Name: Victoria Rilett
Hometown: Linden, MI
Major: Organizational Studies, Music Minor
Year: Junior
Fun Fact: I once saw Vanessa Hudgens when I was 12 at the country fair…then I made my mom follow her tour bus down the highway for an hour….
Her Campus: What made you decide to start Ready Set Start? And what do the organization do?
Victoria Rilett: Since my very first semester in college, I have volunteered with numerous after school programs both at Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti schools. Music has always been one of my biggest passions and a means by which I tried to use to connect with them. Unfortunately, many of the kids had never had access to instruments and never did any sort of art outside of the limited programs in their school. I couldn’t have fathomed growing up, especially during high school when I began struggling with mental health, without music and dance as creative outlets. During my sophomore year, I took a class called Leadership and the Arts within the Lloyd Hall Scholars Program. Ready Set Start began as a class project, between me and two friends (Lindsay Fedewa and Jennifer Wang), but the overwhelmingly positive support we got from the LHSP program encouraged us to make it a student org in the hopes of it becoming a nonprofit. Now, after being one of the winners of the optiMize Social Innovation Challenge, we are able to send student artists into the community to share their passions. Every week we have numerous volunteers facilitating creative expression workshops to underserved communities in all mediums, including visual art, creative writing, dance, and music. By building relationships with the kids in after-school programs or in a classroom, we are able to empower them with the idea that it doesn’t take years and years of professional training to be an artist; we build an inclusive environment open to expressing whatever feelings or ideas come to mind through an exploration of the arts.
HC: What is your favorite memory with RSS?
VR: Last semester, we were able to bring the children we worked with at Bryant Community Center to visit campus, specifically the dorm that houses LHSP called Alice Lloyd. The kids couldn’t believe that we lived in such a beautiful building with amenities including an art and dance studio. Although overall they were excited, there was one girl that had been reserved and unwilling to fully participate in our program. While everyone was in the dance studio performing or running around chalking the sidewalks, she seemed to get lost in the crowd. I was finally able to get her to smile when I took her to the piano in the building; she dragged her fingers across the keys and experimented with hitting the black ones versus the white. When I asked her if she had played before, she responded that she had seen a piano at school but was never able to touch one. After that day, she connected really well with our volunteers and was more enthusiastic and open to making art with us.
HC: What is the most rewarding part about working with your organization?
VR: By far the most rewarding part of this organization is forming connections with kids in the community and giving them the opportunity to foster their talent. When we do workshops, we try to avoid the savior-complex phrasing of “teaching” art. Our goal is simply to open up the avenues of expression by designing activities, providing supplies, and giving support for kids to build on the talent they don’t realize they have. The best part of our work is when we start a program and a kid immediately says “I can’t do it” or “I’m not a good enough artist,” but by the end they have a piece of work or an experience to be proud of. For example, when we started at Bryant, we did a pre and post survey that showed a 23% percent increase in the average of how well the kids thought they were in the arts in the end compared to when we started our program, and we ended with every single kid saying they want to keep exploring the arts, compared to only 81% to begin with.
HC: What goals/ projects do you have for this year?
VR: Our goal for this year is to continue establishing ourselves in the community and to grow as an organization. Last semester was completely focused on figuring out who we were and what we wanted to do; now, we are trying to figure out the logistics of being an actual organization while supporting student artists to share their talents. We are currently volunteering in four sites in the Washtenaw area: Bryant Community Center, Erickson Elementary, Stevenson Middle School, and the Ozone House Drop-In Center. We will also be hosting one-time volunteering opportunities for those that couldn’t schedule having a weekly commitment this semester. I would love to get more students volunteering and create a supportive community of socially conscious artists because, at least for me, combining service and my passion for music has been the most fulfilling experience I have had in college.
HC: What else are you involved with on campus?
VR: I am a Resident Advisor for the Lloyd Hall Scholars Program, a living-learning community based in writing and the arts. I am a fellow for the Barger Leadership Institute and a member of Kappa Omega Alpha Pre-Law & Public Policy Fraternity. I also have spent the past two years conducting research in an educational psychology lab while working odd and end jobs on campus.
HC: What do you see yourself doing in five years?
VR: I have absolutely no idea where I will be in five years, as I am currently debating heading the corporate route or being a renegade. I would love to travel and participate in building community through art around the world, experiencing new cultures and ways of expression. However, I am planning on doing an honors thesis on corporate social responsibility in the music industry, so if I was working for Sony or Warner and helping with philanthropic initiatives, that wouldn’t be too shabby either.
HC: Who is your biggest inspiration and why?
VR: My mom is by far my biggest inspiration because she is the strongest woman I have ever encountered. She has overcome problems with her own mental health and struggles with an autoimmune disorder, yet she still always puts her family before herself. Because I struggle with anxiety and depression, I look to her as my ray of sunshine. When I question if I will ever be able to be well enough to have a family or a career someday, I am reminded through her selfless love that all of that and more is possible. She encourages me to always have faith and inspires me to be compassionate and appreciative of the life I have been given.
HC: What advice would you give to someone who does not think they are good at art?
VR: Never let yourself say, “I can’t.” As humans, everyone has to express themselves, we just often don’t understand what forms we may have a knack for! Art isn’t just confined to drawing and painting like a lot of people think; it doesn’t even have to be visual. Try messing around with different mediums of expression–including writing, tapping out a rhythm, or film/photography. If it makes you feel good, consider it art! Always having an open mind is the key to anything new, especially in the arts.