When it comes to following your dreams, where should you start? Recent college graduates Alexis Irvin and Chip Hiden aimed to answer that question when they traveled cross-country to film "The Dream Share Project."
The Dream Share Project in its entirety, which was sponsored by the Academic & Career Advising Center and Lancer Productions on Jan. 30, is a documentary and accompanying workshop targeted towards college students who hope to take a different path to finding their dreams. Irvin and Hiden stopped by Longwood during their extensive university tour to share their creation with students.
Both Irvin and Hiden began working unsatisfactory office jobs after they graduated from college and soon realized they were miserable. After a year of saving up enough money to travel around the United States, the dreamers quit their jobs and set off to film a documentary about Americans who pursued their dreams to find inspiration.
"You can only sit in traffic and look at fluorescent lights for so long before you're like, ‘There's got to be something else worth exploring in this world,'" said Hiden. He and Irvin interviewed everyone from a past Project Runway contestant to a filmmaker to a female NASCAR driver about how their passion led to their dreams becoming reality. They even talked to career counselors and life coaches to gain practical advice and insightful wisdom.
But, like many people who chase after their dreams, Irvin and Hiden were discouraged at times. "There were moments of doubt along the way," admitted Hiden. They resorted to camping out in tents to save money, ran low on cash despite their saving efforts and were unsure if their film would be viewable due to the simplicity of their video camera. But they completed their film, worked enjoyable part-time jobs to pay for their film editing and now share their findings with college students across the country.
Hiden said the entire process has completely changed his life. "I feel much more comfortable with taking risks now, which is great," he said. "It's so rewarding when you can put yourself out there, do something rewarding you're unsure about or are not sure if it's totally safe." Irvin added, "I definitely [have] a belief in myself now that I could do most things I set my mind to."
Filming "The Dream Share Project" helped Irvin and Hiden get closer to their own dreams as well. Irvin aspires to be not only a writer, but became interested in filmmaking after directing the film. Hiden hopes to become an entrepreneur and his entrepreneurial work with the project has helped him achieve some of his goals.
After Irvin and Hiden screened "The Dream Share Project" to a group of eager students, they conducted a workshop in which the attendees expressed their interests and possible dreams through different exercises. The workshop was designed to help students explore their passions and venture out of their comfort zone by working with the other attending students.
Freshman Katie Vaughn said the documentary and workshop inspired her to begin the search for her own dream. She said, " I really felt that I wasn't the only person who doesn't know what they want to do with their life, and maybe if I try a little harder, I'll know … and find people who can help me discover what I'm good at and what I'm passionate about."
Freshman Megan Mills, whose dream is to do missions work, said the presentation "helped convince me that even though my dream is a little bit crazy, nothing's going to stop me from doing it. I can do whatever I want."
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