Thank you to UNO's DEAI Council for the grant to make this event possible. Thank you, also, to Dr. Karen Fannin and the School of Music for graciously hosting this inaugural event. Thank you for supporting this CFAM effort to champion inclusion & authentic expression for all UNO students, staff, faculty, and alumni.
Schedule Part 1 for All Story Areas: 11:00am-12:45pm
Schedule Part 2 for All Story Areas: 12:00pm-2:00pm
Building Location and Limited Visitor Parking
Our Keynote Speaker: Joshua "Socks Joplin" Thompson
Outdoor Stories Stage
You’re Not Alone: Our Stories Transitioning into College (Podcast)
In our group podcast we will introduce our group, The Indecisive, and our stories as we transitioned into college. As a group we share values like family, accountability, and well-being which has led us to feel passionately about this topic. We are a diverse group of students, and yet, we have all noticed a change coming into college in some way. Whether it be moving away from home, meeting new people, or just starting classes. In our group, we will provide perspectives from the newly entered freshmen, Sophie DelSenno and Landen Winkelbauer, as well experienced juniors, Angela Truong and Brenda Martinez. Our group has a wide range of experiences from traditional students to first generation students. The transition into college has a large impact on mental health and the environmental change impacts everyone differently. We will share our personal stories as well as our peers stories and provide resources for the community. One of the resources we will cover in this podcast is the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). We will also speak about opportunities on campus that helped us create a better environment. Although there are many resources on UNO's campus that provide assistance for this transition, there are some changes we would like to see to help students enter college smoothly. This topic is not talked about nearly as much as it should be, and therefore our group would like to start the conversation surrounding this transition from high school to college.
A More Walkable Future (Podcast)
We are the BEASTs and we plan to share our podcast advocating for more walkable infrastructure in Omaha because we value well-being for everyone. We have seen how a lack of walkability in our communities has affected us from almost being run over at work, to being forced to rely on cars or limited public transportation, to having poor sidewalks that make spaces inaccessible. In our podcast, we will first explore old avenues by understanding the causes of the problem, map the problem by exploring the effects of unwalkable infrastructure, and finally we will take steps forward by proposing ways to increase walkability in Omaha. By sharing this podcast, we hope to raise awareness for how unwalkable cities affect people’s well-being, as well as give people the tools and knowledge to advocate for better infrastructure. This collaborative endeavor will help make better infrastructure a reality.
UpNext (Podcast)
What do an international student, an undergraduate research assistant, a club president, and a political science major all have in common? We are Liftoff, students at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. We bring our podcast, UpNext, to life. Our team values empathy, teamwork, and investing in future generations and our journeys at UNO are unique. From attending a community college or a completely different university to crossing an ocean and more, Our difficulties such as a lack of resources, knowledge about higher education, and financial burden can make getting a college degree difficult. We want to use our stories to shed light on students' difficulties and share the resources we have found with you. We will discuss our journeys to UNO, and the common difficulties. We will then go in-depth about resources such as academic advisors. As we share these struggles and resources, individuals can reflect on their own experiences and then help students prepare better for higher education.
Its Normal (Podcast)
"Our podcast will aim to be a platform where stories can be shared anonymously. Our goal is to make people feel more connected by recognizing that a lot of us have the same problems. As the hosts we will relate to these stories with our own experiences and values, then share similar stories and advice. We want to emphasize that all our stories are connected.The hosts are Isaiah, Kya, and James. We will each take a different perspective when analyzing the stories.Isaiah will have a realistic/ pessimistic lens. He has this view because he is a self-proclaimed negative person. He holds himself to a high standard and does not make excuses, but he does not expect the same from others.Kya will have an empathetic/ nurturing role. She chooses this role because of a lack of compassion from the world growing up. This makes Kya want to share kindness to help people experience what she was missing.James will have an unserious/ comedic take. He is choosing comedy because that’s how he copes with his own issues. He also loves to make people laugh. Jokes are his natural way to cheer people up when they are down.The reason we have different roles is to bring unique perspectives to common struggles.Struggles we will talk about include:· Trauma from emotionally immature parents· Financial problems· Relationships and their effects· School and burnout· Social Anxiety/ Mental Health· Substance Abuse/ AddictionWe want to talk about these struggles in a lighthearted conversation so our audience will feel more welcomed and normal.You’re not alone. Tune in to find comfort and connection through honest conversations about shared experiences.
HUMANITY UNPLUGGED: RESHAPING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR GOOD (Podcast)
Our team, Everest, is the average college student who has experienced the troubles of growing up in a world influenced by the media we consume. Social media at its core has brought people from across the globe together to connect over similar interests. As Gen Z, social media is the core way we communicate and socialize with others. Though it can be positive, we can acknowledge that social media is not always a safe space. We see how it has negatively affected our peers and even ourselves. It is easy to find hate, bullying, and harassment within comment sections and in the content on social media platforms. Due to anonymity, users online feel compelled to engage in this kind of behavior without fear of consequences. These negative interactions do not just affect who we are online, but also who we are as people and how we view ourselves and life. Though it is a topic that is talked about often, it is still a relevant issue that continues to be detrimental to our youth. Our group has been personally affected by seeing negative and hateful views pushed on our feeds. We want to see a change. In our podcast, we will share our personal stories, and examples of toxic behavior, and discuss ways to promote compassion and understanding. We hope to advocate for more loving and accepting spaces online by bringing awareness to the negativity that is present on social media. We desire to share this with the UNO community to further our shared values of love, humility, and goodness, as we believe these to be the pillars of humanity.
Creativitree: How creativity sprouts humility and compassion (Podcast)
"We are Nolan, Josue, Jayce, and Grace, a group of students formed in a communications class. As we formed, we developed a shared value for creativity, humility, and compassion.We aim to explore how creativity nurtures humility and compassion through a podcast sharing our personal journeys. By illustrating how creativity enhances humility and fosters compassion, we seek to emphasize its significance in our future endeavors. Our goal is to cultivate a campus culture of compassion through open discussions and practical methods applicable across various mediums. While releasing a full podcast, we plan to host face-to-face sessions demonstrating how creative acts promote self-reflection and personal growth. We believe facilitating self-discovery will elevate individuality and empower creativity,ultimately enhancing the undergraduate experience at the University of NebraskaOmaha
Emily Keating: Emily's Stories: Living in the Dark (Podcast)
This is my podcast as a story of living as a blind person. This is my story as a blind individual growing up in Omaha. This episode discusses my traumatic birth, and how it caused my blindness. Another aspect of this project is regarding my experiences both good and bad, as a blind person. It discusses how I have lived in a visual world, and how I have overcome the obstacles I have faced.
Jerome Bradford: News Spot
"I interviewed two administrators at Outlook Nebraska, the region's largest employer of the blind and visually impaired. The total running time in 1:42 and airs on KXVO, The Omaha News, Facebook, TKN and NET2. This is my last story of my college career. I'm proud to share the spotlight on an organization that is valuable to our community and it showcases the skills I've developed throughout my career at UNO."
Wesley Stevens: Everything I Have Left Pre-Recorded Music (vocal and instrumental)
My proposal consists of my entire portfolio of original music. Any piece, whether it be already released, finished but unreleased, or in the process of editing and mixing, will be available for anyone to listen to.
Elliot Greve: "a little video: puppet dance" Animation & Music
I am exhibiting "puppet dance" which is a personal animation challenge that tells a story, accompanied with an original musical composition. Everything including writing the score, capturing and editing was completed over the course of 9 hours. I have always been completely enamored by the idea of making things make sense. As years went on, I started paying more attention to the smallest details as I became more interested in finding creative hobbies. Music and animation were among the first things that really caught my attention; not just how worlds could be created from pure imagination, and stories could be told via colors and sounds, but the deeper analysis of the world of creativity. What makes sound, or shapes, or structures, good? I want to be a brilliant creative mind. I’ve told myself this for years, and I have learned with any new skill, that it always requires the same thing – practice, every day. Throughout my life, I’ve never sat down and developed just one skill alone. I’m constantly learning new techniques, because how I see it, this is how I will truly reach my full potential as an artist. I’m a musician, an illustrator, an animator, and a designer, to name a few. But no matter what I choose to call myself, I will always be a learner. My greatest goal in life is to become the inspiration to the newer generation that the previous was for me. For as long as I live, I will never stop learning, and creating, and above all else, I will never lose the love in making works come to life.
Thank you for joining this inaugural event and celebrating Our Stories...what makes us unique brings us together