It was just another day when Maggie Cissel walked to class one November morning. An email came through her phone. She almost deleted it, but chose to read it instead. Little did Cissel know that decision would change her life.
The email from the School of Communications described an opportunity for a student to apply to travel to India during Winter Term as the documentary production assistant for the Isabella Cannon International Centre.
“When I read it, I said 'this is exactly what I want to do',” Cissel said. “My entire fall was jam-packed, but everything was put on hold when I read that email.”
About a month later, Cissel was in India working alongside Ryan Witt, a video producer for Teaching and Learning Technologies. The duo worked to capture footage as they followed Elon study abroad trips, including groups studying business and culture in Delhi, another studying education and development in Cochin and a human services and public health group who studied at the Comprehensive Rural Health Project with a Periclean scholars group.
Traveling with Cissel and Witt were President Leo Lambert and his wife, Laurie.
“We were like a little family," Cissel said. "I would wonder what people thought when they saw us traveling in the airport together.”
The experience abroad
From the moment she heard about it, Cissel knew she wanted the job. But the interim between reading the email and actually making the trip happen was a roller coaster, Cissel said.
She applied, interviewed and found out she had been selected just before Thanksgiving — but that was only the start.
“Deep down, I knew that getting accepted was the first step in a long range of things before I could actually go,” she said.
Among the things standing in her way was the price tag. With nearly $5,000 in trip expenses to cover on her own, Cissel, adamant about not taking out a loan, had a lot of funds to raise.
“There were probably three days where I just gave up," she said. "The pressure to come up with the funds finally got to me and actually getting to India seemed impossible. I don’t know what the turning point was — it was sort of just like something clicked and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.”
Reaching out to groups on campus, including the Phi Mu national chapter and the Student Government Association, Cissel was able to raise $3,500 in scholarships and support.
Once in India, Cissel’s main task was to help Witt collect footage for a promotional video for the Cannon Centre. Without much prior experience making documentaries, Cissel had to take every opportunity to learn as she went.
“I would give her little mini lessons,” Witt said. “Over time, she started learning it really well. It wasn’t just turning the camera on and hitting the button.”
According to Cissel, the learning was incomparable to anything that could have been done inside the classroom.
“Hands-on experience doesn’t even begin to describe it,” she said. “It’s do or die. You either get the shot or you don’t.”
Cissel was also able to get some footage of her own. She will spend spring semester compiling footage from the trip and producing and editing her own documentary to obtain credit for an independent study course.
Reflecting on an adventure
Recalling scenes of streets filled with sewage, masses of orphans and “people-jams” clogging the roads like traffic, Cissel said it’s shocking to look back on the footage because it’s a stark contrast to the United States, according to Cissel. Images like these raised questions in her mind about what it really means to be a global citizen.
It’s this type of reflection she hopes to convey in her documentary.
“I hope people can question why it is they go abroad, what and where they even want to go,” she said.
Cissel is hoping to have the finished product shown at SURF, the Student Undergraduate Research Forum, on April 24. Witt is currently working on the post-production phase of the Cannon Centre promotional video, which will also be finished before the end of the year.
“Promotional pieces like this show, in very tangible ways, what students are learning and how they can apply it to the future,” said Bill Burress, international program adviser.
Lambert said he has similar hopes for the video.
“I hope they will use the final product to promote Winter Term study abroad in general and India in specific,” Lambert said. “I am confident Maggie and Ryan are going to be able to share some important stories with a wider audience because of their good work. “
Overall, the experience helped Cissel hone in on her love for documentaries, setting her on a new path for life after graduation.
“I’ve never been more passionate about something in my entire life,” she said. “If I had any apprehension prior to this that I couldn’t or didn’t want to go into documentary filmmaking — this took that away.”
Cissel encourages other students to fight for their dreams and not let anything stand in their way.
“You are your only roadblock,” she said. “If you really believe in something don’t let anybody steer you away from it"