By Digital Program Mentor Kate Schmier
It was 3:30 PM and our exhibition space at Art in General in Chinatown, was packed with guests. The girls were at their posts—some by the podium at the front of the room, others gathered around a large wooden table at the center, still others stationed along the walls. After two semesters of “dorkshops” and pair sessions, our mentees stood proudly beside their final projects.
As I walked from station to station and listened to each mentee tell me about her work, I was reminded of an Oscar Wilde quotation: “Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.” Each project was a unique reflection of the girl who created it, touching on themes that included heartbreak, family, and home. With “Zombies on the Hudson,” Eda created an interactive HTML site about a zombie virus overtaking New York City. “It’s a tribute to the area in which my school is located,” she said. Leslie, who is leaving for college in the fall, created a short film and website about an image that she feels encapsulates her New York experience: the subway. Darnell made a PowerPoint presentation about her older sister, her greatest role model. Using a collage of GIFs, Nahima showcased her poem about the “hidden scars” of girls who are taught to “grow in,” while their brothers have the freedom to “grow out.”
Making my way around the room, I was struck not only by the stories each girl told but also by the tools they had used to tell them. At the beginning of the school year, many of these young women had never been exposed to audio recording, coding, or sound editing. For some of their mentors (myself included), these tools were also new. The process of learning digital skills did not come without moments of frustration. “HTML was a mountain to get through,” one mentee told me. I could relate, recalling the hours my mentee Sierra and I spent struggling to edit her recorded story “You Know That” in Audacity. Yet that struggle made it all the more satisfying to watch Sierra pass the headphones to each guest so that they could listen to her finished MP3. While the room was buzzing with people, I could tell that Sierra’s powerful piece, inspired by Toni Morrison’s “Recitatif,” was carrying listeners away to another world. Like many talented writers, Sierra’s harshest critic is often herself. Watching her confidence grow as listeners expressed enthusiasm for her work was my greatest reward of the day.
As I glanced around the room, I watched other mentors standing beside their mentees, high-fiving, hugging, and congratulating one another on the fruits of their labor. My happiness, however, was bittersweet, as the expo also marked the end of a mentoring experience I have come to cherish. Next year, Sierra will head to Haverford College, where she will continue to pursue her passion for writing. Although I’ll miss our weekly sessions, we’ve made a pact to keep in touch. I hope she continues to find her voice through her stories. And maybe, just maybe, she’ll keep recording, too.