Invasion of Privacy: Wisdom from Brian Malgieri
Typically, the “Invasion of Privacy” Knights’ Life feature zeroes in on the life and perspective of a faculty, staff member, or student in the Geneseo community. The students interviewed are typically starting their undergraduate degree closely following their graduation from high school, and have the general Geneseo background of growing up somewhere in New York before choosing Geneseo for their higher education. These pieces thus rarely feature a student who strays from these norms in their journey to Geneseo, such as first-year English major Brian Malgieri, a self-identified adult student who recently got involved with The Lamron and the Geneseo campus community at large.
Malgieri, age 27, studied cinema and screen studies at Monroe Community College (MCC)—while he took some time off from school here and there, he wrapped up his studies in the winter leading into 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Malgieri worked in special education at a middle school rather than immediately transitioning into his bachelor’s degree. Malgieri is currently pursuing an English major with a hope to ultimately go into screenwriting post-Geneseo.
“With my cinema screen studies, I had over the years started a production company with my friends who I graduated with and took classes with, and was working in both commercial work and creative film work, which all kind of collapsed with COVID as well,” Malgieri said. “So, [with] film as a whole, it’s like you have a very creative side of it, but then you have the technical, logical side of how to craft something like that. And with that being said, I’m, you know, definitely a nerd [about that] in every aspect.”
Malgieri, a realist at heart, also remarked on the more practical reasoning for pursuing an education at Geneseo—“[It’s] a nice liberal arts school [where] I can get a bunch of healthy development in my writing skills and creative writing skills. And, uh, generally speaking, it would’ve cost me four times as much to go to film school, so here we are. But it’s, you know, it’s going alright so far.”
Beyond financial responsibility and general sensibility, Malgieri was quick to offer many more pragmatic perceptions of college and its culture, both big and small. His securest observations were ones pertaining to adulthood—both what it means to be an adult, and how he perceives the youthful nature of the vast majority of his fellow students.
“I think there’s a certain age…I think maybe, depending on the person, maybe 19, getting closer to 20—I think by 21 you’re starting to really kind of develop into an adult. But…it’s an exponential curve. So, at a certain point, you might reach that level of being an adult, but you still have so much to go. It really depends on that frontal lobe developing.”
Expanding upon this realism, Malgieri went on to describe adulthood in terms that many college students may not yet experience or expect: “Once you’re like, actually dreading getting out of bed and you’re putting on your clothes through the tears, it’s a whole other delightful world. [Adulthood means to] hate everything.”
This edgy skepticism is one that we may continue to see reflected in The Lamron in the coming issues—Malgieri plans to start writing opinion and Knights’ Life articles that address life issues and advice in a very straightforward manner. In addition to this writing, Malgieri hopes to continue with his writing after his graduation in 2024.
“On one side, maybe I’ll pursue my dreams and go into screenwriting…I would love to be on either a television show or, you know, just find my own work somewhere. There [are] lots of different avenues within that writing world, you know, different ways to express my voice. Or I take this [education] and get a 60k paying job right outta college, which I can really honestly get right now with my experience—I just don’t want to.”
Despite this uncertainty, Malgieri expressed enthusiasm about the opportunities he will have post-Geneseo. “I am definitely excited [to graduate] because there’s enough positive outlook that the excitement hasn’t turned into anxiety or fear, but there [are] definitely some stresses of, you know, what if it doesn't happen, right? What if things got harder? What if I have to move to LA [for more opportunities]? What if I have to do all these things?”
You might find Malgieri continuing to ponder these questions, as well as some more existential ones, tucked away in Brodie or Welles, or in his upcoming Lamron articles. Regardless, get ready for more of the sage, if not slightly sadistic, wisdom of Brian Malgieri.