Name: Kristen VenterClass: Sophomore
Sport: Women's Tennis
Major: Business Administration (Cinematic Arts)
GPA: 3.87
Aubrey Kragen (AK): Having gone to high school in London, how did you end up at USC?
Kristen Venter (KV): I was born and raised in South Africa, but I went to an international school for high school in London and part of middle school as well, so I was there for just under five years. I ended up here because I've always loved Southern California --- my mom's American, so I've got family in San Diego. And tennis was a big thing. I loved the coaches here and the team. And the school --- no other school has the joint major with business and cinematic arts, so I feel like at USC you can really combine things and sculpt your own major, whereas at other schools it's straight business or straight economics.
AK: So did you know coming into college that you wanted to be in the BCA program?
KV: I didn't know about the program, actually, so I came in as just business administration. I found out about the BCA program while I was here for Marshall orientation, so I applied right away. I found out I was accepted my first semester, and I started the classes my second semester.
AK: So you knew you were interested in film coming in?
KV: I knew I liked the entertainment industry and business. I always wanted to do business, but I'm not very interested in just investment banking and finance and accounting. And I know that's a lot of business. So I kind of just wanted to gear it towards the other side of business.
AK: Is it correct that you're interested in wildlife conservation?
KV: Growing up in South Africa, it was always part of my life. On weekends, it's very common for people to go to a game reserve, which is literally the wild. So on the weekends I'd be around hippos and rhinos and giraffes. You don't really get that anywhere else. So growing up with that and seeing the poaching crisis that's going on right now, I just wanted to do something related to that. And my career goals have just been shaped towards that.
AK: So what is it that you want to do with your degree?
KV: Specifically, I really want to work in the production and the business side behind documentary films for wildlife conservation. So there's a lot going on now with rhino poaching and elephant poaching, so there's been some great documentaries and short films and a media spotlight around the crisis. I want to work on the business side of those things. This past summer I worked at a fiscal sponsorship in New York called Empowers Africa. They work on raising money to fund these documentaries. So that's the end goal.
AK: You also worked for Sony for a while, right? How did that tie in with your career aspirations?
KV: That was before USC, so it was in high school, while I was in London. They were based in New York as well, but I would send in submissions. That was just kind of digital media and following what was trending online for the millennial generation. With those reports that they would get from me and the other trend spotters worldwide, they would combine that to make their TV programs and YouTube videos and short films. So that wasn't geared toward the documentary or the wildlife conservation, but it was more toward the digital media side of things and mass communication.
AK: To shift to tennis, your dad played tennis at UCLA --- How does that affect your family dynamic?
KV: I mean, they always knew USC was for me. Growing up I wanted to go to UCLA just because both my parents actually went there, but as I got older and realized what I wanted to do and the environment that I would be more comfortable in, I knew right away that USC was more of a fit for me. And my parents know that. My dad's actually good friends with my head coach here, now that they realize they used to play each other. Our head coach, Richard Gallien, played at Pepperdine around the same time my dad played at UCLA. So he knows Richard is just the best coach. I'm in great hands --- all of us on the team here are in great hands. So he knows that this is right for me.
AK: Since you grew up in South Africa, lived in London for a while and traveled to Southern California before, was your transition to living in the United States an easy one?
KV: I think that helped out because my mom's American and I've got family in San Diego. So that's nice because I'm really far from home, but not too far. I can still go like three hours away and see my grandparents, so that helps a lot. And going to an international school, there were a lot of children of expats, so there were a lot of American people. So that wasn't really a culture shock, because I'd come here in the summers and I went to high school with a lot of Americans. And speaking English helps. I know a lot of international students come here and they barely speak English. I can imagine that's a really hard transition. My transition was actually smoother than I thought. I thought it would be more of a culture shock and just more of an adjustment, but it also helps having the team. You come in already with a group of friends.
