Earlier this semester, Kyle Hufford, professor of communication at Goshen College, spent three weeks working as part of a team to lead film workshops at the Winter Youth Olympics in Gangwon, South Korea.
The Youth Olympics are for athletes 15-18 years old, and the games occur on the same year as the adult Olympics — albeit with opposite Games. For instance, the Winter Youth Olympics were this year, and the Summer Olympics are in Paris later this year. Given the age range, participants in the Youth Olympic Games only get to partake in this event once.
The young athletes participated in a number of activities outside of training, practicing and competing during those weeks. One of those activities was a video storytelling workshop — which Hufford helped lead. Hufford was connected to this opportunity through his Master of Fine Arts in Film program at Asbury University.
“We gave [the athletes] a day with a camera,” Hufford said. “They would come back [after recording], and we would help them edit their videos. The athletes could use them on their social media, and some were used by the Olympic Broadcasting Committee as well.” He noted that the student athletes “were all quite enthusiastic” about the project.
“One athlete, a cross-country skier, showed how many layers she had to put on to compete … it ended up being eight layers of stuff,” Hufford said. “Other athletes would interview each other. There was a great atmosphere — you didn’t feel like the athletes were competing against each other; there was a lot of camaraderie.”
Since Hufford had a short amount of time to teach the athletes, he noted that he had to prioritize aspects of his teaching, giving the students the most essential bits of information. He taught them how to use cameras and editing software in under an hour each.
“You really had to prioritize,” he said. “That amount of time really makes you focus in on what’s most important.”
Hufford also took joy in meeting students from other countries and finding out about their interests in storytelling — and also catching up with a Goshen College alumna in Seoul before returning to the
United States.
“No matter where you go in the world, you’re always going to run into a Goshen College alum, I feel,” Hufford said.
A correction was made on March 19, 2024: In an earlier version of this article, we suggested that Hufford led the workshops. We have updated the headline and body to reflect that Hufford worked as part of a team, not alone, in his workshop facilitation.
