The Brightest Butterfly Light In Brooklyn | Meet Brookelynn #SetTheTableIntern
Brookelynn Correa is a badass. More importantly, she is everything she claims to be. Defining herself by three all-encompassing words, “motivated, encouraging, and hardworking,” the New York native beautifully exhibited these qualities before we even formally met.
After receiving our assignment for the “Preheat” - a challenge that terrified and excited me - I emailed Correa, eager to begin this new voyage across the notoriously complicated seas of teamwork. Overjoyed by her shared enthusiasm, my nerves settled and were replaced by an adamant desire to further know this phenomenal young woman. Throughout our frantic scheduling via gmail, Brookelynn revealed that she not only attends a creative arts high school with an emphasis on filmmaking, she’s also enrolled in two college-level courses at the often overshadowed Ivy League - Cornell University.
Speaking proudly of her roots in Puerto Rico throughout our conversation, Correa is a second-generation Brooklynite whose adoration for her family, namely her beloved grandmother, radiated through the screen. Although anxious to expand her horizons, she beamed with great appreciation for her upbringing in The City That Never Sleeps. Leading with authenticity and zest for the future, Brookelynn’s glow shines brighter than the key light on a blockbuster film set.
If you had to describe yourself beyond just a name, how would you introduce who you are? I think the three words that [best] describe me are motivated, hardworking, and encouraging. Clearly [being] in high school, I’m always juggling things… I’m always juggling classes. I also like to introduce myself to new things, so I always like to keep myself on my toes!
Where do you see yourself in five years, and what’s a dream you’re working toward? I want to be finishing up my bachelor’s degree in five years - hopefully shorter - and step into my masters with biology or psychology, because I want to work for the criminal justice field. I want to be able to do forensics…like forensic kits because in middle school I was introduced to [forensics] at such a young age through the idea of career day. We got to work with fingerprint kits where everyone in our class had to put a fingerprint on the door, and another person would have to go find it and identify who it was. It was a really encouraging activity because it made me realize that work can actually be fun! It doesn’t have to be a boring office job, you know?
What are you looking forward to with The Dinner Table internship? This is actually my second time with the Dinner Table! I went to their December conference and it was lovely. I loved every bit of it, I loved Asha. She’s such a great person - she’s outgoing and outspoken, so you really resonate with her. I’m definitely looking forward to the collaborative part of the projects like we’re doing now. I was so nervous to talk to you, but now that I’m talking with you, I’m like oh, my god, I love this!
If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be—and why? This question gave me a really tough time! I think this is the one that stuck out to me the most. When I was younger, I was an outgoing person, and I feel like once you get older you lose that spark. So one thing I would tell myself is to keep being me! Don’t let other people judge who you are because sometimes that dims your light, and you always want to keep your light shining - for you and for others like you.
Who is your biggest inspiration to keep pushing forward in life? I think my biggest inspiration is someone from my family, my grandmother, I love her to death. She is the strongest woman I know. She has so much lore to her! She was in Puerto Rico and was like, “I need a better life for my children and she came to the U.S. with nothing, no money, but she knew she was going to make it. She was hand = sewing clothes for my mom and her siblings. That inspires me as a person because even though she doesn’t have any [high] education, she was still able to have these strong jobs. She worked in a hospital, she worked crazy hours to provide for her children…to me this shows that love is everlasting.
There’s a technique that filmmakers like Brookelynn often use known as “butterfly lighting.” It refers to a lighting pattern where the key light is placed above and pointing down on the subject's face. This results in dramatic shadowing that vaguely resembles a butterfly, hence the name. My partner’s kind-heartedness and encouragement made it glaringly clear that she is the human embodiment of a butterfly light. Dazzling in her own right, Brookelynn Correa goes the extra mile to illuminate others on her path.
From what I've gathered, we’re all very blessed to bear witness to her metamorphosis.
