SXSW Festival
As an antisocial person the last thing I thought I’d do is go on a trip to another state to represent my club at a convention.
The day is March 3 and I just arrived at South x Southwest. It was originally a music and film festival, but later implemented the sharing of educational companies and conferences. Since it takes place in Austin, Texas, it’s hot and humid. Luckily the convention is cold enough for comfort.
The expo hall is abuzz, full of people everywhere. There are people either walking around or presenting their company. People shared their brilliant math programs, robots that could talk to you, different classroom materials, and of course, joining the army. There’s a constant hum of voices and the air feels stale and warm. It has the distinct smell of nothingness, like when a room is left empty for too long. There’s an underlying feeling of nervous excitement, as my booth gets ready to present to people.
I came to this event with a group called Ever Forward club. We focus on helping people (mostly black male-identifying) get used to talking about their feelings. There were about 8 kids; most of them around 15. We were invited by the founder of the club, Ashanti Branch. The booths were all based in education and were more angled towards an audience of teachers, but the convention was fun nonetheless. Luckily there were nice people willing to share their struggles. We even met a teacher who was a magician! Our booth was open from 9am-4pm, so everyone was exhausted after each day. I found myself often wondering why I decided to come on this trip. I’m not the most social person, but I had some unknown urge to have conversations with the people I talked with.
Even though this event wasn’t the best for my mental stability and I ended up suffering from full body failure, I still found South x Southwest a wonderful experience that gave me an opportunity to grow not just as a person but as a public speaker. If I was given the opportunity to do it again, I wouldn’t hesitate to join.
