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Villa students use StoryCorps for learning

WBFO News photo by Eileen Buckley

As StoryCorps continues its visit to Buffalo, some area college students are using it as a learning tool. WBFO's senior reporter talked to Villa Maria College students studying digital media to learn how the StoryCorps programming is influencing their studies.  

“Just that so many people have a different story to tell and it's what makes them unique," said Sean Greene of Lancaster. Greene is a second year student at Villa. 

Credit Photo by Michelle Kearns, Villa instructor
Villa students talk about what they learned from StoryCorps.

Greene and a handful of other Villa  students attended last week's StoryCorps presentation in our studio.

“When we were in middle school, we were told just get off the cell phones ‘cause they were pointless. Now, we’re learning how to use them as careers,” said Greene.

And Greene is referring to using a StoryCorps App that lets you sit down with another person and tell their story.  The students were given an assignment to conduct their StoryCorps with the App.

Credit WBFO News photo by Eileen Buckley
StoryCorps is in Buffalo.

Villa senior Victoria Cobel is completing her last college semester. She’s majoring in creative writing and graphic design along with learning digital media.

“I’ve never been very good with written interviews, per say. I’m still kind of awkward with spoken interviews but at the same time, hearing these interviews and hearing them talking up on the panel and how they would explain it, I feel like it really helped me as a student, as a writer, and as a potential interviewer,” expalined Cobel.

Freshman Demetrius Stokes tells us he was amazed at the great diversity StoryCorps represents in its story telling with people from many different backgrounds. 

“How they grasp the stories and the emotions, and really getting into the whole interview. It gave me hints on how to ask questions and bring the viewers more into the story,”  Stokes said.

The amount of team work conducted by the StoryCorps crew and citizens who participate intrigued second year student LaCherie Reid.

Credit WBFO News photo by Eileen Buckley
Villa Maria College students studying digital media at StoryCorps event.

Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley asked: “Does it also excite you to go out and find people’s stories?”

“Yeah, it really does. It’s something that I was doing in my personal life anyway and then just kind of blogging about it but to be able to actually do it with an app—it’s like an Instagram for stories and it’s really cool,” Reid answered.

“I truly liked the diversity in it and it was really just enjoyable to me,” said student Hawo Ukash.

Ukash is a freshman excited about her assignment in studying StoryCorps to tell a digital story.

“It’s just like all the stories were really personal and really deep to me so I feel like I want to get to that when I interview someone,” Ukash said.

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