Page 16 - 2018 HLA Senior Yearbook
P. 16

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Why should you be considered?
When I was ten, Mom heard of a program called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I admit that at first I was not excited by the idea; but after that first novel (which I published the following year), I fell in love with writing. I have written and published several more books since then. I have always found it a challenge to find clean books to read, and it has become even harder when I began reading Young Adult novels. There were so few Christian books for this age group that I turned to adult Christian fiction. However, I discovered that even that genre often is not appropriate. I believe it is my God-given calling to write clean books with a positive message for children and young adults.
One day, while we were at co-op, Anderlyn, who was into film production, asked me if I would be willing to write the script for an Indie film that she wanted to make that summer. During the process of preparing for the film, Anderlyn asked me to serve as assistant director. We pulled together as many of our friends from co-op as were interested in acting in our film, as well as some friends from outside co-op (all but one of whom were home schooled). Anderlyn even convinced me to play the role of Jess, the valley girl avatar from the 80’s. So during the filming, I served as both assistant director and actress (in addition to being the script writer, wardrobe coordinator, and set designer). Serving in both positions at the same time was challenging but exciting.
After many hours of preparation and three days of filming (which were both stressful and fun), my script came to life. It was an amazing feeling! Plus I had made some valuable memories, with lots of joking and teasing among friends (much like the characters in my script). There were less pleasant aspects to the filming - Anderlyn and I had many disagreements to settle throughout the course of filming; and we faced many frustrations including hot, tired, and irritable actors who struggled to stay focused - but in the end, the experience strengthened our friendships (in fact, Anderlyn, who was super shy all school year, finally came out of her shell, and we are now best friends).
  Clean movies have been just as challenging as clean books, if not more so, for me to find. After the film, I realized that this could be another opportunity to use my God-given gifts and fulfill my calling. My desire is to write and direct fun and exciting Christian movies (in addition to my books) for a variety of ages (especially for teens, who face a deficient in Christian movies as well as books). I want my movies to be ones that parents can let their kids enjoy without having to worry about inappropriate innuendos and positive portrayal of poor an immoral behavior. Whether or not people realize it, what our youth watch on TV has a profound effect on them. After all, what you fill your mind with is what you will become (and, as I have learned in my Psychology class, children model the behaviors they observe). Unfortunately, right now Media’s effect on youth is mostly a bad effect.
I feel that the film industry is in desperate needs of more Christian script writers and directors. I hope to use my writing skills and leadership abilities to fill this need. I want to bring light to a dark world. This scholarship will help me pay for a degree in communications/film to better equip me to fulfill my passion.
ELBON ENNA AGNISIOJ
















































































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