Bryamna Rodriguez, wasn’t fluent in English when she arrived in Boston from the Dominican Republic as an elementary school student.
So, to endure bullying and peer criticism at her attempts to learn the language, Rodriguez became fluent in silence.
Thanks to the Future Storytellers program facilitated by Northeastern University’s Office of City and Community Engagement and community partners, Rodriguez shared the story of that silence — not only in English, but through a podcast and photography.
“I feel accomplished,” Rodriguez, today a high school senior, said. “I didn’t let that experience define me or let people get to me, and I continued to grow.”
The Future Storytellers program was a two-week “deep dive” workshop series where Boston high school students had the opportunity to explore professional creative fields such as writing, photography, digital media, marketing and track, and to use the skills they learned to tell their own stories through a podcast and designing a podcast “movie” poster.
A collaboration among the university community engagement team, CTD Productions and The Possible Zone youth organization in Mission Hill, the program offered skill-building and networking opportunities across creative fields.
“It was important to not only give the young people the skills and tools to be successful in their creative journey, but also give them an opportunity to meet professionals who are active in those particular fields,” said Chimel Idiokitas, assistant vice president for community relations at Northeastern. “Northeastern is all about experiential learning, and I see this as a prime example of that.”
On Tuesday, about 20 youths participating in the program crowded into NU Crossing to meet with professional storytellers in multiple creative fields for inspiration, advice and feedback on their culminating storytelling projects.
“I think people underestimate the role of storytelling and its importance as a way to tell your own narrative,” Jeneé Osterheldt, a deputy managing editor and columnist at The Boston Globe told Rodriguez and her project teammates. “Stories touch every aspect of our lives.”
Other professional storytellers included a musician and poet, digital marketers, a magazine editor, a videographer and more.
The students — in teams of three: an art director, storyteller and producer — met with the different storytellers to learn about their professional work, as well as to share their own stories and projects.
“We wanted to uplift voices that are not typically heard in the community, and we knew it was important to pass down our knowledge to youth who are the future storytellers in the world — especially to Black and Brown youth whose stories are often overlooked,” said Mikayla Litevich, executive producer and co-founder of CTD Productions.
Chaney Carlson-Bullock, creative director and co-founder of CTD Productions, added that Northeastern was a “great partner” for this effort — giving youth inspiration and opportunities.
“We wanted to show the students the possibilities of things in their own communities,” Carlson-Bullock said. “Northeastern made the platform to make this happen.”
The stories ranged from subjects as diverse as playing basketball at the local Y, to the importance of the Dominican Festival and cultural spots to the Dominican community, to the serial killer the Boston Strangler. The students gathered again on Thursday afternoon at The Possible Zone to present their work.
“It’s a part of Boston history and not a lot of people know about it,” said Naz Alves, art director for a team that researched the history of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first all-Black regiments in the Union Army during the Civil War.
Alves noted that the regiment’s “boot camp” was held in Hyde Park and Frederick Douglass — who his teammate dressed up as for their podcast — was a recruiter for the unit.
“Because of them, we had a better connection with Black people joining the military,” Alves said.
Luke Matys and Tori Saia, educators at The Possible Zone, said they were particularly proud of how students developed their confidence in storytelling — going from “saying two sentences to doing a 12-minute podcast,” as Matys said.
“They blossomed in terms of their confidence, and their willingness to share and to lead the conversation,” Saia said.
Rodriguez was a prime example.
“I thought I had processed it,” Rodriguez said of the bullying she endured. “But it was not that bad to share my story and be vulnerable.”
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