My sophomore year at UNC, I had the opportunity in my digital storytelling class to create and record a story of my choosing. It was a very hard decision at first, but then I realized that, when I was younger, all my stories came from my parents. Before we could afford to buy books, my parents would tell us stories at night. They would consist of fictional creatures that could talk or the story of when they moved to America.

I took this opportunity in class to interview my mother about her move to America and the struggle as an immigrant in a new country. I used old footage she had kept but also incorporated my own footage and personal elements. Additionally, after the video was made, I did additionally research into the numbers and facts about recent immigration numbers. Using an infographic, it added to the visual component of my video so that I could incorporate realtime news and numbers from my research.

With my novella already written, this allowed me to create a visual impact on my classmates and teacher that would last for a lifetime.

It was an eye-opening experience for me because this was the first time I had ever been allowed to do a video project that revolved around a story I was interested in. I got to revisit the hospital where my mum worked before she had her kids, and I got to go through old photo albums and sort through old tapes just to find the right footage to use. I could not have been more grateful for this experience and knowing how much work goes into one project alone.