Haitsma

Haitsma from marisa haitsma on Vimeo.


My last name means a lot to me because it's my blood and family. It is what was given to me when I came into this unruly world. It's what I carry with me every single day and it's what's called when a teacher is taking role. Of course, they always butchered the heck out of it and after doing this project, I don't blame them.

When I first learned how to say my last name, my dad would say, "it's like your 'ma' is afraid of 'heights'". Simple enough? Not quite for a pre-kindergartener. I would often say "hates-ma" and I finally caught on and learned to pronounce my full name loud and clear.

To emphasize the difficulty that comes with pronouncing my last name, I recorded this video of me repeating it over and over again for two minutes. In that time frame, I learned that "Haitsma" repeated over and over again quickly becomes "my heights".

I finally realize why I have a tongue twister for a last name and now I understand why some teachers and coaches always butchered it.

The idea came to me while I was driving my mini-van to IU South Bend and my inspiration came from seeing a video performed by my professor, Eric Souther, repeating the word, "expectation", Just as my video resulted, the word became a different sound. I suppose any word that you say over and over again for two minutes becomes a different sounding word, whether it be in our minds or our own tongues giving out on us.

This project was a success because I took a word that I say and hear often and placed emphasis on its pronunciation. As a student, teachers and coaches always slaughtered my name by saying, "hates-ma" instead of "Haitsma".