Written by Sharon Chen
Now in my junior year, I constantly look back to my first days at FVHS as a freshman. New campus, new students, new teachers, new classes, new environment. New this, new that, new everything. As I walked onto school grounds that first day, I literally had no idea what to expect. The only notion I had of high school came from all my time as a child sitting in the living room, snacks & remote control firmly grasped in my hands, watching re-run upon re-run of the High School Musical trilogy. Needless to say, high school was a totally new adventure for me, and like all people who first embark on adventures, I was definitely not at my calmest. However, I admit that I had partial confidence in the kid-friendly films which had depicted the better parts of high school to hold some truth to their stories.
From what I discovered during the first two periods of class, high school seemed to exactly resemble the experiences I had in my middle school classrooms. The teacher would be standing in front of the class giving a lecture, while the students sat attentively, pen in hand, prepared to take notes as the teacher droned on continuously. Then, the bell would ring, the students would pack their belongings, & then it’s off to the next class.
Expecting this same cycle to repeat on a consistent basis over the next few weeks, I thought to myself at the time, “What exactly is so special about high school that has everyone referring to that interval as the ‘best of their lives?’” This question certainly peaked my curiosity, & I was definitely determined to search for an answer to this query, whether or not an answer truly existed.
In my case, this particular answer did exist. And where to have found this answer than in my very own third-period class? Actually, to be more specific, it was during that 15-minute period of what usually is Sustained Silent Reading Time that I discovered exactly what made FVHS so special. Instead of taking out my book to engage in 15 minutes of reading, I sat back in my seat & watched a 15-minute long video that, by the end, I must admit, had me in complete & utter awe.
What was this inspiring and marvelous video that I had seen? It wasn’t any generic YouTube video, or an educational documentary for that matter; rather, according to my teacher’s explanation, it was an informative student-made video produced by FVHS’s very own Baron Broadcast News.
Here is what struck me as incredulous at the time: that beautifully entertaining, comedically enthralling video that I had just seen was made by mere students? And an informative video highlighting school news actually turned out to be entertaining? Keep in mind that prior to this experience in high school, I was only privy to school announcements, which, for the most part, were usually garbled over a loudspeaker by a monotonous voice which sounded as if the speaker had less interest than the students in regards to the happenings of school.
Therefore, here was my thesis to the query of what made FVHS such a unique institution. FVHS offers a plethora of programs & extracurricular activities to suffice the interests, skill sets, and talents of all its individual students. One of these programs in particular is the Digital Video Production class, or most commonly referred to as Baron Broadcast News (BBN, for short). Film has always been a favorite subject of mine, whether I’m watching it, learning about it, or like what I do now in the famed BBN classroom, creating those stories & having them come to life. From the first moment I set my eyes upon that first episode of BBN in my first year of high school, I knew instantly that Baron Broadcast News was something I wanted to be a part of. To get more involved in occurrences around school and learn more about the filmmaking process? Sounded like a win-win situation to me!
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again. BBN is unique. It’s not unique in the way that it closely resembles a modified version of what to expect in the actual film industry; rather, it’s unique in the sense of what it allows its students to do. In BBN, I am able to garner so many different perspectives while in the process of making my videos, as well as meet so many interesting personalities that I otherwise would never have been able to encounter had I not been inspired to send in my application to be a part of this course. What is so interesting about the film-making process itself is that it doesn’t just allow you to discover the new environments surrounding you, but it also offers you a chance to glimpse at certain aspects of yourself that seemed to evade you previously. As a part of Baron Broadcast News, I’ve definitely discovered more about myself in these past several months than I have in all my 16 years of life. I can’t exactly provide an answer as to why this is the case. I can only say that film-making is a type of art, & like in all artistic endeavors, creative instinct & expression is key. When creating art, you have to remain open-minded to new ideas, & keep alert to any source of inspiration around you. Frankly speaking, once your mind begins to run strictly on creative-mode, almost anything can inspire you. This inspiration was what first propelled me towards Baron Broadcast News, & to this day, that inspiration is what makes me proud to be part of an organization such as Baron Broadcast News.
