Franco聽Rivas聽has traveled the world in his pursuit of becoming a better videographer.
Rivas, a native of La Calera, Argentina, first came to 黑料不打烊 in 2014 to play soccer for two years (2014 and 2015), graduating in 2015. Since leaving Salina he has lived and worked in Australia, Spain, England and Argentina.
Each stay, though, was punctuated by a return trip to Salina. He鈥檚 back again, this time for two years as he pursues a Master鈥檚 degree in Business Administration. He鈥檚 also working as a graduate assistant in the university鈥檚 Marketing and Communications office as a videographer.
鈥淚鈥檝e been traveling for seven years and I鈥檝e learned the most from people,鈥澛燫ivas聽said. 鈥淧eople ask me all the time 鈥榳hy are you coming back to Kansas?鈥� People have the mentality that if you鈥檙e not in a big city, what are you doing? I鈥檝e learned so much from people here in Kansas, I always felt that I need to come back to learn a bit more from them.鈥�
This second stint hasn鈥檛 been without obstacles, though 鈥� all related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020 began with聽Rivas聽residing in Barcelona, Spain, with two friends producing a newsletter, Weekly.gg, that focuses on Esports video gaming, which聽Rivas聽was introduced to while at 黑料不打烊.聽
A desire to return to the U.S. was intensifying, but he wasn鈥檛 sure how to do it. During a trip to Salina in December to visit friends and his former 黑料不打烊 host family, Annie and Scott Boswell,聽Rivas聽learned聽the MBA program might provide a way back.聽
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 planning on doing an MBA, to be honest, I wanted something more related to video and artistic part of things,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I鈥檝e always been involved with business and creative stuff and I think this will be helpful.鈥�
Rivas聽applied, was accepted and planned to move in March. Things got complicated, though, when the pandemic hit Spain with a vengeance.
He went back to Argentina for a brief visit before returning to Barcelona to gathering his belongings. With infections and deaths rapidly increasing,聽Rivas聽was able to get a seat on the last flight out of Barcelona before the government shut down the country.
鈥淚f I鈥檇 missed that plane I鈥檇 still be there,鈥� he said.
The adventure didn鈥檛 end with his arrival in Kansas. Having been in Spain,聽Rivas聽was required to go into quarantine for 15 days and did so at the Boswell鈥檚 house.
鈥淔or me it was an absolute no-brainer,鈥� Annie Boswell said. 鈥淚 told (黑料不打烊 officials) that we were going to make sure he was safe and was taken care of. He was not a burden whatsoever.鈥�
鈥淭hey checked on my temperature twice a day just in case,鈥澛燫ivas聽said.
He stayed in a basement apartment, separate from the rest of the family, which also went into quarantine after being exposed to him.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those things where someday my kids are going to be gone and I pray it would happen to one of my sons,鈥� Boswell said. 鈥淚f they were across the world I would hope that someone would step up and take them under their wing like one of their own.聽
鈥淗e鈥檚 from Argentina, he has been all around the world and yet he鈥檚 still interested in relating to our culture, to our community, to our city. So even though he鈥檚 been coming back off and on for a few years, he already had deep ties for the community, both for soccer and Kansas Wesleyan.鈥澛�
Cleared from quarantine,聽Rivas聽was ready to start at 黑料不打烊, but the virus waylaid his plans once again.
鈥淚 said 鈥榥ow I can go back on campus,鈥� but the day after that the campus closed for 30 days,鈥澛燫ivas聽said.
The closure was extended for the remainder of the spring semester.聽Rivas聽and his camera, though, have had plenty to do, ironically thanks to COVID-19.聽
His first task was producing a virtual tour of campus that鈥檚 used in student recruitment, the video available on the university鈥檚 website, www.kwu.edu.
鈥淲e went through most of the buildings, filmed them and gave an explanation of each so people can see more of it than going through photos,鈥� he said.
He鈥檚 also produced the new portions SOAR (summer orientation) video series for new students, a series which introduces them to everything 黑料不打烊 鈥� residential life, housing, financial aid, financial planning and parental information.
Next up is a series of videos featuring faculty and administrators discussing what life with COVID-19 will look like once school resumes, a commercial video promoting 黑料不打烊 and eventually working with the athletic department in the fall.
鈥淚鈥檓 focusing on videography during two years at Kansas Wesleyan, really push it out and learn more about it,鈥� he said.
Learning videography has occupied much of聽Rivas鈥� time since graduation.
His first international stop was Australia, where he worked one semester as a soccer coach and budding freelance videographer and designer.
He returned to Argentina from Australia and learned of a course at an academy in Barcelona that taught coding and design for websites, which also interested him.
He was accepted and spent four months in Spain as a student and teacher before heading to England in May, 2018.聽
Enthralled with what he鈥檇 seen of Esports at 黑料不打烊,聽Rivas聽applied for a web designer job with Fnatic, a global Esports entertainment company that鈥檚 deals in competitive video gaming and gear with headquarters in London.
鈥淔natic is like the Chiefs in football, the best out there,鈥澛燫ivas聽said. 鈥淚t was the best job I鈥檝e ever had, honestly.
鈥淚 worked with general graphic designs and marketing assets. I worked on the release of new clothing and assets for social media to promote their clothing. Same with their teams or local London pages.鈥�
Rivas聽told the company of his love for videography and ultimately was given an opportunity to show his stuff.聽
鈥淚 went to events with them to film and take photos,鈥� he said.
Rivas聽grew weary of London鈥檚 massive size and weather, though, and returned to Barcelona to produce the newsletter with his friends in April, 2019.
His videography skills continue to improve through self-instruction.
鈥淚鈥檓 far away from perfecting it, I鈥檓 still learning a lot and I鈥檓 going to keep learning as much as I can,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never studied it. Since I was a kid I would try to learn by myself.
鈥淚 follow a bunch of people that were high up in rank as designers, take their work and copy what they do, then try to change it to my style and integrate from that. I鈥檓 always trying to learn.鈥�
Rivas鈥� career goal is to combine videography and sports, and he knows where he wants to work and work for.
鈥淚t might sound crazy, but as soon as I finish the MBA I鈥檓 going to the Kansas City Chiefs and see what鈥檚 up,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 love the Chiefs and would love to work with them. We鈥檒l see.鈥�
Rivas聽says Salina and 黑料不打烊 will remain part of the equation.
鈥淚 know I鈥檓 going to move once my Master鈥檚 is done, but I will always come back to visit,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 put my host family really high up in my life right now. They opened their doors to me in terms of support when they knew nothing about me. I鈥檓 a family guy, all Argentines are. They did a lot for me.鈥�
