Mercer University freshman Abhi Prakash has been cultivating his creativity for years now by creating, producing and editing videos. As the coronavirus started to impact people’s lives more and more, his craft was impacted too.

Prakash, a biology major on the pre-med track, started making videos in high school. He was on his school’s morning news team, where he created films, sports highlights and videos that would go on to be entered into festivals. Eventually, videography became a large part of his life, he said.

At Mercer, Prakash is part of the video team for the University admissions office. He also does freelance editing. Prakash said that leaving campus due to coronavirus shutdowns had a huge impact on him.

“It has isolated me and made me realize the value of these friendships,” he said. “I completely underestimated that we’d ever be in a situation like this. It’s a good time to reflect.”

Prakash decided to reflect by creating videos with footage from his archives. This way, he could still channel his creative energy and feel connected to his friends, despite the social distancing. He is not publicly sharing his videos yet.

“All the footage I take regardless of what it is used for, I save it on a hard drive,” he said. “I decided to start organizing and making these memories and really highlight these times in my life. It was good to look back and enjoy a time where I was always together with my friends living what I could describe as my best life. It makes me happier.”

He said his friends appreciate having the memories as well.

“They really enjoy watching (the videos) and it makes me feel good that I’ve brought a camera along to capture some of these memories in our lives,” Prakash said.

Though Prakash was able to make adjustments to the way he channels his creativity, for others, it’s not as easy to feel productive or creative during this time.

“For people, I’d recommend this time in isolation to really take some time to discover and rediscover their interests,” he said. “It’s a good way of finding out who you are and what your passion is.”