Connections

~ Tayphath Thyagaraj

Seeds of Success was an amazing concept that I was fully on board with from the moment I heard the idea. I thought it was beautiful that we, as seniors, would learn from alums that were only just recently in our position and are currently in positions that we are terrified to be in come graduation in May. And as someone who has learned so much, especially in the last year of my college career, giving back and helping my juniors who might be in the same anxious situation that I was in. As much pressure as it felt like to approach someone as their senior as opposed to their peer, I was willing to try. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to have that opportunity as I am sure that the idea of meeting with someone(s) more senior in the same field as a freshman was just as intimidating and potentially overwhelming as I found the pressure of being a mentor, or they could have also just been busy. Regardless, that was how I felt when I was about to meet my alumni mentor, David Raad, even though it was just over zoom. When doing research on him, I really resonated with his Linkedin Bio as a Lebanese fantasy story author across mediums, since I also aspire to be a multimedia storyteller, and considering that he graduated only one semester before me, I thought it might be interesting to get his perspective as an immediately recent graduate. David made the whole thing really chill, especially since he already knew my fellow classmate that met him with me, so he was able to be really candid which I appreciated. It gave me a really realistic perspective because he described himself saying, “I have a full-time job of looking for a full-time job,” but he was refreshingly positive despite the reality check that I recieved. He admitted that the few freelancing jobs that he’s gotten has been luck considering some connections he made. Now, he’ll be attending and getting an internship at the Cannes Film Festival through a program with the American Pavilion, the info session of which, funny enough, we had both attended last semester without knowing. Considering that his previous experience was gained through connections, I imagine that he’ll make a lot of connections there as well that will open a ton of doors. I told him that I would definitely contact him again to ask about his experience since I was definitely interested in participating in that program as well. I really learned the importance of making connections, because, ironically, I was thinking about ways in which I could help him one day just because I thought he was cool, so I can imagine what it’s like for people who are actually in positions to help. Ultimately, this experience for me, at least, was something I will be taking with me for a long time.