When I think back to how my journey at SMC really began, it still feels unreal. Back in May, I had to leave Los Angeles in a rush, not because I wanted to, but because life shifted in a way I never expected. A promise someone made to me fell apart, and with that, everything I had built for a year suddenly collapsed. I lost my home, my plans, my sense of direction.
I remember one afternoon walking down Pico, before leaving, looking at the campus and wishing I could be here, truly be here, studying film, creating, growing, belonging. But at that time, life had other plans. I flew back home with nothing but heartbreak and the feeling that I had failed.
And then, out of nowhere, I got an email from SMC explaining how to apply. It felt like life whispering: “Not all endings are failures, some are beginnings you don’t see yet.” That email became the start of something new, something better, something mine.
What SMC Has Meant to Me
When I finally arrived at SMC, I didn’t expect this campus to become such a meaningful part of my life. I was still carrying the weight of everything I had gone through — emotional turmoil, heartbreak, homesickness, and the feeling of trying to rebuild myself in a city that had once felt too big and too loud.
But somehow, SMC softened all of that. Here, I didn’t feel invisible. I felt seen.
One of the very first moments that made me feel this way happened during a trip to Griffith Observatory with the IEC department. I ended up walking next to a Finnish girl I had never met before, but somehow we were going to the same things, talking about our lives, and suddenly it didn’t feel like I was alone in a new chapter anymore. She was the first person I met after coming back to LA, after thinking for months that I would never return, and that small moment made the whole transition easier.
The IEC community quickly became a support system I didn’t know I needed. They don’t just organize events, they create a feeling of belonging. They have this rare ability to make international students feel understood, welcomed, and grounded, especially during moments when everything else feels overwhelming.
Finding Purpose Again
Through my classes, especially in the Art, Media & Entertainment program, I found myself again. Professors encouraged me. Classmates supported me. The environment inspired me.
In Media 21, I got to work on a documentary project with an incredible crew, something I didn’t expect to experience so soon. It reminded me why I love storytelling, why film matters to me, and why coming back to LA was worth every step. From there, new opportunities opened: working in film for LAFW, collaborating with the Fashion group, gaining experience that the version of me walking down Pico months before could only dream about.
Why SMC Means So Much to Me
SMC didn’t just give me classes. It helped me rebuild myself. It gave me community at a time when I felt alone. It gave me direction when I felt lost. It gave me the reminder that I matter, even when life feels chaotic.
This campus became a place where I healed, grew, and rediscovered my passion. And for that, SMC holds a very special place in my story.
I’m proud to be here. I’m proud of who I’m becoming. And I’m grateful that life brought me back, not through the plans I thought I had, but through the plans I didn’t see coming.
Thank you to Pinja. She has been my friend in this little chaos of life. We both experience the same loss and we both are trying to rebuild.
With my Media 21 crew, Andrew, Ruben and Maja, we have been working together the last three months in this beautiful project, and they all know how life has been for me, and they all have been really open and patient and supportive.
And to the IEC staff, to give me the opportunity of not losing that trip to Newport, almost by miracle, it change the way I was seeing this year so far.