My final documentary was one of the hardest things I\u2019ve had to work on emotionally. Digging through my camera roll, my mom and dad\u2019s Facebook pages, and my dad\u2019s old camera, I uncovered memories I had forgotten existed. In making this documentary, the first thing that I struggled with was finding a physical place that I called home. However, I realized that my \u201clocation\u201d did not need to be a physical place at all, it was my mom. Growing up with a mom who built my passion for soccer, helped me shape me to be who I am. My point of view comes from that close relationship my mom and I shared and the documentary is almost like a time lapse of me going back into the world she built for me to thrive in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My point of view comes from my relationship with my mom, who was THE role model for the first 18 years of my life. She\u2019s the person who taught me soccer, the one who coached me, the one who pushed me when things got hard, and the one who dreamed with me to become a collegiate athlete. The documentary comes from a personal place. I wasn\u2019t just putting pictures of me playing a sport together, I was reflecting on the world she built with me. That closeness shaped how I told the story easily. My social location as a daughter grieving a role model and a parent, as an athlete continuing the dream we shared together, and as someone trying to make sense of the loss influenced the documentary voice. I chose to let my simple script, old footage, and timeful pictures do the storytelling instead of explaining everything. The old photos, funny faces, and unfiltered videos reflect how my memory actually feels. It made me feel fragile but unbroken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My voice is heard because I\u2019m not a distant person or speaking objectively, I\u2019m speaking from the middle of the story that I created with my mom. My voice follows the relationship with my mom, soccer, grief, and the idea of carrying someone with you even after they\u2019re gone. The simplicity of the documentary allows for others to put themselves in my shoes and feel the pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My project connects my loss to unfortunate reality. I provide a statistic that 1 in 12 kids in the U.S. lose a parent before age 18. This statistic was necessary to include as it shows that my story isn\u2019t just my story. My location as someone grieving helped me realize other young people go through the same thing, but quietly. This shaped the main message of the film. Communities matter and support matters. The film is intimate because the story is intimate. \u201cThe Light She Left On\u201d reflects the world my mom created for me and how I continue to walk toward it every time I step onto the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n