by Max Collura
Everyone told me that my semester abroad would be the most memorable semester of my college experience. I heard many stories from upperclassmen about the places they were able to visit and the memories they made. The added benefit of being able to be in a dorm with all the art majors exited me as well. I’d heard about the Osadni basement, about gigs other students before me had done, and I wanted to jump on that track. After the school organized an ice breaker open mic, I approached Karolina about making it a monthly event. In high school I had organized similar monthly open mics for my 4 years there, and with the talent and equipment available, how could I not jump on that opportunity?
In a cruel twist of fate, the semester quickly did become quite memorable – not just for our abroad program, but for the entire world. Thankfully we were able to squeeze in one open mic right before this virus led to our mass exodus back home. That night was definitely the crown jewel of my semester, it was our collective last deep breath before plunging into the unknown. From there we all began our education in Zoom University, and to say that the mood was brought down would be an understatement. I always try my hardest to be a “glass half full” kind of person, but these events were really testing my limits of mental reframing.
It was on a late night Zoom call with friends that the idea was floated for a “Zoom open mic”, and, as fate would have it, the next morning Karolina ended up contacting me with the same idea. We quickly organized the event, and the resulting digital open mic was, in my humble opinion, the most heartwarming use of technology this world has ever seen. Even though we were oceans apart, the Osadni community (commonly referred to as o-squad-ni), along with the rest of the NYU Prague students and faculty, were re-united yet again.
We have one more Zoom open mic coming up on the 12th of May, and I can’t wait to see this talented community come together again for an amazing show. I’m so glad that even through trials and tribulations as dramatic as these, our Prague community still feels like a community. For anyone who missed either of the open mics, I have the links to both recordings below. Thank you to everyone for the great times we had in Prague, as well as in our newly digitized lives. I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy, and I look forward to seeing everyone in person as soon as we’re all able.
With love from Albany, New York,
-Max
Osadni recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vjvTiXtX6o
Zoom recording: https://wp.nyu.edu/nyuprague/2020/03/30/zoom-open-mic/