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Name: Tess Meddings ’22
Hometown: Marion, Ohio
Majors: Spanish, Film Studies, and Dance
OWU Connection experience: Intern for Ohio Wesleyan’s 2021 Hispanic Film Festival, including creating an educational website for the festival
Tess Meddings ’22 was able to combine two of her academic passions by serving as the intern for Ohio Wesleyan’s 2021 Hispanic Film Festival. The fall event involved screening five award-winning movies from Spain and Latin America at downtown Delaware’s historic Strand Theatre. The screenings also included film discussions with guest artists.
“I chose this internship experience because it felt like the perfect opportunity to combine my Spanish major with my Film Studies major in a way that was both creative and meaningful,” Meddings said.
Eva Paris-Huesca, Ph.D., associate professor of World Languages and Cultures and
director of the Film Studies Program, oversaw Meddings’ internship. “She also guided me through the internship as I worked on projects such as translation, website design, and accumulation of student resources,” Meddings said.
“My favorite moments during my internship were the Q&A sessions after the screening of each film at The Strand Theater,” Meddings said. “It was always interesting to hear feedback from audience members and understand their perspectives and interpretations of the films.
“I always thought I had a fairly deep and complete understanding of the films due to all of the background research I was doing prior to the screenings, but I always walked away from these conversations with new ideas.
“Another moment I really enjoyed was designing the webpage. I was able to design a page that was in both Spanish and English for the film festival information. It was a challenging and creative process that allowed me to gain so much more confidence in my abilities to translate, collaborate, and design than I had before.”
“I learned a lot about myself and my interests through my internship. I was able to apply language and critical thinking skills that I practice in the classroom to my internship role. Through working with the film festival, I was able to gain more experience with researching and analyzing film and grow my passion for film studies.
“Experiences like this one matter because they allow students to try new things and acquire a better understanding of the career path they might be interested in pursuing. At the beginning of this internship I didn’t have a clue about what I wanted to do after graduating, but this experience gave me some clarity about what I want to do in the future.”
“I chose to attend Ohio Wesleyan because of the opportunities that were available for students such as the ability to double or triple major and the ability to apply skills learned in the classroom to real-life experiences through multiple resources across campus.”
“After graduation, I plan to take a gap year to work in the film industry as an editor and also write my own critiques of film and performing arts in order to build a portfolio for graduate school.
“I hope to attend graduate school within the next year or two. After graduate school, I plan on pursuing a career related to film and the critical analysis of both narrative and abstract film work.
“OWU was able to provide an environment with faculty and staff that created a welcoming and supportive community in order to allow myself and other students to explore as many of their interests as possible.”