Simone Cummings: Inspiration with a smile
Simone Cummings is a senior communication major at Augusta University graduating in May 2024. (photo by CM Wahl)
By CM Wahl | News editor
This year’s graduating class is full of young hopefuls with big plans and bigger dreams. Senior Simone Cummings is no exception.
A native of Ridge Springs, S.C., Cummings transferred from USC Columbia into Augusta University in the fall of 2022. With graduation now on the horizon, she is both excited and nervous to see what the future holds.
“It’s one of those things that feels like it’s so far off,” said Cummings, “but comes a lot faster than anticipated.”
Her only regret is not taking some classes that interested her, like screenwriting and gender studies. After attaining her bachelor’s degree, she hopes to flourish in the creative field.
“I’m just a person who likes to laugh and create,” she said. “Honestly, that’s the core of my being.”
Cummings currently works at a production company called OpenMic Perform Pro. There, she “does a little bit of everything,” mainly acting as a production assistant in any area she’s needed. She heard about the job through some film students.
“I was scared to approach them at first,” said Cummings, “but I told myself, ‘Do it scared.’”
Her courage landed her a purposeful foundation in an industry difficult to break into. The company has given Cummings the opportunity to take acting classes and potentially gain enough experience to one day leave Augusta to become a screenwriter.
“The plan is to be famous and come back,” she said.
To Cummings, the best part of AU has been the sense of community. She described her previous school as too competitive and large. Here, she has been able to join the Media Production Club as the secretary for the last two semesters.
She said, “I was just really looking for a community of like-minded individuals who are like, ‘I too like film, want to make film, want to talk about film, writing, [and] things like that.’”
Cummings said she enjoys the comradery in the club. Although some of its members are not communication majors, she liked that they are all still able to find common ground on a love for media.
“It’s a place where you find people who want to talk about creative things,” she said.
Cummings said she likes filming the club’s semester projects and her favorite club activity is the Pitch Game, which challenges players to develop a plot from a random title and pitch it to the judge.
“The games are interactive,” she said, “but honestly, kind of prepare you in a weird but roundabout way.”
Cummings had advice for other students about their college path as well. She recommended having a passion for whatever is pursued. She stated that taking time to evaluate whether classes are a good fit can help create a more valuable college experience.
“You don’t want to be stuck in something that is dead-end,” said Cummings, “or doing classes that you actually hate because that’s not going to get you far in the long run.”
Cummings stated it is easy to stalemate if someone stays in one place, so she hopes to continue to move up and forward and pursue her interests more broadly. She intends to garner all the experience in film she can, including writing, production and postproduction.
“Success for me,” said Cummings, “is people being able to, after they’ve seen one of my movies, read one of my scripts, being able to come up to me and be like, ‘Oh my goodness, I loved this so much. You’ve actually inspired me to go write or pursue the creative arts.’”
Cummings said she most enjoys getting to know others, building a place for people to feel included, and helping people make connections. Maintaining relationships are an integral part of who she is.
“I am a lover of friends,” she said. “I talk to my friends every day.”
In her spare time, Cummings attends Bible studies and church frequently and reads often. She recently transferred from hardback and traditional books to web comics, and she continues to learn every day.
“I want to be everywhere just inspiring people,” she said, “or for people to look at me in a way that they can learn something from me. I want to be someone they can look up to.”
Contact CM Wahl at cwahl@augusta.edu.
This story is published in the Wednesday, April 24, 2024 print edition of The Bell Ringer on page 5.
