Final Reflection

I can confidently say that I learned many new things in the WRD 110 class. Whether it be how to make a video presentation like for the documentary or how to properly give a speech like the my community speech. I came into the class being terrible at speaking in front of other students, but I feel like I progressed since my time joining. I also was not very talented at writing while being timed, like in-class writing assignments. Now though, I feel much more comfortable with writing assignments in class where we only have a certain amount of time. Something new that I learned in the class was video making. I basically learned everything I know about creating videos since being in the WRD class. I had never before had to do any assignment like the documentary final project, so it took me a long time to figure out how to do it, but learning the process was interesting. Something I appreciated about the class was all the different ways that we were taught. Doing this made the class more interesting and also more understandable. Although this class could be hard and time consuming at times, I learned a large amount of information and met some cool people while doing it, so I'm happy I took the class.

Storyboard Project

Steven Rowland

Ms. Hudgens

WRD 110

11/17/15

Storyboard

            The opening scene for my documentary will start off by me stating a statistic from a survey saying “in a survey of 721 college students 60% of them reported being lonely” (Tuncay, Ozdemir). I used this information to set up loneliness as being the major problem of my documentary. The stat shows that a majority of college students have to deal with this major problem. In the background I will have the song Time (Zimmer) playing. I chose this song because of its depressing mood due to its heavy sound and slow pace. In the documentary there will also have pictures in the background that correspond with loneliness such as a person with sad face looking at people talking and having fun. 

  Doing this I hope to set up a depressed feeling. I will then do a voice over and say “loneliness can lead to social anxiety and cause depression. Many students who experience that depression end up dropping out of school in hopes of recovering. Loneliness isn’t something any student should have to deal with during this already stressful time in their life.” After saying this, I will do a quick transition into lighter, calmer music using the song Koto by Odesza. Using this song will help change the mood completely. I will then use a clip from YouTube of the CSF water balloon fight. (UKCSFChanel) It will be the opening scene of everyone rushing the balloons followed by a scene of students smiling and laughing who are clearly having a good time. I’m using this because I want a quick transition from the feeling of depression to a feeling of happiness and I feel like the video easily changes the mood. Also, because if I kept the depressing mood for too long I feel like it would cause loss of attention for the viewers.

 I will then proceed to talk about how CSF is a great and friendly community that invites all to come to their events and have fun. Then I will go on to talk about how they would love every student to join their community and learn about God and Christianity. Saying this sets up CSF as the resolution of the problem of loneliness in UK's students. After that clip, I would put pictures of Midnight pancakes and a clip from CSF’s video of their Halloween party. In the background I would do a voice over saying “CSF has many ways of trying to introduce students to their community such as midnight pancakes and dance parties. They have an event called Midnight Pancakes every Friday where everyone is invited to come eat pancakes and hangout at the CSF building.  

They also host dance parties for students to come out dance around and have a good time.” This is included because it shows ways CSF helps fight against the problem of loneliness. During this whole time the song is still going to be the same as before because the mood still hasn’t changed. I will then talk about my secondary source from the Kentucky Kernel that was written about a party that CSF hosted. I will mention how they invited anyone to come and I will use some quotes that the writer got from students at the party like the quote from Marym Silva that said “CSF is really good for international students, it’s a great to get to know people” (Schmitz). By adding this secondary source it is another example to show viewers that CSF cares greatly for Kentucky’s students and puts a lot of focus on trying to get the students to meet each other. The party is another example of something CSF hosts in order to get its name out and show they like to have a fun time. When I finish talking about that, my next scene in the documentary will be a video of the interview I took with Zack Motts who works on staff at CSF. The interview was based around questions on how CSF tries to attract UK’s students and get them to join CSF. My first question was “How does CSF most commonly try to attract students?” His response was “Well CSF is most commonly known for midnight pancakes where we try to attract people who have nowhere else to go on Friday nights. Doing these events, CSF gives students a place to hang out and meet other students. Another big thing we do is host parties that are free and open to everyone. At these parties we try to show everyone a great time and in doing this we are trying to break the common stereotype that religion is boring. These parties give our organization a good name and hopefully because of that students will come back to CSF for things like Shift groups or Synergy.” (Motts). Those are great quotes because they help lead to my next points of adding the religious side of CSF into my documentary.  

After those pictures, clips and interview I would say “Giving the students a fun time isn’t the fellowship’s biggest goal though, they throw all these events in hopes that students have so much fun they become interested in CSF more religious centered events. They want the students of UK to view CSF as a friendly and fun community that they would want to join.” After that voice over I plan to transition into CSF more religious side. I will talk about the opportunities they give to students to learn about God on a weekly basis. In the background I will have the song “Open Heaven” by Hillsong United playing due to it being a Christian song but the mood still being happy and lighthearted.  

I would put up a shot I took in the CSF building that shows everyone in their shift groups. In the voice over I would talk about shift groups and say “Shift groups are an awesome way to get to know other students. It happens every Monday at the CSF building and is meant for Freshmen to come and talk about the Bible. They serve everyone who comes a free meal and it is a great place to talk and meet other people your age.”  The clip will show the Christian Fellowship building as a friendly environment full of people talking and having fun. It is intended to make Shift groups seem very inviting to viewers and show how CSF really cares about Kentucky’s students joining a community. Then from their I would put the video of my interview with Blake Morris who is the head of Freshmen Worship Committee. In the interview I asked many questions about CSF like “How important is community to CSF?” His response was “It’s incredibly important, it is the reason they exit in order to create a strong Godly community in the midst of a huge campus. It’s very easy for students to feel like just a number in a sea of thousands of people, and get overwhelmed by the great number of students. So the idea of CSF is to serve the community of the University of Kentucky by creating a smaller community so students can feel like they actually belong. Almost a home away from home type of deal. We believe that in the Bible community is viewed as central so that’s why we attempt to make it central at CSF.” (Morris). These are great quotes for my documentary because it shows just how much CSF cares about trying to make students not feel alone but feel united as a strong community. My next question goes even more in depth about how CSF fights loneliness when I asked Morris “How does CSF combat the problem of loneliness?” His replies to me were “Loneliness is big problem especially with Freshmen, I have witnessed so many students drop out due to their inability to deal with the depression and anxiety from the loneliness. Being lonely is a crushing feeling and it is not the way God intended people to live, he designed people to be social and by running CSF we help students in the process of meeting others to live their life with. We want people to come to CSF and feel like they belong which will ultimately fight off loneliness.” (Morris) These are more great quotes that show CSF is on a mission to fight off the depression students feel from loneliness. They are also good because Morris brings up loneliness from a religious standpoint so it incorporates into the themes of my documentary well. From the interview I will transition into a shot I that is a video of the worship band at Synergy. I plan on keeping the same background music because the mood is still the same and the documentary is still focused on the religious side of CSF. In the voice over I would describe Christian Fellowship’s Synergy by saying when it happens and what kind of stuff happens during it. Some things I will say are “It happens every Thursday night and all grades and all people are invited. At Synergy there is a worship band and a sermon. It is nice because it isn’t formal like normal church is usually considered and the sermons are concise and powerful while also being funny and relatable.” Using this voice over I am simply giving viewers an idea of what happens in hopes it might spark their interest and they might want to go. I also put this in the documentary because I want to show an example of the biggest religious based event that happens at CSF, because CSF largest goal is to share Christianity with as many people as possible. The video will show viewers that The Christian Student Fellowship building is a safe place to express your beliefs. After the video fades out there will be pictures from some of the retreats that CSF offers to students, such as picture from Fall Retreat and Shift Group Retreat. 

I will then say “Along with Synergy, CSF offers students opportunities to go off campus to strengthen there community and learn more about God.” I’m using these pictures to show how many options CSF gives to students so they can meet others and join the community of Christian Student Fellowship. The retreats are something that makes CSF special because they give students the chance to go off campus with their friends so they can forget about all the worries of school and learn about God.

After talking about all the religious opportunities that the Christian Student Fellowship offers, I will go on to talk about why joining a religious group is beneficial during college. Using information I received from one of my secondary sources, I will bring up how students who are a part of a religious group while in college often have better grades and more academic success. This happens because students in religious groups are less likely to use drugs or drink alcohol which are factors that have negative effects on student’s grades. Another thing I could bring up is how students that identified as being in a religious group reported as being less likely to suffer from depression and anxiety which also are big factors in academic problems (Sherkat). This is a good secondary source because it outlines another great reason to join CSF and it also once again hits on how religious groups help fight the problem of depression. Playing in the background through that voice over is the song  “Touch the Sky” by Hillsong United because it is a religious song about empowerment and I believe that joining a strong community leads to empowerment. After the secondary source, I will transfer into my conclusion. In the conclusion I will have pictures of people worshipping and looking happy. The song will stay the same because of its empowering and strong sound. I hope the viewers will get a feeling of strength when viewing it because of the music chosen. In the conclusion I will do a voice over saying “Loneliness and the depression caused by it are something no person should ever have to deal with, especially people who are in some of the most important years of their life. I know many students at The University of Kentucky are trying to deal with this problem, and there is a place they can go that could potentially really help them. All they have to do is visit CSF, meet some people in it and if they like what CSF has to offer, join the community. They are an organization that could have a big impact on your life and they really hope they can make that impact.

When I wrap up my conclusion, I plan on putting up a black screen which is where I will put the credits rolling from bottom to top. The song in the background will be “Cornerstone” by Hillsong United because it is a calm, supporting song that I think will help wrap up the documentary well. Cornerstone is great song for the credits because it talks about the weak being made strong which is a big part of my documentary. Also because it keeps the religious tone I set up earlier in my documentary. In the credits I will include names of the people I interviewed and the names of the people who created my secondary sources. Along with their names of the website creators, I will also put the websites name to give it proper credit. Then I will put the names of all the songs I used and the artists that created them. Finally I will put Christian Student Fellowship documentary by Steven Rowland in big, bold letters as the final credits roll past.

Works Cited

         Freemon, Devon. "FRIDAYS AT CSF." Fridays at CSF. CSF, 15 Nov. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.       <http://ukcsf.org/weekly/fridaynights/>.

         "Hans Zimmer - Time (Inception)." YouTube. Trans. Hans Zimmer. YouTube, 31 Dec. 2010. Web. 17    Nov. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxabLA7UQ9k>.

         Morris, Blake. Personal Interview. 25 October 2015

         Motts, Zackery. Personal Interview. 13 November 2015

         Odesza. "ODESZA - Koto." YouTube. YouTube, 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km-0kHxa7jg>.

        Özdemir, Ugur, and Tarik Tuncay. "Correlates of Loneliness among University Students." Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health. BioMed Central, 29 Feb. 2008. Web. 15 Nov. 2015. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2572161/>.

        Rickard, Ben. "CSF's World's Largest Water Balloon Fight 2015." YouTube. YouTube, 29 Aug. 2015. Web. 16 Nov. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDcOrIykPt4>.

        Rowland, Steven. “Fall retreat worship.” 13 October 2015

        Rowland, Steven. “Shift Groups.” 21 September 2015

        Rowland, Steven. “Water Ballon Fight.” 25 August 2015

        Schmitz, Penny. "CSF Celebrates Season with Dance." The Kentucky Kernel. 25 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.<http://kykernel.com/2015/01/25/christian-student-fellowship-celebrates-season-with-dance/>.

        Segman, Judy. "Sad Gray Person Standing Alone Near A Crowd Of Different Colored." Peace of Mind Matters. 15 Jan. 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://ippl2010.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/yes-but/sad-gray-person-standing-alone-near-a-crowd-of-different-colored-2/>.

        Sherkat, Darren. "Religion and Higher Education: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." Religion and Higher Education: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. 6 Feb. 2007. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.< http://religion.ssrc.org/reforum/Sherkat.pdf>.

        United, Hillsong. "Cornerstone - Cornerstone - Hillsong Live 2012 - (HD) (With Lyrics)." YouTube. YouTube, 12 July 2012. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvLxZEU02uI>. 

         United, Hillsong. "Open Heaven (River Wild) Lyric Video - Hillsong Worship." YouTube. Trans. Hillsong United. YouTube, 15 Oct. 2015. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiK9S8iq4ek>.

        United, Hillsong. "Touch The Sky (lyric Video) - Hillsong UNITED." YouTube. YouTube, 23 Mar. 2105. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1RQciil7B0>.
         
          Word Count -2570

Post 7

The creating of the documentary has been stressful to start off. Getting shots for my topic of CSF hasn't been difficult in any way, but what has been a struggle is putting them together in a coherent way. Also trying to think of what to say in the background of the shots has been problematic due to me not being able to think of many problems within the community. Besides those two big issues things have been decently fine. I have a few interviews lined up which I think will help support my topic. It's also been very nice having the CSF building on campus only minutes away from my dorm, so I can walk over whenever needed and get good shots for the documentary. Another large help is the fact that I'm already in the community so I know where to go if I need information about CSF. The organization of CSF is incredibly kind and always willing to answer anyone's questions so I can always go to them for help. I think I just need to think over the issues a little longer and I will find a solution for them, and after that I will be in a good spot with the documentary.

Secondary 2

Ponzetti, James. "Loneliness among College Students." Family Relations. 3rd ed. Vol. 39. National Council on Family Relations, 1990. 336-340. Print. 

     On the citation posted above is a chapter written about loneliness in college students in a book. Loneliness is found in all age groups but some of the biggest percentages can be found in College students. College is a completely new environment for student, for many of them it's the first time they have to find a whole new friend group since they were children. It can be difficult for people to meet and become friends especially in the technologically advanced world were it seems like 90% of conversations happen through phones and computers. This is why organizations like CSF are so great, they bring students who might not have ever met each other together. It is a place for students who have no where else to go to hangout with other people there age. The people who go there can meet people who have the same interests and values as them which helps them get along. . Life can be hard enough for a college student, they don't need the addition stress and depression that comes along with the feeling of being lonely.  College students don't have to be lonely though, because of organizations available through campus, they just have to go look for the one that's right for them and for me it's CSF.

Secondary 1

This secondary source was found using The Kentucky Kernel which is the University of Kentucky's official newspaper. The article is about a party that CSF threw last year as a celebration for winter. In the article the writer constantly brings up how all students were invited to party and how it was a great place to meet people. I think bringing people together is one of the biggest and best things CSF does for the campus. Whether it be people of the same religion or someone just looking for something to do, CSF is a great place to meet other students. This can seen through the article by people like Marym Silva saying " CSF is really good for international students, it's a great place to get to know people" (Schmitz 1). Loneliness is a massive epidemic on college campuses and is something CSF is doing their best to resolve through having events like these parties. They bring many students together in a friendly environment and give them something to do. That is why CSF is not only for Christians they want all people coming to their events and want to student to have to feel lonely.

Schmitz, Penny. "CSF Celebrates Season with Dance." The Kentucky Kernel. 25 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2015. <http://kykernel.com/2015/01/25/christian-student-fellowship-celebrates-season-with-dance/>.

Photo Essay Project- CSF

Steven Rowland
Jennifer Hudgens
WRD 110
10/13/15

CSF

            CSF or Christian Student Fellowship is a great community for anyone looking for a place to find friends. It is a welcoming environment full of great people who are always willing to talk to anyone. CSF is centered around Christianity and tries to get people of the faith to join together and form a community, but at the same time they allow anyone to come to their events no matter what beliefs they hold.

            The picture above was taken before all the chaos of the CSF water balloon fight. The water balloon fight is something the organization hosts every year on the Johnson Center field during K Week, and is arguably the biggest event out of all K Week. The fight attracts thousands of students to come out and have a great time pegging each other with the hundreds of thousands balloons. It is so big because every year they break their own record for the biggest water balloon fight in the world. The CSF workers and volunteers spend countless hours setting up this epic event in hopes of getting the organizations name out. The balloon fight is just one of many awesome events CSF hosts over the year. What makes CSF events so special is that everyone is invited and can expect to have a great time and meet many nice people. Doing works like this gives the fellowship a great reputation as an organization that puts a large amount of concern into students having a fun time. Although this event isn’t a time where they try to preach about God, CSF is able to grasp the attention of students and show that they are an organization that loves students and is willing to go to great efforts to show it.

 This next picture was taken at CSF’s fall retreat. Fall retreat was a weekend event where students who signed up went to a camp in Ohio for a weekend. The weekend was mainly a religious event, but, just like any of their events, everyone was invited. The picture was taken during one of the night sermons where hundreds of students are crowded together to come and worship God. It was an amazing night that summed up an incredible weekend. It was the perfect environment for Christians to come together and grow in their faith. The fall retreat is one of the multiple retreats CSF offers, others include trips to Gatlinburg and Owensboro. They host these retreats so that students have a chance to get off campus, which helps them forget all about school and other issues related to it. As a result, the people who go are more open minded when they lose these worries. The retreats are a great place to make new, lasting relationships with people who have similar views and values as you. The events are set up so students can meet as many people as possible in hopes they find some that are compatible with them. Some of the events included a massive scavenger hunt, a dodge ball tournament, and many other group oriented events. The retreats was truly an awesome event that brought the community of CSF much closer.

            The next picture was taken in CSF’s actual building during shift groups. Every Monday night CSF hosts shift groups where they have small groups for freshman and cooks them a meal. It is an excellent way to meet other freshman. It’s also great because if you go, you get a free, home cooked meal and who wouldn’t want that? Shift groups are one of the two religious centered events CSF does every week. The other is Synergy, which is basically a sermon and worship service that is available for all grades. The building isn’t only for religious events though, it is also where midnight pancakes occurs among other events CSF hosts. One thing a majority of students know CSF for, is midnight pancakes which happen every Friday night. The CSF staff gives out free pancakes to anyone that comes by the building and also provides them a place to hangout for the night. They do this to give students an alternative to partying. For other students who have nothing else to do, midnight pancakes gives them an opportunity to meet new people. The organization is always willing to host events where students can come together and have fun. Like all their other events everyone is invited and they never reject anyone from entering.

The first secondary source I chose was an article from the Kentucky Kernel. The Kentucky Kernel is the official newspaper of the University of Kentucky. In the article it talks about a winter dance party that CSF hosted last year. The writer talks about how the party was supposed to be cancelled due to a snow storm that happened, but when students showed up CSF followed through for them. At the party they had plenty of entertainment set up even for those who didn’t want to dance.  The writer received quotes from worker who talked about many of CSF’s views. One being how they throw parties for students so they have fun and meet new people, but also to show Christian events don’t have to be boring (Schmitz 1). Another talks about CSF’s welcoming policy of allowing their parties to be available for everyone (Schmitz). A quote from foreign exchange student Marym Silva from Brazil expresses one of CSF’s biggest goals when she says” CSF is really good for international students, it’s a great to get to know people” (Schmitz 1). Even for non-international people it is a perfect place to meet people. The article shows that even in a non-religious centered event, the Christian Fellowship can still show God’s love to students by the way the treat students.

http://kykernel.com/2015/01/25/christian-student-fellowship-celebrates-season-with-dance 

The other secondary source was a post from Bob Russell’s website. Bob Russell is an incredibly well known preacher who preached at one of the biggest churches in America for decades. In this post he wrote about how he visited UK’s campus to preach at CSF and instantly fell in love with the organization. Russell later goes on about reasons why he loved it, he brings up the great band and the students worshipping whole-heartedly. He then touches on how all the students seemed so eager to learn about God. CSF wants to be an environment where Christians are able to be open about their faith and too learn more from more experienced Christians. That is exactly what Russell saw from it when he visited. Even as a massive fan of the University of Louisville he ended up loving UK for CSF’s great devotion to their religious beliefs. This is best shown when Russell says “I went to UK an avid UL basketball fan and left an avid UL basketball fan. But I’m now a huge fan of the Christian Student Fellowship at UK” (1).  If CSF is impressing such high figures in Christianity it must being doing something right.

http://www.bobrussell.org/i-love-uk-2/

Word Count: 1160

Work Cited

Schmitz, Penny. "CSF Celebrates Season with Dance." The Kentucky Kernel. 25 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Oct. 2015.< http://kykernel.com/2015/01/25/christian-student-fellowship-celebrates-season-with-dance/>.

Russell, Bob. "I LOVE UK!!" I LOVE UK!! Web. 13 Oct. 2015. <http://www.bobrussell.org/i-love-uk-2/>.

First Artifact

The primary artifact I have chosen is a picture I took of CSF''s world's largest water balloon fight. This was the biggest of the many events that CSF has set up so far this year. The workers and volunteers spent countless hours working on breaking the record to try and get the organization's name out in hopes it may attract students. The water balloon fight, similar to CSF, was open to anyone and was a great way of bringing kids together to have a fun time. It shows that the people of the CSF are willing to go to great distances to get people to join their organization. Just from going to this one event I knew CSF would be something I would be interested in joining. All the workers were so nice and I could tell it was a group that liked to have fun in a safe way.  The water balloon  fight set up an early image that the organization greatly cared about students through how much time they dedicated to try and give them a fun time.

My Community

The community that I have decided to make my documentary on is CSF or Christian Student Fellowship. CSF is a Christian organization on the campus that provides many different services to Kentucky's students. They have a wide range of events that they do from sermons, to massive dance parties, not to mention setting up the worlds biggest water balloon fight for K Week. CSF is unique in the way that they accept anyone in, even if they are not religious they still throw parties and hold events where everyone is invited.  Also they have midnight pancakes every Friday night, anyone can come in get some free food and hangout or play video games with other students. They give out the imagine that you can learn about God while also having a very fun time. The organization is known for being extremely friendly and having a very happy environment. They have kind and helpful staff who are always willing to support students when they need it. I have learned a lot about CSF from attending many of their events, but I still have questions about it. Some being: Who sponsors it, what is the history of CSF, and what makes it different from the other Christian organizations on campus? I look forward to getting answers to those and many other question as embark on creating this documentary.

My name is Steven Rowland. I am from Louisville, Kentucky and was born and Charlotte, North Carolina. Some things about me are that I am a massive sports fan, I  love a variety of sports from basketball to swimming. I not only love watching them, but I also very much enjoy playing them with my friends. I am also a lover of movies, their few things I enjoy more then watching a good movie. Some of my expectations from this class is to learn about and be able to use different forms of media to present my projects. Like for the documentary I'm excited to learn about how to make a video presentation. I also hope my public speaking abilities get better, because as of right now they are terrible. An expectation I'm setting for myself is to get a high grade in the class and understand everything I'm taught. I come from a pretty common background, growing up in a middle class family with two loving parents. I went to the same private school my whole life and basically lived in the same neighborhood my whole life also. My community consists of people very similar to me that are middle class and went to private schools. Being in basically a bubble like that makes coming to a diverse place like UK seem very odd. It's different, but I really like different so I've had a great time down here so far.