Senior students majoring in multimedia communication with a concentration in film studies have the unique opportunity to live in Los Angeles for the LAFSC program for their last semester in college, engaging in all things related to the film industry. One of those students is Abriella Caravette, a passionate and hard-working individual who enjoys any and everything related to film.
Unfortunately for Caravette and her peers, their originally scheduled four months in Los Angeles was suddenly cut short to two months after the coronavirus pandemic forced the nation to engage in social distancing.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the coronavirus is an illness that has not been previously identified and can be spread through respiratory droplets from coughs and sneezes. The closer people are to each other, the higher the risk one becomes infected. This is why the CDC recommends people maintain a distance of at least six feet between each other.
On January 19, the first United States patient was reported on the west coast, according to Microbial Biotechnology. The spread of the virus and the enforcing of social distancing meant no school, no work, and for LAFSC students, no internships.
“It was a whirlwind, just because of how fast everything happened,” Caravette said, describing the emotions of having her experience in Los Angeles cut short. The students were notified of the possibility of having to leave early, but little did they know that it would be within 48 hours
“It was a lot in a short amount of time,” Caravette admitted. “That first week back home was rough because it was all a blur.”
The “blur” that Caravette referred to included packing bags, informing internship supervisors of plans to leave California, and telling actors that productions were cancelled, seemingly erasing the diligent work that LAFSC students now had to leave behind.
“We did get on-set experience, so I am very thankful for that, and we have come away with this with some business experience by being in our internships and working with those positions and getting contacts and friends from the program” Caravette said.
But her time in Los Angeles was not a waste, according to Caravette, who still cherishes the experience the internship had to offer.
Caravette was the producer of a team creating a web-pilot, which was one of the ultimate goals of the semester. She was able to work on a film concept developed by another person in the program and received hands-on experience sitting in on casting sessions, finding film locations, and much more.
Additionally, the students did get to engage in some Los Angeles sight-seeing. “As a big group, we all went up to the Hollywood sign,” said Adam Raeburn, another Olivet student there for the program. The three-mile hike was well worth it as the group was able to take a photo in front of the sign during sunset, which was one of the goals while in Los Angeles.
Since arriving back home, the LAFSC students are now doing smaller written assignments as a part of their internship, and though the experience ended prematurely, Caravette remains thankful for the experience and hopeful for the future.
“I am sad that our time was cut short, but I am not upset that I didn’t do more. The L.A. experience is incredible and I’m looking forward to when all this is over so people can go out there again and do the experience. It’s really cool” Caravette said.
