with Yury Kogan, David Gastaneta, Gabrielle Walker, Brandon Kissinger, Henry Boteo, and Osmundo Arguello
On a rainy afternoon in May 2005, four students involved in the Build San Francisco Institute Student Research for Action project took a break to reflect on where the process has led them so far, and what they've gained. WKCD writer Abe Louise Young listened in to the student conversation, which is transcribed below.
Building Our Skills
We learned how to read and take notes. Dave kept pushing me to read this and read that, learn how to skim through it, and analyze it, understand it quickly. I can't do it "just like that," but I'm learning, I'm improving. I'm capable. I'm more of a hands-on person, but I can say that I'm learning the skill. (Henry)
Being able to get a group to work together on something is really big. Everybody's doing their own little thing, and then when you bring it all together and make sure it's good, that's crazy good. That's a very important thing to know how to do. (Brandon)
Before, I didn't really like getting on the computer. What I learned from this project is that the computer is a good way to get in, and it will give you more of the information that you need. Instead of just struggling, you might as well get on the Internet and just find it. (Osmundo)
In the beginning, we were like, "No way! How is this going to be done?" And then the work just kept being piled on us, and we figured out how to do it. We just need a little bit of structure to follow, and then—we're capable. (Gabrielle)
I like to meet new people. I like to go to new places I've never been to. (Henry)
We all came here of free will, so it was really easy to put it together. (Brendan)
You work with other people, you get to know other people, you get to learn how they're different from you. (Osmundo)
It wasn't like a school project where they assign you a number and then depending on your number you get in a group, and the teacher randomly assigns you something to work on. Everybody was like, "Oh, yeah, I want to do that!" And everybody who wanted to do it just got in a group. Everybody agreed on what we were going to do from the minute we got here. Everybody had the same goal. When they came here, everybody was like, "Okay, I'm going to learn about architecture." (Yury)
When you come here, you go through reading and writing. Whatever you've got to do, learning new schoolwork is always involved in your project. (Osmundo)
Why Make a Movie
Just like San Francisco's diversity, the movie is really diverse. We all come from different points of views and different places. Yet we can get together and make one movie. How cool is that? (Brendan)
Personally, I like watching movies more than I like reading. (David)
I think it's a good idea to do a movie, because a movie is a media that you can show anywhere. With a PowerPoint, you come, you have to have a presentation, sit down and talk about things. With a movie you can just slip it in, let it roll. You can go to a classroom, a conference, anywhere. (Yury)
If I wanted to, I could take this to my school and broadcast it out to the whole student body. (David)
Kids like us probably wouldn't be as interested in subjects that we've studied about. But seeing us in the movie will get them interested, and they'll think, "Maybe I can do that too." Then we'll all be on the same page. Then we will be able to make a change. (Gabrielle)
In a time where everybody complains that they don't have enough time to do anything, it's nice that you can deliver a whole lot of information in a short period, in a movie. Then they might say, "You know what? I'm going to go out and learn a little bit more about this." If you give them a paper, they're not going to care about it. (Brendan)
Welcome Challenges
We fought a lot with the teachers. I'm going to be honest: I dreaded the prospect of this project. But now that we're done with it, I can look back at it and be proud that I did it. It was really hard. (Yury)
You've got to do the work. That's what I learned: doing things on my own, doing the research, finding the set-ups, not getting that much help. I learned how to be independent. (Henry)
It was annoying to do the editing. You hear the same thing over and over again! I can recite what my guy said word for word. I can write a biography on Carl Shannon. (Yury)
It was fun holding the video camera. It was nerve-wracking and exciting. (Gabrielle)
I really enjoyed this whole process. It was a lot of fun to meet everyone, learn all the stuff we learned, and all the different views we got exposed to. (David)
It was fun, because you end up doing everything. You take the video, you get the outtakes, and then you do the editing. (Osmundo)
We used a storyboard concept. At every beginning and end, you had to figure out how you were going to tie it in to what the last person's little sound bite was, or the factoid they tossed in just before yours. (Brandon)
With the storyboard, you figure out exactly each picture, and what words you're going to say, and what goes where. Then afterwards, you argue about it for a while with the other students—what words should go with what picture, what order they should go in. (Yury)
Becoming Professionals
Dave will tell you, "You're making $47.00 an hour, and I need you to do this, and the deadline is in two days—get to work!" Really, you're not getting paid, but he tells you that because in the real life, you could be making that much. That's how people work with you: handle this, and have it by this day, you feel me? (Henry)
We learned a lot about the professional world here. Basically, you don't get paid if you're doing nothing. If you just sit around, you don't get paid. Every minute counts. (Osmundo)
Having this experience helps you out because you know what to expect when you go to a workplace. In the real world, if you want to get paid a lot, you have to get a lot of things done, too. With us, Dave would come up in the end and say, "I don't like this. You did a bad job. Do it over." Yeah, you were working, but if what you come up with isn't good enough, it just isn't and you have to do it again. He doesn't just push you to work. He pushes you to do good work. (Yury)
The support that you have from people around you is good. If you're having trouble, the person around you might know how to help you take care of it. (Osmundo)
We got a better understanding of the professional world just by talking to the people who came in to give us presentations. You had to talk a little different, carry yourself differently, figure out what questions to ask, how to ask them. (Brendan)
For myself, you're walking around and you start meeting all these people. You're introduced, "He's an intern." You realize that in the future you're going to have to dress a lot nicer. You're going to have to wear a collared shirt with slacks. You got to look nice because everybody else looks nice. Sometimes you get into a situation where they invite you to sit in on an important meeting. And you're in a situation where you're incredibly underdressed—you don't even want to be at that meeting, no matter how interested in it you are. It doesn't matter how nice your t-shirt is—a suit is still nicer than a t-shirt. (Yury)
Every time I walked into my internship, I felt like I had to keep up. I had to even change my personality a little bit. I had to change my attitude, and pull up my pants. I wanted to fit in. I don't like people looking at me wrong, because that intimidates me. I want it to be tight, all good, fit in, wherever I go. (Henry)
You learn how to interact with people differently, to have good initiative. If a person is just standing around, let people know your name. Get people's cards. Call them up and say, "Hey, remember me? I was that kid you said did a cool video project with Build SF!" Just start talking to the person, and you can learn how to get what you need by networking, making connections. (Yury)
Marking Our Accomplishments
In this work, you get up to that college level that you don't get in high school! (Brendan)
We got to establish contacts with people in architecture, design, public policy, planning, all kinds of things. We got to go straight up to the big important people. (Yury)
It's worth it to do it. Pick up the phone. Interviews are great, books are great, but the people are better. (Brendan)
Something good comes out of work like this. You feel proud of what you did, what you have accomplished. All you've got to do is put your mind into it, do what you have to do, get on task, get to work. Don't let time run. (Osmundo)
We put out three hours a day extra to do this stuff. You'll never get the real life experience in high school that you get here. (Brendan)
Here, you're putting that reading and writing and textbook to use. Here, you've got to sit down and figure out a problem, they don't give you the numbers; they don't give you the words. You have to do everything yourself. You have to figure out how much it costs for a family of four to live in San Francisco. (Brendan)
Long-term Visions
It's one semester that will probably help you out with the rest of your life. (Yury)
My first goal right now is to graduate. After I graduate, my goal is to go to the local Carpenter's Union. (Osmundo)
After this semester, I'm pretty sure I want to pursue architecture as a career. (Yury)
Learning how to be professional, how to be independent when you're doing your work, and getting a little piece of reality were the best parts of this experience. (Henry)
I'm going to design something in this city, that's what I'm striving for. I want to leave my own opinion, my own impact on the city of San Francisco. (David)
Click here to watch the Rincon Towers project video.
Click here to read an interview with Program Director Will Fowler.
Click here to return to "Student Video Celebrates S.F. History."
