Senior screenwriting major Kris Chandler said that coming to Point Park was what inspired him to become so involved on campus. 

“I’m a person who likes to try out new things, however I’m always really timid about it unless someone pushes me,” Chandler said. “But ever since going through Point Park and meeting the people that I’ve met…everyone here is involved in something, so just being in that atmosphere kind of forced me to want to be like that too.”

During his time at Point Park, Chandler has had multiple positions within the university. He was a Resident Educator, was involved with United Student Government, is a part of the honors program and is currently a cinema ambassador for the university’s cinema
department. 

“Since freshman year I’ve been in and out of a lot of stuff,” Chandler said. 

In addition to his current involvements, Chandler still makes time for his passion for acting. 

Chandler said he has been involved with acting since his freshman year of high school and enjoyed it so much he almost came to Point Park to study
the craft.

“I was going to come for musical theater so it was still something I was interested in but…because of the stigma of like ‘Oh you shouldn’t do acting as a job,’”
Chandler said.

On a whim, Chandler sent in video auditions to a Pittsburgh writer whose script was accepted into the Strawberry One Act Festival in New York City. 

The script, titled “Two Lines,” is centered around a couple trying to make the decision of whether or not to get an abortion. Chandler landed the lead role. 

“It’s a cool experience,; it’s something I’ve never really done before and it’s something that I totally just did off the whim,”
Chandler said. 

Chandler said he will go to New York in March for the performances. 

“So the initial shows are March 17th and 18th and then it’s kind of like competition style too, so the one act wins out of those two performances and then you go to a final round of performances on like the 21st and 22nd,” Chandler said. 

Chandler had the unique opportunity to be a speaker at the TEDx event held at Point Park in September. 

Chandler said he applied to speak, but didn’t expect to get in. 

“I was like, ‘Oh, let me apply for it, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get in because I’m a student, whatever,’ and I sent in my application and they emailed me back to send them some other stuff,” Chandler said. 

Chandler knew he wanted to talk about art and mental health. 

“Art and mental health, definitely stuff that I suffered through and then transitioning from college to ‘the real world,’” Chandler said. “I think that’s why I wanted to do more with it because it was definitely a very intimate subject.”

Chandler had to prepare for the talk while still keeping up with schoolwork and other commitments, which he said presented a challenge. 

“I didn’t even really have my full TED talk memorized until like five minutes before going on stage; that was just like how stressed I was,” Chandler said. 

Chandler said doing the talk was worth it, despite the stress. 

“It was a cool experience, definitely stressful just because there was a lot of other stuff going on, but it was fun,” Chandler said. 

In the future, Chandler plans to go to law school for a career in either international law or international relations. 

“My goal was always trying to work with either the state department or some kind of NGO [Non-governmental organization] or something and work with humanitarian rights,”
Chandler said.