'Try Harder!' Screening Event • SC College and Career Decision Day 2022

1012 Sumter Street,Columbia SC 29201

04 May, 2022

Description

At San Francisco’s academic pressure cooker Lowell High School, stressed-out seniors chase college dreams. On Wednesday, May 4, join South Carolina ETV (SCETV) at Town Theatre immediately following the South Carolina College and Career Decision Day Rally at the State House. SCETV is partnering with the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE) to host a screening event for Try Harder!, an Independent Lens film showcasing the pressure-filled process of applying to college. Following the film’s screening, CHE’s College Process Ambassadors will participate in a Q&A session with attendees. Reservations can be made as a school/class or as an individual (with family/friends). All guests that are registered will be entered to win one of two Amazon echo shows. Try Harder! will air in its entirety on SCETV Monday evening, May 2, at 10 p.m. Film synopsis: At San Francisco’s Lowell High School, the seniors are stressed out. As they prepare for the emotionally draining college application process, students are keenly aware of the intense competition for the few open spots in their dream colleges. They scrutinize how every element of their application, from their classes to their extracurricular activities to their racial identities, might be read by admission officers. At Lowell — where cool kids are nerds, nearly everyone has an amazing talent, and the majority of the student body is Asian American — the things that usually make a person stand out can feel not good enough, even commonplace. With humor and heart, director Debbie Lum takes us to the reality of the American college application process and the intersection of class, race, and educational opportunity as experienced by high school seniors living through it. Try Harder! is a portrait of young adults in the most diverse American generation ever as they navigate a quintessential rite of passage and make it their own.