Lisa Guillen

Writing this on the train ride home from Austin but it won’t be posted until I get home because of lack of internet.

It’s really hard for me to describe what it was like to be at South by South West, I know it’s just a music/film/interactive festival and whatever, but I feel like it has really hit me. I really am doing everything I ever dreamed of doing in high school – or I’m headed that way at least. I was talking to a guy there, Michael, he was a bit older and we were talking about why I was there and school and what I wanted to do.  He gave me good advice and encouraged me to do every silly thing I had said I wanted to do. As I was talking to him is when it all started to come together – and I know I’ve said this before but it’s the strangest feeling to not be saying, “Well, I want to do this” or “I plan to do this,” but instead saying things like “I’m doing this.” and “I’m going to do this.” It was weird when someone saved my number in their phone as “Lisa (Journalist)”, it was weird when people gave me their business cards or asked for mine, it was weird when people would say “Well, why’d you come here?” and my legitimate response was “to write articles.” I talked to someone there who is going to design my business cards for me. I need business cards. That blows my mind for some reason.

Pictures or all the words I type here do not justify my experience. Being in that atmosphere, talking to the musicians I truly love, meeting people just as passionate in their fields as I’d like to think I am, - things I used to wish for when I watched Almost Famous and wanted to be Cameron Crowe - it’s just amazing. 

Which leads me into saying how extremely lucky I am to be able to experience these past 6 days.  I can’t thank everyone who helped me enough. (My mom, aunt, Ben and Jen, Victor, James x2, Alex, Tyler, Antonio, Kristen, Ian’s attempt to help, my Reporting and Writing teacher, everyone I interviewed, FG Records, 75 cent bus rides, the guy at Starbucks that gave me a venti instead of a tall. etc. etc.) 

Bamboozle didn’t happen for me this year but as of right now my next big project is Lollapalooza, which tickets I will probably have to pay for vs. the wristband that I was given at SXSW so we’ll see if my wallet permits it anytime soon. Other things will hopefully come up in between then and now. All in all I had an amazing trip, I can’t wait for next year.