Student Showcase: Rhoda Klomega
Rhoda Klomega is a junior working on her own documentary, entitled “Simply Because,” where she interviews fellow students on the presence of peer pressure in their lives. The Saline Solution interviewed Klomega on her developing film.
By: Jenny Ozor
(interview condensed from original)
What inspired you to create a documentary?
Well, it all started with me really wanting to have an independent study with Mr. Dice. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do. First, I wanted to do a charity called Wants and Needs. How it worked was: you would go to the store, and ask yourself “do I need this item or do I want it”? If you needed it, you would buy it. If you didn’t need it you would take the money that you would have spent and turn it in to the charity. However, I thought that would be too difficult.
Then it hit me. As I saw some of my peers doing things such as dating three people in two weeks and other peer-pressure related things, I wondered to myself and to Mr. Dice why people were doing this. So I thought, ‘Wait, I could do a documentary.”
What was the process like in preparation for the documentary?
It was hard, easy, annoying, entertaining, aggravating, soothing, tedious, exciting, and quite the adrenaline rush! At first, I wanted to jump right into interviews, but I had to research first. The entire first trimester was devoted to pure research. I have a thick 5 inch binder and a full book of notes.
I also had to talk to counselors (such as Mrs. Monahan), but I didn’t know who to call. I called my Aunt Margaret who works with youths, Mrs. Mukerjee (a psychologist), my mom, and Mr. Dice, Mr. Schuby (a mentor), who jokes about spoon-feeding me with all my research, provided me with some statistics that applied directly to Saline Middle and High School.
I also didn’t want to get into any trouble while interviewing people, as Saline is very conservative, so I had to make release forms. The release forms took me about two weeks to make. The process was very tedious, as I had to make appointments with Mr. Diroff and Mr. Williams. I had to ask psychologists about how to make someone feel comfortable talking to me. Preparation was fun, but really annoying. In the process, I got stood up a lot.
What have you learned as a result of this?
At times, when I got stood up during the interviews, I wanted to tell people off. I have learned that I have to speak to someone the way I would like to be spoken to had I made such a mistake. I have learned to be more organized and have better time management. I had to set goals for myself. In terms of the actual interviews, I learned that everything is not what it seems. I’ve heard of cases from mere gossiping that hurt a friendship to nasty divorces. Everyone comes with baggage.
What has been hard about this? What has been fun?
Time management has been hard and getting people to actually show up for the interview. It was hard to see other’s perspectives. I also started to have some stress related health issues because I was putting too much time and energy into this project, like not going to bed until 3 am, forgetting to eat, etc. On the other side, I’ve made so many relationships. My interviewees and I, we sort of have a bond. You feel like you’ve helped someone get through something.
All of the positive changes I’ve made, I couldn’t have made without Mr. Dice--but don’t tell him that, it’s our secret [laughs]. He is like my school father. And Mrs. Monahan, who I also call my school mother. You know those angels that stand on your shoulder and act as consciences, well Mr. Dice and Mrs. Monahan are mine. Something else fun is being professional. I really like being professional.
Do you plan on making any documentaries in the future?
I plan on making so many. I’m a really inquisitive person. I’m really intrigued by things, and I surround myself with a lot of intelligent people. I plan to publish my future documentaries. I’ve learned so much, others need to know what I know. If they watched it they could learn, too. It’s worth it. I think I can change the world, one documentary at a time.
What advice do you have for people who have always been curious about creating their own documentaries?
DO IT! Try to come from a logical, objective standpoint, though. I’m a really religious person so I thought that people were doing certain things because they didn’t have God. However, I had to come from an objective standpoint. Make a documentary that will benefit society. You never know what you may learn. This experience has made me such a better person, and I wouldn’t take it back for anything.
Does this documentary tie into your future endeavors?
I wanted to be a computer engineer; every woman in my family is a psychologist or counselor. I might minor in psychology, and hopefully get a PhD. I think psychology is really great to know no matter where you find yourself. [But] I’m still going to go for computer engineering.
Do you have any thank you’s?
DEFINITELY! Mr. Dice definitely, for putting up with my attitude and shenanigans; for allowing me to do this project to learn and not spoon feeding me.
Mrs. Monahan: what can I say, everyone needs them some Monahan. She is an inspiration to me, and challenges me without even realizing it sometimes.
Mr. Schuby: thank you for “spoon feeding” me with statistics and teasing me about my “project” as you call it.
Mrs. Mack for being my “secretary” and also for giving me rooms to conduct my interviews in; and for scolding me to take care of myself when I was stressing out too much.
Mrs. Mukerjee for helping me formulate my questions and advising me on what to expect and how to tackle some issues that may arise (I suppose I should thank Aaron Mukerjee for giving me the privilege of meeting you, so thank you Aaron).
Auntie Margaret: for being the first person to get me to deeply think about the questions I wanted to ask and taking every factor into consideration.
Mr. Bush and the tech department for lending me the studio when I needed it.
Mrs. Howard, Mrs. Budnik, and Ms. Chapman for being vessels of wisdom and support when I really needed it.
Mr. Williams and Mr. Diroff for allowing me to proceed with this process without hesitation or having me jump through too many hoops.
My family for the support; Debbie Hawkins, Sid Frye, and all my endorsers who helped me with my equipment.
Last but not least, my interviewees: you have given me a reason to wake up and come to school every day (even if you don’t show), I hope you all know how much of a change and an impact you are making, even if no one will view those videos. I greatly appreciate you all for assisting me with this. If I forgot anyone, please forgive my short memory and don’t hold it against me. You have all been wonderful helps to me and I thank you for that.
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