By: JAEQWON SUAREZ / STAFF REPORTER
Many events have come and gone within the LIU campus. One particular event piqued the interest of many on campus, this was in a late night show format talking with some of the students about their careers, what’s next from them in the future, and just about their life in general.
This event included many talkers and mini shows in between each set of speakers. With such an amazing turnout and positive feedback from everybody who went, Seawanhaka had the opportunity to sit down and talk with host Lane Orduno, a sophomore who is currently an RA and majoring in vocal performance.
What actually inspired Orduno to do this event was actually going to the New Yorker Festival, where Chloe Bailey performed and sat down for a live interview.
“I met her that night and it left me so inspired, so of course I had to bring that type of format to an event. I’m so grateful to be in the position that I’m in, everything to me is about impact, so I hope I can continue to share my vision. Now LIU, next the world.”
Orduno described his event, Conversation with the Sharks, as an opportunity to not only sit down with his fellow classmates and other students to have a conversation about their many opportunities going on in their life, but to also celebrate their achievements around the campus and to support fellow student body members of LIU.
“I’m so fascinated by Drew Barrymore and Kelly Clarkson. They’ve shifted the views on talk shows, proving the best interviews are conversations and realism. I set out to do that. I always do” he told Seawanhaka.
With the amount of speakers Orduno spoke with in the few hours he had, it was amazing just how much goes behind the scenes within the campus.
He was able to celebrate the speakers and give them the spotlight that wouldn’t normally have been given.
This led to the next question, which was how was the process of choosing what students he would pick to sit down and talk with for a few minutes.
Although he said it was a very difficult decision, if he was given the chance, he would sit down and speak with 100 sharks and talk all night. His goal for this event was to spotlight as many sharks as he could.
“Representation matters, as many marjoram extra curricular both through LIU and outside of LIU, and most importantly individuality I could applaud was the goal, and we did that.” Orduno commented.
With the total number of speakers coming in at 18 speakers, it is safe to say that Orduno went beyond what was expected for this event.
He found himself in shock with how huge the turnout was and the amount of people that told him they loved the event so much.
Orduno described the events of his day when asked was he nervous at the start of this event:
“I massively overbooked myself that day and left little to no room to allow myself to breathe. Mistakes are only opportunities for growth though and I was reminded to show up for myself first, because when we begin to lose ourselves the way we intend. Shoutout to Grace Mitschlerlich, she was the first speaker and that immediately set the tone for the night. Not only did she make the audience feel comfortable, but myself, what a relief in that moment.”
“I hold myself to a high standard, sometimes to my detriment,” Orduno explained to Seawanhaka.
“It’s important to release expectations. It meant a lot to me to have such a positive, celebratory engagement with the audience, to see people show up for their people was so special.”
Even after the show was over, Orduno had many people come up to him and tell him that they wish it was longer, even after almost 2 hours.
It was a special moment to see so many Sharks show up for their peers to hear them speak.
Orduno described the events of his day when asked was he nervous at the start of this event:
“I massively overbooked myself that day and left little to no room to allow myself to breathe. Mistakes are only opportunities for growth though and I was reminded to show up for myself first, because when we begin to lose ourselves the way we intend. Shoutout to Grace Mitschlerlich, she was the first speaker and that immediately set the tone for the night. Not only did she make the audience feel comfortable, but myself, what a relief in that moment.”
Since many students were asking for the event to be longer next time, it begs the question, will there ever be another Conversation with the Sharks?
“Oh, absolutely,” Orduno started off. “I love the idea of creating tradition with these events. Over here at Orduno Studios, we only do things bigger and better each time.”
He stated that in the future when he would do it again, he would possibly add little mini games for the speakers that come up, play up the talk show scene a little more, and have longer interviews with his guest speakers.
The sharks will be patiently waiting for the sequel of Conversation with the Sharks to appear either later on again this semester or in the next semester. Be on the lookout for the anticipated sequel.
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