Monday, Nov 9, 2015
Two successful filmmakers offer their experiences to inspire students to follow their passion
by Aimee LaBrie
When Alexis Irvin and Chip Hiden graduated from college, they realized that despite four years of education, they still were unsure of what they wanted to do with their lives. Both had secured jobs, but recognized that they weren't sure what shape they wanted their paths to take.
The two millennials decided to use their own ambiguity and indecision as inspiration for a documentary. They took to the road with a film crew and questions, intent on interviewing people across the country who had somehow managed to marry their personal passion with their professional lives. The result of their endeavor is the documentary The Dream Share Project. Along the way, they uncovered their own dream, to share with others how this journey helped them find their niche and to show students how to do the same.
On Wednesday, Nov. 12, Irvin and Hiden are coming to Rider to illustrate how this process can work for students who are toying with the idea of doing something out of the box, as well as those who may not yet know where they want to go in their careers. Appearing at the Bart Luedeke Center Theater at 7:30 p.m., they will first screen the documentary and then offer a hands-on, practical workshop to ignite students' ideas about how they too can follow what they love best.
Lauren Nicolosi, MA, NCC, who works in Rider's Career Services Office and teaches career planning courses for the College of Business Administration, has seen the value of this exercise. "The workshop really gets participants to think about what they enjoy and how that might fit into the bigger picture of their careers," she says.
Nicolosi, who has facilitated this interaction before, finds it to be extraordinarily rewarding. "There's an energy from the students in the room," she says. "They get very excited about thinking through these ideas. It's a chance for them to think creatively about how what they love and what they're studying can work together."
Space is limited so please RSVP as soon as possible by emailing [email protected] or visiting www.rider.edu/careerservices/events/register-event.