CPMS100 - CPMS225

As my graduation from the Media Scholars colloquium approaches, I look back on my academic and residential experience with fondness. Scholars has given me the best first two years of college, and I’m in awe of my growth throughout the program: I entered a media novice, but I left a media scholar because of eye-opening projects and a supportive community. While I will miss Media Scholars, I know I’ll keep the lessons that I’ve learned close as I evolve alongside the role of media in our lives.

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Reflecting on my program’s full title Media, Self, and Society, I now have a more concrete understanding than I did three semesters ago of how these themes intersect. Whereas my instinct was to view them in a linear fashion, I now believe that a circular model is more fitting. We cannot separate media, self, and society, for they shape each other. Just as much as media is a product of our identities and societal values, we are a product of it. 

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However, I only grasped this relationship after completing two semesters at home. When we become so reliant on media for comfort and normalcy, it becomes an extension of ourselves. Media is a constant driver for change in my life and our society, enabling us to be and do more than we believed we could amid a global pandemic. I can connect with other college students nationwide without ever meeting them in person; we can become a part of something bigger than ourselves from the safety of our homes. We can move forward, even if life as we knew it feels like it’s stopped.

My understanding of this role used to lack optimism though. I had deemed social media a hotbed of toxicity, but colloquium taught me to analyze it more closely. Once I immersed myself in studying and using media, I experienced its duality in our lives. Although many shows stereotype minorities, I learned that movies like Black Panther empowered marginalized communities and promoted more realistic representation. Similarly, I reevaluated my assessment of media following the 2020 election. Whereas media exploited our polarized society in 2016, this year we used it to prioritize fair voting and combat misinformation. 

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I also applied this knowledge to a critical analysis of LinkedIn after my friend and I had casually observed how it reduced our identities to professional achievements. We felt like we never measured up to our productive peers despite overcoming personal challenges. Fortunately, my Media experience engaged us in critical thinking by putting our insecurities into perspective. We remembered that people only present their best selves, which contributes to a hyperreality where curated content crushes our self-esteem. We then considered how LinkedIn aids users by allowing them to express genuine interests in companies and professional growth. Overall, we accepted that these influences will always exist on social media, but they don’t define us. 

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My Media experience helped me recognize media’s potential to harm and help our society as well. A specific example that I witnessed in college that further divided our nation was President Trump’s tweet about the “China virus.” This stigmatization of the Asian community perpetuated harmful views of members as unwanted, and when I walked alone, I would worry others saw me like Trump did. In tandem with the baseless association between Asian mask-wearing and contagion, my fear made me realize how messages in media can have real-world consequences. 

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At the same time, Media Scholars trained me to view content through different lenses. I forced myself to empathize with bystanders who felt frustrated that Asians only supported their groups if they experienced discrimination too; without this commonality, the latter accepted their model minority status while the former suffered as a result. I could feel how letting Trump supporters blame Asians for the pandemic was easier. Likewise, I understood that media conglomerates continued to broadcast stereotypical images about Asians since it guaranteed more views. By analyzing these dynamics, I concluded that misinformation exploits our emotions to benefit a powerful minority.

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In contrast to Trump’s messages, the film Gook exemplifies media that benefits us. The movie attempts to bridge understanding between Asian and black communities through its portrayal of an unlikely friendship between members of each group. Though the ending highlights how we still have much progress to make before we get along, it offers a promising start to creating such a future. Gook challenges our previous views of the 1992 L.A. riots via both sides’ perspectives, emphasizing that we must listen to each other in spite of our differences as we did in class discussion.

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Another way that colloquium has strengthened my media analyses was by teaching me to become a critical consumer and producer rather than a passive one. For me, this means critically thinking about the media in my life versus merely reacting to it. I acknowledge my vulnerability to strategies producers use to target me and inoculate myself against misinformation using the fact-checking tools Media Scholars has equipped me with. Thus, I see myself as an active participant in media because I consider its veracity and implications before engaging with it. 

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Finally, the most valuable experiences I gained came from the community itself. Scholars introduced me to people who challenged me to live for myself. I used to do what I thought I should do to succeed in society’s eyes, so I would devote my free time to coursework and job applications. I was oblivious to the events, connections, and better version of myself that I was missing out on. But when my fellow Media Scholars asked me why that lifestyle contented me, I knew then that they cared about me and that I could change.

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I knew that regardless of my perceived failures, they would accept me as I was. From auditioning for acapella groups together to chalking for Student Entertainment Events, my learning improved tremendously by interacting with fellow Media Scholars beyond the classroom. They encouraged me to find balance in my life and taught me that it’s okay to take my time, whether that meant pausing to experience museum exhibits I might have overlooked alone or figuring out what I wanted for myself in life. This exposure to new perspectives helped me see college in a new light and approach it with renewed motivation to learn.

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Thanks to Scholars’ support, I eventually made active contributions to the community. I represented the Media Program at open houses since I could pay the kindness I received forward through sharing how prospective students could make the most of their Scholars experience. I know that my own will inform my future endeavors as I use my knowledge of media to amplify the positive in myself and my organizations. Most importantly, I will remember this lesson from Media: stay curious. Ask questions. Because there is always more to a story, including yours.