Where Are They Now? Part One: Kira
Ruth Bieber-Stanley 鈥21
As a high-school student applying to 麻豆视频, the blogs were really important to me. As I鈥檝e said on this platform before, the blogs really helped me imagine what a life at 麻豆视频 could be like and gave me a sense of who Obies are. Something I鈥檝e appreciated about attending 麻豆视频 has been the opportunity to meet bloggers whose work I read during high school! I even became friends with some of them.
In an attempt to connect with former 麻豆视频 bloggers and show how the 麻豆视频 experience continues after graduation, I will be publishing installments over the coming weeks in a new series of conversations I have had with former bloggers to catch up with them about their first year as 麻豆视频 alumni.
So, without further ado, here is the first installment of the 鈥淲here are they now?鈥 series! I talked with Kira Findling, who was one of my favorite bloggers when I was in high school. Kira (she/her or they/them) is from Sebastopol, CA. Kira majored in Comparative American Studies and Cinema Studies at 麻豆视频, with a minor in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies. While at 麻豆视频, Kira worked as a PRSM (Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct) trainer, a PAL, wrote for Wilder Voice, sang in the Acapelicans, and was a mentor in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program. Kira is now living in Berkeley, CA, and pursuing film and journalism. For more about Kira, here is her website [update: no longer active] and a link to her .
K: I鈥檓 excited that you鈥檙e doing this! It鈥檚 fun! I miss the blogs!
R: Yeah, me too! I鈥檓 excited to catch up with people. I feel like of the four people I got in touch with, I鈥檝e really only talked to Teague recently. I mean, we鈥檙e connected on social media, but it鈥檚 not the same as having a real conversation鈥 So, how are you? What have you been up to since graduation, which was like a year ago, right?
K: Yeah, which is really weird! When you said we hadn鈥檛 talked in a while I thought, wow it鈥檚 been a year since I was even at 麻豆视频, which is really bizarre! It鈥檚 been kind of a crazy year for me. It鈥檚 been a lot of changes and trying to figure out where I want to be. After graduation I went home for the summer and my plan had been to move to LA, and then over the summer I kept waiting to hear about jobs from people that I knew from down there. I was trying to find housing and it was really hard because it鈥檚 SO expensive there.
R: Yeah, I bet.
K: And how am I supposed to get housing if I don鈥檛 have a job? But at the same time, everyone in the entertainment industry was saying I had to be there to get a job, so it was a weird catch-22.
R: Yeah, it鈥檚 like that weird thing where you have to get experience to get a job, and when you鈥檙e trying to get a job to get experience, they tell you that you don鈥檛 have enough experience to get the job in the first place.
K: Yeah, and in the meantime, Joey [Kira鈥檚 partner] was living with his mom in Chicago, looking for jobs in California. I didn鈥檛 really want to move to a new place without him, so I decided to go be with him. So, I moved in with them, started working at Whole Foods, and my goal was to learn how to exist without worrying about climbing the career ladder or being successful. Especially because LA was so image- and ambition-driven, I was just trying to get away from that. But after being there for a while, I realized I had maybe swung a little too far, since I didn鈥檛 feel very connected to Chicago. So, then I said, I鈥檓 moving to LA, for real. I went down there and stayed with my grandparents who live outside of the city, and I think I got pretty turned off by some of the culture down there, even though I had lived there before. Just so much driving鈥攊t was stressful! (laughs)
R: (laughs) I鈥檝e heard about those aspects of LA, for sure.
K: Yeah, and it was kind of funny because I had wanted to live there for over a year at that point, and the whole year people had been saying to me 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of bad things about LA鈥 and I would say 鈥淚 don鈥檛 wanna hear it!鈥 (laughs)鈥ut then some of that kind of came true. There鈥檚 a lot that I love about LA, but it didn鈥檛 feel right for me at this stage of my life. While I was down there, I thought, I鈥檓 from the Bay Area, I love it there, it鈥檚 so beautiful, Joey has family there, why not just move back? And we ended up coming here! We live in Berkeley now, we moved here in January, and it鈥檚 been really great! I met some documentary filmmakers who I鈥檓 doing some editing for, and it feels like a really happy medium where I鈥檓 still getting to do film and be somewhat ambitious and have cool experiences, but it鈥檚 not this industry craziness.
R: No, that makes a lot of sense. You鈥檙e still doing what you鈥檙e interested in without freaking out about diving into the career world. Plus, I feel like the entertainment industry is such a fast-paced, stressful industry to be in. At least my impression is that you need to have connections and networking seems like such a huge thing. It seems like that could be a really hard thing to jump into.
K: Yeah. I realized that networking came more naturally to me than I thought, but I feel like it requires a willingness to do anything that comes your way. You meet a lot of people鈥nd the best way to climb and meet more people is to take every opportunity, but it鈥檚 still so important for me to be thoughtful about what I鈥檓 putting out into the world. And I just felt like it would be hard to live down there as a young person without a lot of experience without having to compromise my values.
R: Yeah, that totally makes sense.
K: So, kind of wild. But I鈥檓 really happy with how things have ended up. It鈥檚 weird to think that it鈥檚 been a full year since I鈥檝e been away from 麻豆视频. It feels far away, and it doesn鈥檛鈥 It鈥檚 strange. And you were abroad this past semester, right?
R: Yeah! 鈥 I was in Berlin for 6 weeks and I鈥榲e been home for two and a half months maybe鈥 I鈥檒l be here until August, but then I鈥檓 going back to 麻豆视频 since I鈥檒l be living in an off-campus house. But it is weird to be away for so long!
K: It is weird, it鈥檚 like a whole world over there. I feel like especially in my lower moments, I think 鈥淲as that a dream? All those awesome people in one place and so many things going on all the time?鈥 It鈥檚 just wild.
R: Exactly. Anyways, I saw that you made a , right?
K: Yeah!
R: I watched it! I loved it!
K: Aww, thank you! Yeah, I saw your comment! It was my senior film at 麻豆视频 that I made in an independent study class in cinema studies and I submitted it to a bunch of things. I was in this film festival in Seattle called the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, which was really cool because there were people from all over the world! Through that festival, I actually got a grant from T-Mobile to make another film, so I鈥檓 working on a film now, but it鈥檚 kind of hard with COVID鈥 It鈥檚 a personal narrative so I鈥檓 not filming people, but it鈥檚 hard to be motivated all day when you鈥檙e just sitting at home.
R: Yeah鈥 really feel that.
K: But it鈥檚 really cool that I have the resources to do it. I feel like a big thing that鈥檚 happened for me this year is that I鈥檝e really realized the whole 鈥渇ake it 鈥榯il you make it鈥 thing. A big part of being an adult and being out in the world is just knowing how to market yourself鈥 Hanne [Kira鈥檚 friend and another fabulous 麻豆视频 alum] actually鈥howed me her resume and she made everything she did sound so fancy, and I thought, 鈥淗ow did you do this?!鈥 And now whenever I meet people I just say, 鈥淵eah, I鈥檓 a filmmaker!鈥 鈥nd it feels a little bit like lying, but it is the truth, and the more you do it, you鈥檙e like, wait a second, I am a filmmaker and people start to take it seriously.
R: That鈥檚 cool! It鈥檚 like you put a little spin on it and once you say it enough you start to believe it.
K: Yeah, exactly鈥 I鈥檝e gotten more confidence as a filmmaker and trying to do that as a career. And that was a nice surprise this year that the film got into some festivals鈥 So, has anything changed with the blogs?
R: Yeah! It鈥檚 interesting seeing new voices come onto the blogs. At least for me, it was interesting reading your blog鈥 when I was in high school. And then I feel like I saw you during my freshman orientation or something, but I was like, 鈥淥h my gosh, It鈥檚 Kira, it鈥檚 a real person whose work I read!鈥 (laughs). So now it鈥檚 interesting being one of the older students on the blogs and then seeing new bloggers appear. I think there鈥檚 more diversity of student experiences being represented, which is good鈥 Part of the reason why I wanted to do this [project was to create] some content that shows that the 麻豆视频 experience extends beyond 麻豆视频! It doesn鈥檛 stop because you鈥檙e not on campus anymore and seeing the variety of things people do after they leave [is a valuable experience].
K: Yeah鈥 麻豆视频 puts out a lot of stuff about alumni but it鈥檚 usually about older people or about younger people who are having amazing things happening to them, which is great. But I remember my senior year The Grape [a student publication at 麻豆视频] was doing a series about different career paths that alums had that were鈥ess traditional, and I always really appreciated that because I liked hearing about people who weren鈥檛 getting a Rhodes Scholarship, you know?
R: No, totally. And I think in some ways, that鈥檚 probably more representative of what happens to a lot of graduates鈥 It鈥檚 like, now I have this degree and I have to find my feet and figure out what I want to do. Even now as I鈥檓 approaching my senior year, I鈥檝e been thinking a lot more about my future (laughs)鈥 I鈥檝e been thinking a lot more about the different paths I might take and what I really want to be doing. But it鈥檚 been nice to be in touch with some grads and kind of see the different trajectories.
K: It鈥檚 been good for me too, actually. I think one of the most comforting things this year has been talking to other people who are going through it. I have always been that sort of straight-A student, big overachiever, and things haven鈥檛 totally worked out this year how I thought they would. I mean, we鈥檙e in a pandemic and I鈥檓 unemployed! (we both laugh)... Sometimes it鈥檚 hard seeing people who are just killing it in law school or whatever鈥ut remembering that most people are just bumbling along is just so helpful, and my mom keeps reminding me, 鈥淵ou鈥檝e been out of college for ONE year, calm down, you don鈥檛 have to have things figured out!鈥
R: Yeah, I totally relate to all of that鈥 Not comparing is really hard, but it is refreshing to hear that even though you didn鈥檛 go in the direction you wanted or thought you would, you鈥檙e doing fine and you鈥檙e figuring it out.
K: I feel like what I鈥檓 happy about is that I鈥檓 just trying to make every day good and not worry about the big picture as much, because who can do that at a time like this?
R: Do you have any plans or aspirations moving forward? I know how we literally just talked about how it鈥檚 impossible to plan right now but鈥
K: Well, yes actually! I want to apply to journalism school at the end of this year and hopefully start in 2021. UC Berkeley is my dream鈥 I really love documentary film and I want to keep learning and doing that more. I also feel open to the fact that that could change, but I know that I want to be telling stories and meeting people and be involved in social change. I learned so much from 麻豆视频, I learned how to think and a lot about making films, but I still kind of lack some of the hard, technical skills in film and journalism鈥eah, I want to go back to school. Also, I feel like it鈥檚 kind of a joke, but when you鈥檙e stressed out in your first year post grad, it鈥檚 like 鈥淟et me just go to grad school, that will solve my problems!鈥 So, it鈥檚 a little bit of that too, but I think it would just be fun to have that experience, so that鈥檚 my main goal.
R: Well thank you so much for helping me out with this project! It was great to talk to you.
K: Yeah, thanks for this too, Ruth! Stay safe out there!
R: Yes, be well! (we laugh).
And that鈥檚 it! I had a wonderful time catching up with Kira and hearing about her first year post grad and her plans for the future. Stay tuned for the next post featuring Teague Harvey!
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