Humans of Homestead: California and Comic Books
The "Humans of Homestead" blog is modeled after the well-known "Humans of New York" site run by Brandon Stanton. Stanton features street portraits of people in New York City, along with snippets of conversations. Humans of Homestead aims to tell the stories of staff and students alike.
“When did you know you wanted to do this for a living?”
“When I was sixteen, in Ms. Krueger’s art class. She kind of had an open art class, where you can do whatever you want. I thought, ‘I want to tell a story.’ Ultimately, I wanted to storyboard a movie. It was unconventional. Usually kids wanted to do a portrait, a still life, or something with ceramics and sculpting. So, I pitched her on the idea of ‘Hey, I want to write a one hundred page comic book and while I was doing that, I realized I wanted to become a storyteller. I was a visual person, so I had to sell the idea. I wanted to do this, and since it was unconventional, I had to really think through how to do it. More importantly, how I was going to convince her to let me do it for credit. At the time, comic books were frowned upon and just the idea of wasting your time writing a comic book was something that you had to sell. So, yes, probably when I was here, sixteen years old and realized I was not going to be a banker or a lawyer or a doctor or a veterinarian, that I had this need to feed my creative side. I wanted to tell stories and really go out there to find my voice.”
“Do you have any advice for kids attending Homestead that want to get out of Mequon?”
“Growing up in Mequon, I knew there was something else out there and I found myself in California because that’s where the film and television world was that I wanted to get involved in. But, as soon as I was out there, I realized how cool Mequon was. How nice the people are , [and] the great stories that are here. The fact that I’m able to come back to Wisconsin, find the great stories there are to tell, [and] the opportunity to tell the stories has been really rewarding. I think from the perspective of a student, kids looking to get out of Wisconsin or out of Mequon, they just need to pursue their dreams. If their dreams take them out of Mequon, then follow that path. You know, it’s all about finding what you enjoy doing because if you do something you enjoy for a living and can somehow figure out a way to get paid for it, your quality of life is so much higher than anything else. You realize that money’s important, but it’s not the most important thing. Nobody’s ever on their deathbed wishing ‘Boy, I wish I would’ve worked harder.'”
Mr. William Povletich, author and Class of ’90