Written by Krista Kull, edited by Amanda Ames.
Humphrey Fellows from all over the US came together to meet and greet each other and add some professional and personal touches to their diverse cultures and discussion topics.
Humphrey Fellows at the Cronkite School started to prepare for the Global Leadership Forum over month ago, because of their assignment to make presentations on climate change topic.
We are a very creative group and that is why we decided to not only to make a good presentation with an interesting approach to the topic, but we also were crazy enough to make a video about a polar bear who wanders on the streets of Phoenix to ask people what do they think about climate change.
We wrote a script, scouted locations and we rented a costume then I become a Polar bear.
I have never had the honor to play the role of an animal. I remember when I was 5 years old and went to kindergarten I played the role of a snowflake, oh I was so happy, so tender and beautiful. Who could imagine that 33 years later I would be in the US in sun devil’ s country playing the role of a polar bear. A snowflake and a polar bear, what a coincidence!!
For your information: Snowflake is also a Town in Arizona in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. It was founded in 1878 by Erastus Snow and William Jordan Flake, Mormon pioneers and colonizers. It has frequently been noted on lists of unusual place names.
If you really want to get a flavor of local people and their behavior, wear a costume, hide your identity and do not show them your real face then go to the streets, meet people, talk to them and have fun. We had lots of fun. We only met friendly people who got along with us very well. Even though this was a serious topic it was a great experience with the great team and I will remember making this film for the rest of my life. I love stories and storytelling and I am glad that our Humphrey Fellows created a story, which was warmly welcomed among our colleagues and friends from all over the world.
We love polar bears, most of us joined the web page http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/ and we all care more about this lovely and respectful marine mammal who became our mascot. It has never happened without Global Leadership Forum.
Hi Krista,
I loved reading and seeing the behind-the-scenes experience of the polar bear video! I wish we could see the other fellows’ reactions at the Washington D.C. summit. I’m resisting watching the video myself until the big reveal next class!
Alex Scoville
Hi Krista,
The polar bear was such a great idea! I am glad that you had an opportunity to be a costumed character. I was a costume character for an internship one time…I was this big box thing with giant eyes. It was quite the experience. I think being a polar bear would have been much more fun. I hope everyone in DC enjoyed the video because you all worked so much on it!
Elizabeth
Krista,
First off, very sweet post and great video to talk about a very serious topic. I must say that I was disturbed by all the idiots the polar bear spoke with. even the one guy who appeared to voice concern I believe mentioned that we needed to cut back on all the “carbohydrates” we are releasing into the world. Makes me embarrassed to be a human. I think we should organize all the polar bears and their friends into a fearsome fighting force and take over this world of self absorbed human morons.
Dave