In January 2020 with some help from friends and crew members, we were lucky enough to raise $30,000 for a production that I was able to direct. It was a 30min pilot about inner city Chicago high schoolers who use the art of slam poetry to navigate their increasingly complicated lives. The production itself was such a defining moment because I was able to create this powerful story with a lot of creative freedom my art school was never able to give me. This allowed me to truly express my creativity with little to no guidelines or setback. To bring this story to life felt completely therapeutic and graceful because it was a story that my friends and I lived through our High school careers. We ran this production without any college assistance so that we would have as much freedom creatively as possible. As a 2020 BA College graduate and creating such a powerful story without any assistance from my school, really allowed me to see my potential as an independent filmmaker and director.