only provides an advantage for the development of our whole organization, but also benefited me. Since I was responsible for keeping in touch with the Chinese Department, I became close with Chinese professors. When I was anxious, talking to Chinese professors reduced my stress and they always helped me figure out a way to solve my problems. Although my advisor is also helpful, communicating in Chinese is easier for me to express my concerns more completely. In an environment where people talk to each other in English, talking in my native language provides a temporary “home” for me.
Advice and encouragement from Chinese professors made me feel warm and always cheered me up when I was not in a good mood. Thus, as the representative on the publicity team of ECTC, I was able to make new friends, which helped to reduce my feelings of loneliness, and build close connections with Chinese professors. They offered me a place, which made me feel relaxed, separating from the fast-paced outside world. Communicating with Chinese professors inspired me to stay positive when I was upset and helped me to recover when I was hurt. I believe that the role of freshmen representative in ECTC helped me to discover a specific place in which I found a sense of belonging and started to feel attached to my new circumstances.
No longer the freshmen representative on the publicity team, I have now been promoted to a technology director in the organization. As a technology director, I am responsible for both light and sound on the stage. A historical play, Wang Deming, is the main project for ECTC this semester. Therefore, I came to every rehearsal of Wang Deming, to adjust the light effects and the suitable background music. I worked with the production director in revising special effects corresponding to the script. I read the script numerous times in order to catch each subtle change and ensure that I utilized suitable lighting. Thus, I have gained a deeper understanding of the play and have felt a stronger connection to the play. ECTC presented Wang Deming for three days and there were over 200 people who came to watch. It was established as a successful cultural event.
In my memoir, I displayed a series of photos taken recently during this play. I chose these photos because this historical show was my main responsibility for this semester. Although I did not play any role on stage, I contributed almost the same amount of time as any actor did. Similar to photography that a photo is not artistic without any further processing, a theater cannot be considered successful without any stage effects. Being in charge of technology control, I devoted my time and energy in creating each stage effect that could best expose the feeling in every specific circumstance of the play. Although I was not directly appearing in the photo, these effects that I produced identified my place in the whole performance. Taking the role of manipulating light effects on the stage, I found a sense of responsibility in the organization, which explored my “working” place at Emory.
In my memoir, I displayed a series of photos taken recently during this play. I chose these photos because this historical show was my main responsibility for this semester. Although I did not play any role on stage, I contributed almost the same amount of time as any actor did. Similar to photography that a photo is not artistic without any further processing, a theater cannot be considered successful without any stage effects. Being in charge of technology control, I devoted my time and energy in creating each stage effect that could best expose the feeling in every specific circumstance of the play. Although I was not directly appearing in the photo, these effects that I produced identified my place in the whole performance. Taking the role of manipulating light effects on the stage, I found a sense of responsibility in the organization, which explored my “working” place at Emory.
I used Prezi to perform my visual memoir. Therefore, the genre of my visual memoir is similar as the form of PowerPoint. I displayed some photos of Emory campus at the beginning, and then I presented a sequence of my footsteps in ECTC. I used some photos during the time I was on the publicity team. In the photos, I advertised our organization to some American students who were interested in Chinese performance. I gave them Chinese cultural postcards, which were made by ECTC, as small gifts, and became friends with them. I also took some photos at Emory Chinese Department. I was responsible for contacting with Chinese professors for further cooperation on events organized by ECTC. Thanks to this opportunity, I became close with Chinese professors, and my feelings loneliness was reduced.
Among all photos I used, I considered that the photos taken during the historical play, Wang Deming, were most successful pieces because they implicitly exhibited a stronger sense of feeling through the use of stage effects. I will briefly analyze three of my favorite ones.
Among all photos I used, I considered that the photos taken during the historical play, Wang Deming, were most successful pieces because they implicitly exhibited a stronger sense of feeling through the use of stage effects. I will briefly analyze three of my favorite ones.
In the third picture of Wang Deming, the light is blue and dark, which transmits a sense of gloominess and terror to the audience. It is a photo of a ceremony, but we can know that the ceremony was a negative one from the dismal lighting. Only the girl’s face is in the white light, and it is obvious to see that she has some superstitious beliefs because of her body position. She is kneeling down with her face rising upward towards the sky.
In the fifth photo of Wang Deming, both the actors are in the dark. Only their faces are shown in the dim light. The girl has the conflictive mood because her brows are furrowed and her lips are pursed. The guy has his arm extended and his fingers pointed forward. We can infer from their facial expression that the guy is persuading the girl to make a tough decision.
Furthermore, both actors are in the bright light in the seventh photo of Wang Deming, which tells the audience that it is during the daytime. An actor is facing towards the audience, while the other one is backing into the audience. Each of them is holding a sword and they are fighting each other. The atmosphere is intense. The actor who is facing towards the audience is naked above his waist, so we can feel his strength and power through the muscle. He is determined and more likely to win from his facial and body expression.
As Tuan mentions, a place is constructed through people’s engagement. I realize that the sense of connecting to a place is dependent on the daily involvement in the environment. Since I have taken full advantage of all that ECTC has offered me, I have explored my place in the Emory community through my contribution in the organization.
As Tuan mentions, a place is constructed through people’s engagement. I realize that the sense of connecting to a place is dependent on the daily involvement in the environment. Since I have taken full advantage of all that ECTC has offered me, I have explored my place in the Emory community through my contribution in the organization.