In the Fall of 2017, I participated in a workshop on video storytelling conducted by StoryCenter in Berkeley, California. We were tasked with producing personal narratives in a very short format. Iowa surged as  a  story  I  had  to  tell,  but  one  I  did  not  know  I  had  within me. I recorded my voice only once, as I wanted the  story  to  have  a  spontaneous  quality  of  self-discovery. For the same reason, I left in place the rough  enunciation and the abundant slurring of words throughout the  recording.  The  soundtrack  includes  a  recording  of  Grinnell College’s President, Raynard S. Kington, delivering  a  Commencement  address,  along  with  a  recording of a lion at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, recorded when  I  visited  there  with  my  husband.  I  also  included  music from my adopted city of New Orleans, all layered with  a  video  shot  with  my  phone  while  casually  driving on I-80 from Grinnell towards Iowa City one sunny winter day. I pieced together all these random bits and pieces of sounds and images from my past to tell a story about home and belonging.
Video Essay