By Emma Josephson

During my freshman year at Portland State, I struggled with adapting to the insane balancing act of school, work, social life, and just being able to take a break. It’s the middle of fall term of my sophomore year and things are a lot better. The entirety of last year, I felt like I wasn’t doing enough and committing to too much all at the same time. One of the only things that kept me motivated was knowing that other new students were trying to figure it all out as well.

As a film major and a creative person in general, there was an added level of imbalance in my life. I stopped creating just for the sake of creating, and I found myself feeling like my passion was being transformed into just a grade. I love being able to use my talent and love of film to work on these less creative projects, but my mistake was not prioritizing my own personal creative growth. Anytime I can spend focusing on a video that I have complete creative control over is so important and valuable to me. For months I felt stuck in a cycle of not having time and I didn’t want to feel that way for any longer. So I just started creating.

This video is 100% me. It’s the memories I’ve made with friends and family and some of the places I’ve been in the past months. I’m still trying to transition out of this “funk.” Hopefully, people can relate to this short film/compilation of my life this past year, even if their struggle is not the exact same as mine. I know it’s just difficult to balance your other passions in life with being a student and managing all the others things that come up.

The Video: Breaking the Habit of Not Creating