Game for Change

Roommate Game

I am an RA in on-campus-housing, and decided to do my game on something that is quite prevalent in our day to day life. Mental health issues, specifically self harm, is something that happens more frequently in college students than many people are aware of. As RAs we are trained on how to handle the situations, and how to get residents the help they need with any mental or physical health issue they may have. Roommates, however, are often hesitant to communicate about these issues, and are even more reluctant to talk to their RA about these issues. Frequently there are girls on my own floor reluctant to talk to me about issues for fear of being judged or facing consequences. When it comes to mental health, they talk about transparency and removing the stigma as some of the best ways to combat these issues and help others find the help they need. That is the reason I chose to make this game, as a way to bring up the issue, and help those in on campus housing be aware of their resources. While I realize this is a complicated matter, that is grossly oversimplified in this game, it begins the conversation. This would help others realize that it is something in which they are not alone, as well.

In my own classroom, I might not use this particular game, but there are many ways in which there are discussions that are difficult to have that could be addressed first through this platform. From difficult to address on stage content to personal interactions with a text, giving students a platform through which they can address these concerns, and bring them to light would be beneficial and necessary.


http://time.com/4473575/college-mental-health-guidebook/
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2006/06/self-injury-prevalent-among-college-students-survey-shows
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/education/edlife/25roommate-t.html

Round Robin

Textual Poaching

Growing up in Kansas I was by no means a farm girl, and I felt like I lived a fairly normal suburban life. I was proud of my Kansas roots, and even more proud of everything Kansas City. It wasn't until I was 16 and in Germany that I realized the only thing anyone knows about Kansas is The Wizard of Oz. I remember saying to a little old German lady that I was from the states. She asked where specifically and I said Kansas. Her immediate response was, "DOROTHY LAND!" That was just the first of what has become MANY similar encounters as I have spent more and more time living away from the place my heart lives. The Wizard of Oz, is not Kansas to me, however, and I have had a hard time balancing the fight between defending the land I love and just giving up. I didn't grow up on a farm, and while I have had to leave areas for funnel clouds and wall fronts, I have never seen a tornado on the ground. Trying to explain the difference between Kansas City and the rest of the state is something that is impossible unless you have experienced it. Instead, I have embraced this part of who I am, and support Kansas city in every way I can. At the same time, I let a lot of the "Kansas culture" that I wasn't necessarily a part of come through in a lot of my public persona. I felt that recreating some of these poses in a style more accurate to who I am really synthesized what has now become two parts of my life. 

While there are many different things that could be done with this project in a theatre classroom, one that came to mind is using this project as a foundation for a playwriting unit. Delving into a culture and then finding what doesn't quite fit, or what has been modified to fit, would be a great foundation for scenes in a high school setting. Students could write, produce, design, and perform a piece all based off of there textual poaching assignments.

The form of this particular project was something that I found both difficult and inspiring. It was very hard to not be able to use any audio, when sounds, music, and more are such a part of my every day life. Instead, I tried to find a part of my life that I repeat a lot that had a lot more movement, that could be documented in an interesting way. I eat a lot more macaroni and cheese than any sane human being should, as well as watching a lot of Parks and Recreation, things that I thought could be formatted into a time lapse video. The process of this, however, really made me think about how the limitations of media allows students to show different aspects in their lives. Limiting audio forced me to think about what is active in my life, instead of some of the more passive and inactive tasks that I do every day.