When Sharing a Story Becomes a Bond
Sometimes, storytelling can serve as the tie that binds individuals to each other 鈥�- and to those around them.
Animation student Rafik Vardanyan and Architecture student Benjamin Garcia, can attest to the power of a narrative to engage seemingly everyone it touches — the author, the subject, the reader, and the community at large.
Consider Rafik鈥檚 recent piece on Benjamin, originally written in faculty member Mike Sonksen鈥檚 鈥淟.A. Stories鈥� class and subsequently published in , Woodbury鈥檚 student-run cultural publication produced as part of Risa William鈥檚 Digital Journalism class. As Sonksen observed, the article is an example of collaboration in action, powerfully knitting together four disparate programs at Woodbury in a single pass: Architecture, Animation, Professional Writing and Communication, which includes the Digital Journalism class that runs 7500 Magazine — and the exceptional camaraderie that exists within the university.
Rafik writes movingly about Benjamin鈥檚 discovery of Los Angeles through youth baseball; his family鈥檚 fostering 30 kids (and adoption of five); his ultimately successful battle against glaucoma (after 鈥減reparing myself for a life without being able to see鈥�); the pivotal role of his high school mentor, who 鈥済ave me the confidence to run with my imagination鈥� and whose introduction of Frank Lloyd Wright鈥檚 鈥淔alling Water鈥� proved life-changing; and his goal of interning at a firm like Gensler after graduation.
鈥淭hroughout my life, I鈥檝e come to realize that not everything goes according to plan,鈥� Rafik quotes Benjamin, as he concludes the piece. 鈥淗owever, if I continue to live each day like it鈥檚 my last, my path will unveil itself before me.鈥�
A very Woodbury story indeed.