It’s almost not Monday anymore, but I’m coming along!! I’m a little bleary-eyed today after working with Momenta Workshops on Project New Orleans for the last six days … but it’s that really good kind of tired … the kind that comes from just having so much fun that you don’t even realize you’re tired ’til you stop! Though I am sure I am nowhere near as tired as the 15 fabulous students who traveled from all over the globe to come work with non-profits in New Orleans this week. That was me three years ago, and my experience as a Momenta Workshop student can be found here. But this year I was delighted to be invited back to join the Momenta “Family” and work for Project NOLA 2014 as a professional mentor. During the course of the workshop, each student goes out and creates a photo story about the mission of their assigned non-profit, such as the LA-SPCA, Make It Right, Sustain the 9, Liberty’s Kitchen, St. Bernard Project, to name just a few. Nightly lectures and business skills training are combined with personal editing sessions with an instructor to help insure that the students are making progress toward meeting their end goal.
Being on the other side of the editing equation this year was such a rewarding experience. It is incredibly satisfying to be able to help guide a student as they wade through the struggle and self-doubt of the creative process, and then to see the “light bulb” go off right in front of you! It is especially rewarding for me, since the memory of my own experience is still pretty new, and I can still really relate to being in their place.
When all was said and done, all of the students’ final projects came together beautifully! The students, their non-profits and invited guests were treated to one heck of an inspiring slideshow of still images and multi-media presentations that told the beautiful mission of these non-profits and left me with a feeling of hope for New Orleans and an amazing sense of pride for having helped and played a small part in their success! Congratulations and a big “well done” to every one of them! Your success is definitely my “high” for the day!
