为了篇幅和清晰度，这篇采访经过了轻微的编辑.
玛丽莎·卡梅隆(媒体艺术，2012) 我生长在一个每个决定都伴随着创造力的家庭. 她的钢琴家父亲和姨妈之间, 著名作家, 玛丽莎注定要从事艺术. Marissa was torn between 媒体艺术 and Theatre before starting her journey at The Academy in 2009. 在与学校管理人员和家人讨论后, 她决定学习写作和媒体艺术, 她在哪里找到了家. 现在是作家, 诗人, 导演, 摩根大通的平面设计师, 玛丽莎体现了忙碌的艺术家心态. 阅读以下内容，了解她在学院的经历, 她的艺术生涯, 并通过橄榄球学习如何创造性地运用你的身体.
你上次来学院是什么时候?
我大学毕业后的第一份重要工作, 我在威利斯大厦的一家营销公司工作, 然后转到汉考克大厦的一家广告公司. 我从一个芝加哥形状的东西跳到另一个, 每天我上班的路上都会经过学院. So I can’t say the last time I visited, but I was always threatening to stop in and say hello. 有一次，我去了一个媒体艺术高级展览，但我忘了是什么时候. I remember the sign-in process feeling weird because I had to get a name badge.
你的奥斯卡故事怎么样?
这很有趣，因为我生长在一个充满艺术气息的家庭. Everyone in my family plays piano except for me, so I’m kind of the weirdo for doing everything else. I grew up doing theatre and actually auditioned for that and the 写作 program (媒体艺术). 我两个都选了, 所以帕特拉和帕姆·乔丹让我选一个, 看看感觉如何, 一个学期后我们会再来. 我选了写作系. 作为一名新生，他们要求你提交诗歌、短篇故事等. But for my audition, I generated a lot of those pieces only shortly before the due date. 我成长在一个艺术家庭, 你不会像在另一种生活中那样反复猜测自己. I’m extremely privileged and grateful to have been raised by parents who value creativity. Mr. 帕特拉的教学理念实际上是基于我姑姑的书—— 艺术家之路. 她看待生活的方式影响了我们全家. I was a weird kid in elementary school, so the Academy was the right place for me. I was the kid reading books during recess and a lot of my friends at the school were those types of kids as well. 我们有一个安全地生长的地方.
这是你给学校留下的遗产?
Even before Justin Tranter donated the recording studio to the music department, 这所学校让我想起了我小时候的家. 我们的地下室有一个录音室, so a lot of the first 媒体艺术 film scores were recorded at my childhood house, 我爸爸是工程师，我妈妈指导声乐表演. It was really special because it was the first time a lot of the Music students put headphones on and heard themselves sing or play. 我的家人一直试图贡献他们的时间来支持其他艺术家. 所以我们把音乐系的孩子叫来了, 低音, 小号, 凡是你能想到的, 我爸爸甚至在大提琴上放了一个wawa踏板来演奏摇滚歌曲. 我们要赶媒体艺术展的最后期限, 所以大家都留宿，第二天再录更多, while my dad mixed and mastered the tracks late into the night—perfectly normal extension of my life growing up. Knowing they now offer a professional studio recording environment at The Academy, 现在他们都能尝到我小时候的滋味了, 它真的温暖了我的心.
至于媒体艺术“大电影”项目, 现在我相信他们的时间不那么紧张了, script 写作 takes place junior year and the film’s production gets the entire senior year. 学校和我们一样在成长和变化. 在一天结束的时候, finding an artistic family through my friends was something I knew I always wanted, 但从没想过我会得到. It’s rare to come into life with a wish list like that and get to check those things off, 但你在学院有机会.
你的艺术背景是什么?
我做了13年的音乐剧，并考虑在大学里继续学习, 甚至还想到了舞台管理. 学院正是适合我这样的人的地方. 我在那里找到了自己的声音，可以开玩笑了. I think I was also the type of kid who got to the school super early, before anyone else. Ms. Gold would let me into the building and say “you’re not supposed to be in this early.“但我会在早上7点到达那里.m. every day just to spend an extra hour and a half in the 媒体艺术 lab – thinking, 写作, 在黑板上乱画, 谁知道? 学院是探索我兴趣的最佳场所.
你现在的生活怎么样?
A lot of folks can come out of high school with emotional baggage and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that. 玛丽莎描述了她遇到一位老师时遇到的挑战.上大学的时候，我对写作的幻想破灭了. 那位老师叫我去找一所音乐学院, but I thought about trying to attend a school accessible by CTA that had a mascot. 洛约拉大学是一个完美的选择, as it was attended by some of my favorite teachers at the Academy and close to home. I’ve always known I’d make art wherever I went, so going to Loyola made sense to me. Plus, by the time I got to college, I was a published 诗人 and Poet Laureate of Three Oaks, Michigan. The skill set I ended up leaning into was all the years of learning photoshop at The Academy. 所以我最终选择了平面设计. If theatre was my first love, and 写作 was my second, design became my third. 我花了很长时间才重新开始写“只为我”. 最终，我在学院的时光真的是一份礼物.
你在奥斯卡最美好的回忆是什么?
我们有一位老师，他说了一些不可思议的话. 他机智风趣，是最棒的. 一次, he was critiquing our assignments and said to the class “You have to think about your work ethic like your breakfast – the chicken was involved, 但是猪却犯了罪.” Nobody except my friend Sam (whose accent colors were beige and Home-Depot orange, 一个真正的视觉艺术孩子), 我笑了, 但正是这些小小的时刻让我难忘. All of the drama and the nightmares from high school get kind of washed away when I remember those times. I would say my time at The Academy was fraught with difficulties and personal growth that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
毕业后，你做过什么新鲜事吗?
我从大学开始打橄榄球. I had just gotten out of a relationship and was spending a lot of time in my dorm room. 我妈叫我"去找其他犹太人"我爸说"选一项运动", so I went to the organization fair and passed the knitting table and all the other clubs. 然后我看到了一个像足球的东西. Since I was always good at throwing the football and wrestling my cousins, I thought “why not?“我一出现，他们就成了我的家人.
无论我走到哪里，我都试图向人们展示我的艺术技能. 所以我会主动提出制作招聘传单，重做我们已有10年历史的标志. 我父亲对弹钢琴也有类似的看法. 他想:“你怎么做自己喜欢的事情来赚钱呢?“人们努力平衡金钱和激情, 这个世界不可能让你在两方面都取得成功. My dad has always said to make yourself indispensable and I think you can do that in any art form. 你也可以不赚钱而过艺术生活. 这又回到了我姑姑的哲学，每个人都有创造力. Creativity is a spiritual act; it’s a way of connecting with your fellow humans. 我发现打橄榄球是一种发挥身体创造力的方式.
这是学院给我们上的重要一课?
My favorite time to visit The Academy is on Fridays or Thursday during workshop. 我们发明“咔嚓”和“反咔嚓”的时候，我也在场, 当你同意某人的意见时就会显示出来. It was more so just a shorthand so people didn’t have to repeat the same comments again. 我相信是亚历克斯创造了“反snap”这个词. 就像把假发抢走了一样. 所以你学会了不是每个人的评论都是黄金. 你不需要把所有的反馈都内化. 你会成为一个非常坚强的人. There was also a joke that if you went through your first 媒体艺术 workshop and didn’t come out crying, 你做错了什么. 有些时候我会说"这有点多", 但在一天结束的时候, 真正正确的是，你应该关心你的工作. 这就是为什么(那些工作坊如此艰难). I just want everyone in 媒体艺术 out there to know, I know your pain, but it’s worth it. 你会因此成为一个更有见识的人, not just in your art form but you will gain the ability to move through your day with intention. I think you can do that when you’re 写作 a poem or completing a report about 谁知道 what. You can move through things with intention and purpose and take feedback as you choose.
你在学院遇到了什么困难?
I definitely have a 媒体艺术 Brain; I definitely read Aristotle’s 诗学 as a Freshman, despite being dyslexic and boy oh boy that was the most painful time. 有趣的是，我想我所有的测验都得了C, 因为我无法自己消化它. 但是学期末的所有测试和考试，我都会拿a. 我理解了科目，但不能消化材料. 人们正在学习给自己恩典，对自己更宽容. 这在高中尤其难做到. 我认为我的同学是出了名的从不给予积极的评价. The teacher [who Marissa had a difficult time with] gave me knowledge I wouldn’t trade for the world. 他们对我的同学说:“来吧. 什么工作得好，什么工作得不好? 你必须两者都说.“不把事情看得太个人化是件大事. 我不能靠写小说来救我的命. 我可以写15-20页，只有一个段落是好的. 在我所处的时代，人们承认这一点，这是可以接受的. It was recognizing what your strengths are and not discounting your art form completely. 你离开奥斯卡的时候，会有一种内在的开放心态. 我想学院会告诉你那是什么样子的. 在一个真正的艺术安全空间里，这是永远存在的东西.