Women's Center | Photo by Rose Taylor | The Wright State Guardian
Over the past few weeks, Student Involvement and Leadership and the Women’s Center have been working to compile student interviews for a video to be released in late February called the Confidence Project. What exactly is the Confidence Project, and how can students get involved?
Origins of the Confidence Project
The Project originally started back in 2017 when a sorority from Wright State University sponsored the original Confidence Project video. Bobbie Szabo, the Assistant Director of the Women’s Center, talked about why she was inspired to pick up the project again.
“[Gina Keucher] talked about how impactful it was on the campus community, and I was like, ‘yeah, we’re doing that again.’ I really wanted to do something like the Confidence Project to help folks know that they have intrinsic value, and they are allowed to feel good about themselves for who they are versus what they produce for others,” Szabo said.
Confidence is a concept that many people lack, especially since many people on- and off-campus rely on external stimuli to build their confidence. As Szabo described it, many people gather confidence from what they can do for others– like achievements, accomplishments and overall productivity.
The Confidence Project is an attempt to help people deeper understand themselves and how confidence should not rely on their outward achievements, but rather their inward personality.
The Women’s Center posted on its Engage page about the event, and provided a few examples as to what students would be asked to answer.
“We are looking for students, faculty and staff to participate in recorded interviews for the documentary. We will ask you about what makes you feel confident, what hurts your confidence, who you look up to, what advice you'd give to your younger self and a few other topical questions,” The event page said.
Szabo was able to invite videographer and illustrator Eric Shemar Payne onto campus as a major asset to the video.
Current steps
As of November, the interviews have been recorded, and Szabo and Payne are working on B-roll footage of campus before moving on to editing.
As for Payne’s view on the Project, he described it as exploring a series of different perspectives.
“It’s pretty much a film/documentary kinda interviewing the students at [WSU] and getting their definition of what confidence is. Kind of like, seeing what their perspective is from when they were younger, up until where they are now,” Payne said.
Beyond the Confidence Project, Payne works as an independent illustrator through his brand, ESP Artistry & Design.
“I like to do a multitude of illustrations, portraits of people [and] cartoon characters. In addition, I enjoy fashion design, and other art-based hobbies. Being a graphic designer allows me to work in a field where I’m doing something that I love rather than just doing it to put food on the table,” his website explains.
He has done work at Sinclair Community College and Wilmington University, on top of his freelance work.
The Project is being worked on by Keucher, Payne and Szabo, and will continue to be worked on until its eventual release in late February. From the past few rounds of interviews, they were able to interview 15 individuals, hitting their goal of 15-20 participants.
While the Project itself is meant to be hard-hitting as students and faculty watch it, Szabo found that the interviews themself were an emotional journey.
“It’s been really touching seeing people’s reactions to [the questions we ask], because… I’ve found that all of the people we’ve interviewed have been like ‘just this, just doing the interview was so cathartic, and it made me think about my life in a new way.’ A couple folks have cried, which I thought was really lovely– I’ve cried too,” Szabo said.
The official viewing for the Confidence Project will be shown during a future on-campus event, the Women’s Leadership Program, which will happen in late February. The event will also feature a speaker. Those interested should keep an eye out by viewing the Women’s Center Engage page and Instagram!
