From homework to hosting: MRU alumna’s new talk show
Sarah Palmer, Staff Writer |
Graduate from Mount Royal University’s Broadcast and Media Studies program, Aisha N. Sheikh, 50, celebrated the premiere of her show, The Gen Xperience with Aisha on Sept. 24.
Filmed in her living room, viewers can feel as if they’re right there with Sheikh and her selection of middle-aged guests as they blend humour and hard-hitting realities while candidly discussing topics concerning their generation in this “one of a kind” interview-style docu-series.
Originally conceptualized for a video assignment completed in the final year of her degree, the project was awarded a grant by the TELUS StoryHive program and is now a six-episode series available on TELUS Optik TV, Stream+ and YouTube—where it has already garnered hundreds of views.
Today, it’s hard to believe that just over five-years-ago, Sheikh had never worked in broadcasting.
Having first entered the workforce in 2001 as a certified esthetician employed at Holt Renfrew, Sheikh left the beauty industry soon after to raise her children. Nineteen-years later, her post-secondary career began when she was accepted into the Open Studies program in 2018.
Describing herself as having a “philanthropic spirit,” Sheikh’s volunteer experience at organizations like the Syrian Refugee Crisis and Dress for Success Calgary contributed to her decision of switching into the Broadcast and Media Studies program a year later.
“I wanted to be able to tell the stories of positivity and overcoming,” said Sheikh. “So I thought about broadcasting [or] somewhere in that journalism scope.”
Starting university at 44 years of age, Sheikh found that her struggles were not exclusive to getting back into the habit of writing papers and referencing academic texts—but also the culture shock she felt in being a whole generation older than her classmates.
“The way that the students communicated was different,” said Sheikh. “I had to crack that code in order to be able to understand and communicate with my fellow students.”
Being a mature student wasn’t an entirely negative experience, though. Citing how her years lived have given her a courageous attitude, Sheikh believes this allowed her to stay on top of her courses because she was more willing to reach out to her professors and classmates for assistance if she found class content puzzling.
“Asking those questions was definitely a huge part in my success story because I could do that,” said Sheikh. “It was a great collaboration of everybody being super supportive of each other.”
Semesters came and went and in no time, Sheikh’s graduating class embarked on the lengthy process of planning and executing their 4th year video projects in 2023. Helping one another out to complete their individual projects, her former classmate Riggs Vergara remembers Sheikh’s ambition when helping her to shoot the inaugural episode.
“Aisha was one of the first ones who started their production,” said Vergara. “It was really cool just being there and enjoying the stories.”
After finishing their productions, the students concluded their last semester by holding a makeshift film festival so they could showcase their creative endeavors to students and staff across the broadcasting program — where Sheikh’s project captivated audiences of all generations.
“A lot of my professors said ‘you need to do something with this,’” said Sheikh.
Thinking back to an opportunity she learnt about in an entrepreneurship course, Sheikh applied for a grant offered by TELUS. Shortly after, she received a congratulatory letter saying they would fund six more episodes as part of their StoryHive program—which seeks to alleviate recipients of the financial burden associated with production and offers them training to help “create diverse, compelling, locally reflective short films,” according to the National Screen Institute.
Recipients of StoryHive grants have to enroll in mandatory crash courses before they receive any funding. Ranging from lighting and camera settings to understanding licensing agreements and how to advertise a project, the courses intend to ensure producers are set-up for success.
During production, recipients are also assigned a “mentor” who is available for answering inquiries and responsible for making sure that the project adheres to TELUS’s standards — one strict rule being that all films must be rated G.
Embracing the role of creative producer — or, “mother hen” as Sheikh described — provided her with the opportunity to decide who her coworkers would be for the next six episodes. Looking back to the show’s roots, Sheikh chose a few of her former classmates to work alongside as her crew members.
Coming from an episode submitted for class credit and taking on the StoryHive project was a difference comparable to “night and day” for Vergara, who was elected to be the director and head of marketing. His responsibilities included coordinating the cast and crew as well as live camera switching, organizing the set and communicating situational issues directly to Sheikh.
“It was an enlightening experience,” said Vergara. “There was a lot that happened on the fly and there’s a lot of trust that had to be built during the production process because there were a lot of moving parts.”
While he appreciated the chance to bond with his acquaintances on-set once more, Vergara found that his motivations behind pursuing the role were also due to how the production’s topics resonated with him as someone who moved to Calgary from the Philippines.
“I gravitated towards it because it’s tackling not only the human age group of being in your forties,” said Vergara. “But it also tackles being an immigrant [as in] financial and familial situations.”
Aside from immigration topics, The Gen Xperience with Aisha touches on dating in the digital age, parenting your parents and Gen X v.s. Gen Z — addressing how the negative stereotypes placed on each generation impact that age group and how a handful of Gen Z guests feel about the way they were raised.
Juggling the demands of raising the next generation while offering support to the generation before them, today’s people aged 44 to 59 undoubtedly carry an immense weight on their shoulders. For Sheikh, she holds the goal that the series will start discussions that can eventually alleviate feelings of loneliness shared among some middle-aged adults.
