Video Project Ideas
Video Project Ideas:
1. The life of a broke college student
2. Everyone loves an underdog
3. Inside the mind of a meathead
4. The story of a man with no electronics
5. A homesick kid
If I had to do a video project right now, I think it would be about the life of a broke college kid. I am trying to tell the story of not only me, but thousands of college kids who are struggling to afford the price of a college education. Even with in-state tuition, students are paying obscene fees to go to their college of choice. I am passionate about lowering the price of a college education. In the current economy, it is almost impossible to get a decent job without a college education. In my opinion, some schools completely understand this, yet still make students pay excessive fees in order to obtain their degree. Students pay Rutgers University up to about $30,000 for in-state tuition, yet still have to pay $2.50 for every load of laundry that they do inside of a dorm. I would start with the ridiculous prices of books in college. Students may purchase a book for $150, and at the end of the semester, when they go to trade it in, they receive under $10 (I know this from experience). I would then proceed to touch on the tuition prices that are way too high, and then maybe transition into the little things like the outrageous price of laundry. My viewer should be interested because most of them are college students as well, and they know that the price of college is an absolute abomination. They understand what it is like to pay for a college education, and probably also think that it is ridiculous. I got my inspiration from myself. I like to have clean clothes, so I would say that I wash my clothes a good amount. And every time that I wash my clothes I have to pay anywhere from $2.50-$5.00, depending on how much laundry I am washing. This, combined with the price of housing, a meal plan, and tuition, is absolutely insane. The purpose of this video would be to educate people, as well as inspire others to speak out against this ripoff.
Dear Jimmy,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to focus in on a few topics that interest you. Obviously, student debt is one of the more prominent themes for college students. Have you ever written an opinion piece about this? The first thing I would do if this ends up being the project you want to pursue is to try to write about it with a clear and well thought out argument. Then, you can go back and think about how you might visually illustrate your points. You could also use the laundry as a larger metaphor--how as a student, the cost of tuition and living never ends, and how it makes you dizzy, how debt can become an endless chore with no foreseeable end after graduation. I wouldn't focus too much on your argument about how laundry is too expensive, as it doesn't quite seem to be part of the bigger point, and there is no real solution to it (i.e. let's say that the university agreed to allow for free laundry--which they would never do---that cost would then most likely be included in room and board). The hard part with an argument like this is anticipating and debunking counter arguments or trying to solve the problem of student debt in a real way. Lots of really smart people with tons of education and experience have tried to cap and address student loan debt but haven't been successful, so how is your argument different or better? Maybe you could come at this from a different angle or with a different critique, such as how college life maybe isn't what you expected it to be. For many new students, there is a lot of sticker shock, especially for text books, so perhaps you could think of this video project as an instructional piece for seniors in high school or first year students----here are five unexpected things about college life and managing your time and money efficiently. That way, you're not just presenting a rant without solutions. I'm interested to see in what develops for you over the next few weeks.