Mary Funsten, Rebecca Villagracia, Alexander Lopez, David Rivera, Carmen Talavera, Gregory Hawthorne, Diego Kersh, Fernando Herrera, Jeffrey Berrios, Adriana Brady, Jenitcy Franco, Amelie Galzy, Jamie Garcia, Matthew Gonzalez-Valenzuela, Abiel Keli, Lilian Le, Isaac Lee, Catherine Lighton, Denisse Lopez, Brianna Minor, Jenna Tibby, Genesis Avila, Alexandra Gorgij, Isabel Lopez Luna, Zephira Marquez Franco, Karina Movsesova, Liam Rush, Macy Vargas, Chrissy Washington
LETTER
Tears From The Reader
What is the purpose of a campus newsroom?
Two weeks ago, it was a great opportunity for a group of prospective journalists to gain experience and portfolio pieces while simultaneously providing a platform to our fellow students. On Monday, Oct. 14, everything became much more real when tragedy struck the Santa Monica College (SMC) community. Longtime custodial operations manager Felicia Hudson was killed during her late-night shift at the Center for Media and Design.
Felicia touched everyone she came into contact with during her 28 years at SMC, whether it was volunteering her time with Giving Thanks(giving), helping to launch the Black Student Graduation, or simply offering a smile to those she passed while cleaning Drescher Hall.
Over the weekend, several members of our staff attended a journalism conference at CSU Northridge where keynote speaker Steve Padilla said, “no tears from the writer, no tears from the reader.” Felicia’s loss has caused a lot of reflection on what is truly important in life and what the actual role of a student newspaper is. As I weighed all my thoughts, I couldn’t think of anything other than Felicia’s family and friends.
Padilla’s statement sums up exactly what our responsibility is as the campus newsroom. Our relationship to campus is so much more personal than that of the regional news stations, like the LA Times or KTLA, who have also been covering the shooting. To them, this is just another story.
“There’s a difference between being an advocate and being an informed expert. Use your insights,” said Padilla. This sentiment highlights our obligation to the SMC community and the Hudson family.
Nobody knows our campus better than the students and faculty themselves, and we have more access and more personal relationships with people close to Felicia than any of the other news stations. Nobody can tell her story and honor her memory better than those who worked with her everyday for the last
28 years.
Felicia’s passing has caused me to question whether it’s necessary to distance yourself from your reporting. Do we need to be robots to accurately do our job as journalists? Maybe so. As Padilla said, if the writer isn’t crying, the readers won’t. Everyone at SMC is crying right now, and if the student newsroom can do anything to bring them together, then it doesn’t matter if the LA Times breaks a scoop before us or gets more readers on their article.
Jeremy Wolf Editor-in-Chief
“no tears from the writer, no tears from the reader”
Front: Painting of wreath by Jenna Tibby, Corsair Staff
Inside Cover: A man holds two candles at a vigil for Felicia Hudson was held at Santa Monica College, in Santa Monica Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Felicia Hudson was shot by Davon Durell Dean on Monday, October 14th, 2024, at Santa Monica College’s Center for Media and Design, and succumbed to her injuries in the following days.(Jake Crandall | The Corsair)
Back: Jermaine Junius embraces (Right) Adrian Thomas (Right) at a vigil for Felicia Hudson held at Santa Monica College, in Santa Monica Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Emily Raby began to cry as Sherri Bradford embraced her. (Jake Crandall | The Corsair)
Mourning Felicia Hudson By Sunset
The night after her passing, those who loved Felicia Hudson shared their initial impressions on the subject of their grief.
Phoebe Huss | Copy Editor
The death of Felicia Hudson shattered the Santa Monica College (SMC) community. An evening after her passing, faculty and friends in mourning congregated on the Main Campus in vigil. Tissues and candles were quickly distributed, dressing the guests in uniform. A noted physicality emerged as attendees embraced one another.
Twilight dimmed and guests approached a pulpit donned in roses, candles, and a rainbow flag. Their somber orbit was marked by silence. Everyone guarded their flames with their hands. Hudson’s photograph, enlarged in lieu of her presence, also joined the stage, and alerted onlookers to her bright, knowing smile.
The appearance of her beam affected the audience. “There are all kinds of smiles,” shared the first speaker, SMC’s Vice President of Business and Administration Chris Bonvenuto. “But certain people, they have that special one. Hopefully, you know the one I’m talking about, the one that when you see it lights up a room and makes you feel good when you saw it. That was the smile our friend Felicia had.”
Chris Bonvenuto, speaks to the crowd at a vigil for Felicia Hudson about memories he had working with her at Santa Monica College, in Santa Monica Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (Photos by Jake Crandall | The Corsair)
“But certain people, they have that special one. Hopefully, you know the one I’m talking about, the one that when you see it lights up a room and makes you feel good when you
saw it. That was the smile our friend Felicia had.” said Chris Bonvenuto
“I remember the first time I saw her,” said Bonvenuto. “Years ago, working at a county department, I see someone standing there waiting for help, I hadn’t met ‘em yet, so I said, ‘Hi, I’m Chris, how can I help you?’ Then she hit the smile. And immediately I said, even though they’re an Atlanta fan, ‘cause you know she was wearing her Atlanta hat, this is my type of person.”
“If you needed anything, Felicia was there. Didn’t matter if it was work time or not, she was there; that was Felicia. But as much as she loved this place, I will say one thing: she loved you more. I hope you know that, Pat.”
Patric Buckley, the only child of the deceased, approached the mic gravely. “I want everybody to remember my mother for all the beautiful things she offered in life. All her smile, her jokes, she was a very fun, silly person. … My mom was a beautiful soul, and I practically mirror her. She’s my twin. I love that lady to death and I’m gonna carry on her legacy.”
Hudson’s mother, Kathy Hudson, maintained a consoled exterior at first. “I’m so hurt,” she said. The sobs broke. “When it’s your first born, that is your child,
and you have never lost one, you don’t know the pain. Felicia got her strongness from me but right now, I’m vulnerable.”
The families’ impromptu speeches nevertheless summoned wells of emotion from the lineup of grievers.
Several grieving friends remarked on Felicia Hudson’s ascendency from custodian to supervisor to manager, including Dr. Tre’Shawn Hall-Baker, Dean of Human Resources. “Felicia was big on lifting as she climbed. (Her) journey is a testament to the power
of preservation, kindness, and quiet strength. She may have started out in a role where she cleaned up after others, but by the end, she was building them up.”
Dennis Biddle and Emily Raby, co-stars in many of the night’s shared anecdotes, appeared behind the mic in dazes. In the freshness of her passing, many focused on Felicia’s personhood without narrowing into examples. Some, however, like Biddle, Director of Facilities Operations, were stilled by small anecdotes that demoed her character.
Jermaine Junius speaks to the crowd at a vigil for Felicia Hudson held at Santa Monica College, in Santa Monica Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Emily Raby began to cry as Sherri Bradford embraced her.
| The Corsair
“If you know something about Felicia, Felicia would write her words in a card for you. I opened my birthday card, and my birthday card read, Thank you for being a friend. I’ve traveled down the road and back again. And in all caps, the part that meant the most to me said Your heart is true. You’re a pal and a confidant.” He broke. “So, Felicia, thank you for being our friend.”
Raby, custodian, affirmed the deceased’s complexity: “Felicia had a real tough exterior. A real tough exterior. But she was so soft and kind those that know her really
know her, and the type of woman she was. I’m just happy to have that. ‘Cause I know I can’t wait to see her again.”
“She was a quiet storm, and she gave herself unselfishly,” said Jermaine Junius
“That’s what we all need to remember about her, the type of person she was. She was a calm person. She was a gentle person,” chimed in Felicia’s friend Candy. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. At this
time, there’s no more suffering for Feli.”
“She was humbling. She was the sweetest person that you could know. And her spirit - if you was around her and you were angry about something, she had a calming spirit.”
“My mother took ill years ago, and Feli - a few years before my mother passed, on her birthday, there would be flowers at my door. …She always remembered my mother’s birthday. At my mother’s funeral, she was there, she was there for me. She was that kinda friend.”
Jermaine Junius speaks to the crowd at a vigil for Felicia Hudson held at Santa Monica College, in Santa Monica Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. Emily Raby began to cry as Sherri Bradford embraced her.
“Felicia was my world dawg… She didn’t allow a lot of people to get close to her like that but I think I was privy to being close to her,” said another coworker. “In 2020, right behind us, she was giving out food to all the students every Wednesday. We was here from seven to seven, on our feet; she never complained. This hurt more than yall know. I’m never gonna meet a person like her again.”
“She was a quiet storm, and she gave herself unselfishly,” said Dr. Jermaine Junius, communications professor and president of the Pan-African Alliance. Jocelyn Winn, Student Services Specialist, recounted an example of this behavior.
“The job that obviously all custodial staff and ground staff do is thankless work. It’s the kind of work that people don’t notice until it’s not done. The day after the first Black graduation, which is the first cultural graduation that we had at SMC… before I showed up to do the clean-up work after the graduations, it was gonna be me. I thought it was just gonna be me. Felicia called me and said, ‘hey, are you here yet?’ …And we took down everything that had to do with Black graduation by ourselves. She never asked for anything. All she did was text me after it was all over, when I said ‘thank you’ for the help. She said, ‘as an older staff at SMC, I just wanted to see this happen.’ She was thanking us. And she was doing the work.”
Jocelyn Alex, administrative assistant, smiled tearily and shared that Felicia was a rare person she was able to connect with, who was extraordinarily reliable. Lisa Ortega, custodian, reflected on their shared pasts, a long-term friendship characterized by Hudson’s nurturing abilities. Others acknowledged her exuberance.
With acceptance, Felicia’s friend Red shared “I’m glad that I was able to spend time with Felicia, laugh, dance… I’m glad that I was able to pass through her heart and her soul.”
Sherri Lee-Lewis, Vice President of Human Resources, remembered dancing with Felicia and “telling (her), ‘I should’ve known you back in the day, ‘cause we could’ve partied together.’ And we danced all night.”
“She had a radiant smile and a lot of parties. We partied. We had
a great time and we drank it down,” said longtime friend Artavia. “Felicia was suave. And all yall know that,”
“I saw her two weeks ago. We only had a 30-second conversation because she was busy and had to run immediately and the conversation ended, ‘you know I love you.’ ‘I love you too.’ And that was the last conversation we had. It hurts so much to have her gone.”
In the newfound quiet, nightfall and grief engulfed the audience. Sherri Bradford, Black Collegians program leader and counselor, re-corralled them swiftly. “We will rejoice and we will celebrate her amazing life and all of the love that she has given to everyone. We’re going to put that back into the universe and to each other,” she said.
“Thank you all. Love on each other. Tomorrow is not promised.”
Patric Buckley embraces Kathy Hudson as she weeps while speaking to a crowd while Jermaine Junius (Far Right) stands present at a memorial for Felicia Hudson held at Santa Monica College, in Santa Monica Calif. on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024.
‘A smile saved in a silent ponder’
as special as Felicia is.”
Dazed mourners of Felicia Hudson, 54, shared their immediate pains and impressions at a candlelit vigil on Thursday. The next morning, sobered, her loved ones cherished her memory in a Celebration of Life.
Dennis Biddle and Emily Raby were among the organizers. Though emotionally stricken by the vigil, Biddle and Raby hustled to the BroadStage and decorated through the night. “Emily still blew up balloons, we still printed banners,” said Biddle. “We still baked about sixty cakes. We just wanted it to be
SMC president Dr. Kathryn Jeffery observed “different members of our team like little busy beavers, making sure everything was just right, the corner of the tablecloth tucked under just subtle, the flowers placed just right to make everything perfect for our friend.”
Dr. Lizzy Moore, academic administrator, began remembrances.
“Dear Patric, Miss Kathy, family, close friends, colleagues, particularly our deeply dedicated and fiercely committed Maintenance and Operations team, please accept my deepest condolences for your loss, for our loss. There’s a
permanent hole in my heart for this senseless and absolute maddening tragedy. A beacon of leadership, integrity, and kindness, Felicia was my trusted friend.”
“The true test of friendship and loyalty is knowing that I never had to ask for help. She knew exactly how to help and make an impact and did so in a stealth manner, with dignity and grace.
Our friendship was based on trust and respect, and cemented with our commonality of being single parents of an only child. Every year, without fail, Felicia would beat me to the phone with a salutation on Mother’s Day.”
Patric Buckley is embraced by (Right) Dennis Biddle, (Center) Kathy Hudson, and other family at a memorial for Felicia Hudson at the Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center in Santa Monica Calif., on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. Felicia Hudson was shot by Davon Durell Dean on Monday, October 14, 2024, at Santa Monica College’s Center for Media and Design, and succumbed to her injuries in the following days.
Photos by Jake Crandall | The Corsair
Phoebe Huss | Copy editor
Recognizing dull spirits, Biddle encouraged participation. “Felicia was a talk-back-to-ya type person - good morning!” The audience greeted him back. “Felicia wanted church, so I’m going to be church. …We wanna tell her thank you for loving us and instilling in us to be strong. She taught us how to be strong. She looked out for our kids, they were her nieces and nephews. My daughter’s first car came from her auntie Felicia.”
“And if we take anything from this, it’s to love more, right?” At his side, Raby concurred. “Yes. Take care the way that she did.” She began to weep. “Because she cared about this college. She cared so much about this college.”
Raby’s shared experiences traversed a dynamic friendship. “She was a guidance for me. We went through similar things, similar stories. She was a confidant.”
A looping photo slideshow beamed continual evidence of her warmth - embracing friends, distributing food parcels on campus, partying in a tuxedo, childhood portraits from the 1970s. Raby noticed her babyfaced grace. “You say she was teacher’s pet, she was.” Everyone laughed. “She was. I told her and said, ‘hello, I want to be able to write my emails like you.’ She said, ‘girl, they take time.’”
Every speaker corroborated Hudson’s exceptional abilities alongside an exceptional humility. “I don’t cook,” said Raby with a smile. “Everyone knows she cooks. You know she was recently mad about her four oxtails - four! She taught me step-by-step how
to make greens. And yall, I left the greens in the water. When it came time to put it in a pot, she said, ‘Okay, did you drain the greens?’ I said, ‘no, they’re still in the water.’ She said, ‘slow girl.’” colleagues Sherri Bradford Among the remembrances, and Dr. Karen Gunn performed libations.
Bradford introduced “the libation ceremony (as) an African ritual of pouring liquid as an offering to the spirits and the souls of our ancestors who have transitioned on. …We call
our ancestors into the room as a consistent reminder that in African culture, we know that human life is always connected to spiritual life.” As Gunn spilled water into a plant, representing elements of earth, the mourners of the audience contributed, interlocking names of the departed with cheers of “Àṣẹ.” The first name honored was none other than Felicia.
Before long Bradford admired the results. “We’ve done so much that the water is spilling out; the ancestors are pleased. Thank you, everyone.”
Pallbearers load Felicia Hudson’s coffin into the back of a hearse at a memorial held in her honor at the BroadStage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center in Santa Monica Calif., on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. Felicia Hudson was shot by Davon Durell Dean on Monday, October 14th, 2024, at Santa Monica College’s Center for Media and Design, and succumbed to her injuries in the following days.
Jocelyn Winn, secretarytreasurer of the Pan African Alliance, read requested Bible scriptures Psalms 23 and John 14:1-6. In a soothing measure, Winn delivered, “thou preparest the table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”
On the alliance’s behalf, vice president Kristin Ross delivered an official resolution: “be it resolved that it was the divine will of our heavenly Father that our cherished Felicia ceases from all her earthly labor and cares to come home with him. We’re sorrowing that he’s served us.”
Pastor George Cowart of the Divine Favor Missionary Baptist Church engaged his deep tremolo in a rendition of “Walk Around Heaven,” crooning “When I get to heaven, I’ll jump and shout, no one will be able to say, ‘Felicia, you’ve got to get out.’”
“Kathy said to me in the hospital, the night that she arrived, ‘I'm all cried out. I have no more tears right now, but I know they will come.’ And I realized that in the midst of responding to everything that needed to be addressed, I had not taken the time to cry,” said Jeffery. “But when I stood before my colleagues and saw the pain in their faces, recognizing the pain I also had in my face, the tears just spilled over. …And on behalf of our entire Santa Monica College, I share that we are saddened, and we are sickened.”
Probing the longevity of their relationship, Jeffery attributed to Hudson the first act of kindness
she witnessed at the college. “The first person to actually hold a real conversation with me, she was among those. She talked to me, introduced herself, and told me with that sideways smile that I now know was her signature, ‘whatever you need, Dr. Jeffery, I will be here to support you.’
“And I knew instantly that was more than rhetoric. …Felicia meant it. And I knew instantly that she meant it. And her support never wavered. Never, never, never, never.”
Hudson arrived at SMC a custodian. Across 28 years of employment, she climbed the order into a supervisory and finally managerial position. Over the morning, every speaker commented on the supreme dedication and skill she committed to the job.
Jeffery recalled Felicia’s accomplishment assuaging her selfsecurity. “I walked over to her one day on campus and said, ‘what’s up with you? Seems like you’re rising through the ranks.’ Then I told her how very proud of her I was. And that it made me feel so good to see her see herself in that way.”
Sensing deliverance, Jermaine Junius moved to end her speech. Jeffery observed and rebutted.
“I was waiting for Jermaine to try to tug at me and I absolutely swear I would whack him if he did.”
The congregate laughed, long and powerful.
Rev. Cowart caught the moment to soothe the crowd with spirituality. “Life is filled with swift transitions,”
Dr. Kathryn Jeffery, Santa Monica College’s President, reminisces on her experiences working with Felicia Hudson, at a memorial held in her honor at the BroadStage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center in Santa Monica, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, after Felicia Hudson was shot by Davon Durell Dean on Monday, October 14, 2024, at Santa Monica College’s Center for Media and Design and succumbed to her injuries in the following days.(Jake Crandall | The Corsair)
said Rev. Cowart. “You don’t know how long you have. You don’t know. That’s why life is too fragile for me to remain frustrated with you over something that I can do nothing about.” The room reacted viscerally.
“I want to share with you briefly the passage that I so often reference in moments such as this. It is found in the Epistle of James. …And James gives us five things, if you will, that will help us to understand the fragility of life, and (are) what we need to do from this point on, no matter how frustrated you become. No matter how upset you get in life. Here’s the message. Five things.
“In this text, we see that number one, we have to live our own lives. Look at your neighbor and say "live your life.’” The audience obeyed.
“Don’t try to live mine.
“Number two, love someone else in
life besides yourself. Come on, look at somebody, tell them you love em.
“The third one is, listen, learn something new every day about life. Do you know life is a teacher? Live, love, learn.
“Congregation, after living, loving and learning, laugh. Would you look at your neighbor and say, laugh, you look better. We look better when we laugh - I didn’t say stop.” Laughs reverbed.
“Let me tell you why that’s so important. As you live your life, as you love someone else in life, as you learn something everyday in life, laugh. Laugh. Because this is the hardest part - you’ve got to let go. You’ve got to let go.
“Can I be very candid with you? Can I tell you right now that Felicia is at rest now? She’s not up there giving educational words. She’s not mentoring anybody. She’s resting
now because of all the stuff that she had to deal with down here.
“Can I tell you one last thing I could say? What you are feeling right now? She’s not. You know why? Because in passing or where she is now, there is no pain. Death does not hurt. Living does. It’s life that brings pain. This is rest.”
One guest bated restless. She spent the service nervously scrolling her phone and shaking. With the words of the reverend, she paused. Inspired, she typed the five gifts into her cell.
“Live, love, learn, laugh, let go.” The weight of the passage bore sudden relief.
Dry wind and sunshine befitting, the procession emerged outdoors and faced the sky. Family members formed a casket spray with roses.
“I love you forever… be good, girl,” said a relative.
“I will always love you,” said Kathy as she lay hers.
A release of 54 doves prompted craning of necks. They traipsed the air in a spiral, resisting wind. Elsewhere, readying for sendoff, Kathy whispered into the hearse.
“Felicia’s legacy is photosynthesis,” said English professor Regis Peeples. “The hearts she touched will remain warm and gentle until the wind takes us to our next destination. Healing can be a smile saved in a silent ponder. Or a tear of wonder hydrating your soul at four in the morning. As long as we arise, our dreams will be today. So transcend and find a new home to heal within each other.”
Friends, family and colleuages say their final gooodbyes and lay roses on Felicia Hudsons casket at Felicia Hudsons Celebration of life on Friday Oct 18,2024. Santa Monica, California.(The Corsair/ Gregg Hawthorne)
Felicia Hudson: Celebrating a Cherished Colleague’s Impact and Legacy
An article that honors Felicia Hudson, sharing stories and memories from those who knew her best, celebrating her joyful spirit and the positive impact she had on the Santa Monica College (SMC) community.
Katie Easterson | Copy Editor
Felicia Hudson worked for Santa Monica College as the Custodial Operations Manager for 28 years. In the time that Felicia worked at SMC, she brought joy, laughter, light, and consistency to her co-workers' lives.
When speaking with Lizzy Moore, a colleague of Felicia’s who worked alongside her for 11 years, she talked about how radiant Felicia was, how the community of SMC can honor the memory of Hudson and support those close to her, and the kind of person Felicia Hudson was.
When speaking about the kind of person Felicia was, Lizzy Moore said, “We had worked together for over 11 years, and she was this quiet force of a colleague and leader, (a) deeply trusted individual, someone who I rely on and relied on for every event I ever produced at the college. I described it at the memorial like she was the secret sauce we had for producing events to center students. Felicia loved SMC students.” Moore added, “It wasn’t a job for her. It was a calling. She wanted students to just have the most loving, barrier-free environment. Whatever
that meant. Whether it was how something was set up, whether it was running back to the office when she didn’t need to just to make sure that we had something. She just was so dedicated to students and to her college community.”
In regard to how the community can honor the memory of Felicia Hudson, Moore said, “I think that we just have to keep her memory alive with the shared stories and not be afraid to ask ourselves, ‘what would Felicia do?’” Moore added, “And she would really put everything aside to get the job done. So those tenants of hard work and dedication and commitment to excellence are things we can all do to exude the spirit of Felicia Hudson.”
The loss of Felicia Hudson is undeniably difficult to shoulder. Lizzy Moore talked a little about how it’s been hard to come back to campus after the sudden loss. “She was on every campus… so her touch is everywhere. It’s not at one campus or another campus, it’s everywhere. So the hardest part, at least for me, is that she’s not physically there. She should be there.”
Photos Courtesy of Santa Monica College
Felicia was heavily involved in events that gave back to the community, working overtime to make sure jobs were done. Every year, SMC does an event called “Giving Thanks(giving)” which distributes holiday groceries to students in need. Hudson ran this event several times, last year helping out over 2,000 students.
Moore added, “It’s just unthinkable, and particularly heading into November, which is our big Giving Thanks(giving) event… Felicia was paramount to that event, to the execution, the planning. Last year we had 2,004 students attend. And that doesn’t just happen, you know. The experience that students have is really about how seamless and effortless we can make it feel. And that takes a lot of planning and intention to work.”
“I think if I were channeling Felicia, she wouldn’t want the attention. She did not like to be in the spotlight. She was, like I said, that secret sauce behind the scenes. That magic behind the scenes. And I would just have to say, ‘hey, giving you a reminder that…’ and she’d already have it done. It would be like magic, I’d show up and whe(n) it was the drivethrough food pantry that we did for almost three years, the tables would be set up when I get there at seven o’clock in the morning, ready to go, perfectly set up, it was effortless and that's what she did. She just made things effortlessly and with pride. And I think I’ve thought a lot about particularly Giving Thanks(giving) because The loved that event. It was so centered
on students, making sure that students have the groceries and that they have all the groceries for their families and themselves. It's a massive undertaking, and you know, we're raising money for that.”
Moore added, “In the next couple of weeks we’re going to be putting signs around campus for people just to donate five bucks, even if they do that in her honor, you know, Giving Thanks(giving) in Felicia’s honor. Like I said, she wouldn’t want the attention, but knowing that more
students could be served would be something that she would love. She loved all students, and she had a very special place in her heart particularly for her Guardian Scholars.”
Felicia Hudson (Left), Lizzy Moore (Right), Photos courtesy of Santa Monica College
(Photo
Left: Felicia Hudson (Left) and Lizzy Moore (Right) celebrate Felicia’s birthday at Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, Calif.
courtesy of Lizzy Moore)
Right: Close friends and colleagues Felicia Hudson (Left) and Dennis Biddle (Right). (Photo courtesy of Santa Monica College)
Alexander Albao, Design Editor for The Santa Monica Corsair, edits his opinion piece outside of “The Green Room,” the place he met Felicia Hudson in Santa Monica, Calif on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. (Lex Lopez The Corsair)
Microinteractions
By: Alexander Albao | Design Editor
In 2018 Greg Callaghan, a senior writer at The Sydney Morning Herald, wrote an article titled “How micro social interaction with strangers can benefit our wellbeing”. In the article he is reminded of an interview with Dr. Tim Sharp, who is in the area of positive psychology and the founder of the Happiness Institute in Sydney. He spoke about the importance of small daily faceto-face interactions impacting our overall well being. We encounter dozens of microinteractions in our lives, at the grocery store, gas stations, coffee shops, at school and even professionally. Moments of candid vulnerability can contribute to a positive wellbeing. Dr. Sharp says, “the brief, micro interactions we all have on a daily basis - can have amazing benefits.”
On the night of October 11, 2024 I encountered a microinteraction with Felicia Hudson at the Santa Monica College Center of Media and Design (CMD) campus. I am a junior enrolled in the B.S. Interaction Design program at Santa Monica College (SMC) and also the Design Editor for The Corsair newspaper. I frequently spend late hours at the CMD, as it has provided me a safe space to be productive in my academic journey.
In the book Microinteractions, Designing with details by
Microinteractions
Reflecting on a small moment’s larger impact
Dan Saffer he says, “A microinteraction is a contained product moment that revolves around a single use case—a tiny piece of functionality that only does one thing... They are the small moments that can be dull and forgettable, or pleasurable and engaging. Every time you change a setting, sync your data or devices, set an alarm, pick a password, turn on an appliance, log in, set a status message, or favorite or Like something, you are engaging with a microinteraction.” Designing successful microinteractions is structured by these four variables: trigger, rules, feedback and lastly loops and modes.
The trigger initiates the microinteraction. A trigger can be as simple as flipping a switch, like the silence and ring function on smartphones. There are not many students who spend Friday nights on campus working until the building closes. Our trigger was the encounter Felicia and I had in the “green room” of the CMD. She was instantly surprised when she walked into the room to find me working inside.
Rules determine how the microinteraction works. In the example of the silence and ring switch, the rules are sound and no sound. In my interaction with
Felicia, rules were determined when she introduced herself as the custodial manager. As she walked through the door, she carried a friendly and welcoming energy. She engaged with me with a confident smile. Moving and scanning the room while I was online working on a group project.
Feedback illuminates the rules. The vibration of the phone reacting while you engage in flipping the silence function is an example of feedback. During our microinteraction, I asked Felicia if I should relocate. She insisted on remaining there, “I’ll come back later, I’m here until 1am”, she said. I appreciated her allowing me to stay, because it may have been a task she wanted to get done and wasn’t expecting a student to be in the room.
Loops and modes are meta rules that affect the microinteraction. Saffer explains this as “what happens over time with the microinteraction”. As mentioned earlier, microinteractions can be pleasurable and engaging and that’s how our encounter immediately felt. So how does our microinteraction affect me over time? Well, she will be forever remembered by me.
When I learned she was the
victim of the shooting on Monday October 14, 2024 at the CMD, I was in disbelief. A microinteraction that happened two days before the incident on campus is forever ingrained in my memory. Dr. Sharp said in Callaghan‘s article, “It boils down to empathy: taking an interest in other human beings, regardless of their station in life or their use to us.” Felicia showed me empathy, as a student working into the night at the CMD, and after attending her vigil and listening to stories from her mother, son, friends and colleagues, I learned she was a genuine soul. In our interaction, I truly felt she had my best interest. Microinteractions are embedded in digital and social experiences. Some are pleasurable and others are instantly forgettable. What determines this, is the impression the interaction leaves upon us.
At work, home, school, and among friends and family, microinteractions can act as a purpose in our daily routine to create meaningful connections between ourselves and others. Choosing how we interact in those experiences can certainly make a difference in our wellbeing. Let’s be mindful of how we interact with one another and be especially empathetic in our human interactions.
