The festival life
Junior Diem Dang gains a professional opportunity be attending the Beyond Wonderland music festival.
The second I was accepted into the Semester in Los Angeles program for spring semester, I began to think.
I began to think about how it would be my last semester as an IU student. I began to think about the people I would meet, the places I would go and the experiences that would change my life.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t worry once I was accepted. Some of the things I worried about included where I was going to live, how I was going to get there and if I would find an internship I was happy with. As time went on, I realized I didn’t have to worry so much. I was about to live my dream of traveling and working in Los Angeles, and I was ready to take things day by day and live for the experience.
Sure enough, L.A. was full of many new and exciting experiences to be a part of. It is important sometimes to leave your comfort zone and have exposure to new things. So I quickly threw myself into different opportunities. I found two internships that I was happy with — one development internship and one marketing internship for a film festival.
Through those, I was able to network and connect with a variety of people. I went to a fancy networking event for a studio grand opening all by myself. I forced myself to talk to people, and to my surprise I was much more confident that I had originally thought. I met artists, producers, composers, production assistants and more people who I was able to have thought-out conversations with.
More opportunities came my way from putting myself out there. I got to be a background actor for Apple TV, Disney and the Food Network. Being on an actual Hollywood production set was unreal. Watching an actual television show be made in front of my eyes was an experience I’ll never forget. It fuels a passion for me to continue to be a part of that experience. From being on Guy Fieri’s show and meeting him, to working on a Disney show and talking with the crew, I was living my dream.
There are endless possibilities of experiences to be a part of in L.A. I was here to celebrate the L.A. Rams winning Super Bowl LVI, I was right down the street from the 94th Academy Awards ceremony with the infamous Will Smith slap, and I even had the chance to pitch my original project to the head of development of my internship.
With all these “big” experiences, I still had time to enjoy the smaller things. Whether it was watching the sun go down on my rooftop, ordering pizza and watching a movie with my roommates or appreciating all the dogs around L.A. (and there are a lot), I was grateful for it all.