As students on campus get back into the swing of college life, memories from summer 2016 may already seem like the distant past. But one Bowdoin student’s summer will be particularly hard to forget. Chandler Gee ’20 spent his summer as a cast member on the fourth season of YouTube series “@SummerBreak.”
“@SummerBreak,” sponsored by AT&T, is a web-based reality show that follows a group of kids on their adventures in Los Angeles each summer.
Part of the idea behind the series is to show the teens’ lives in a realistic and under-produced way. Before a day of filming, Gee would learn where the group would meet. Once there, they would get their mics, find out the activities for that day and then go do them. The activities they did varied from ice skating to going to an amusement park.
Gee said that his favorite part of being in the cast was the trips they took to Big Bear Lake, Pizmo Beach and Utah.
“They were all-expenses-paid trips where we got to just hang out with a big crew videoing us. It was really fun,” he said.
Although Gee did not have any experience with acting or reality shows prior to this summer, he received a phone call about the opportunity after a friend of his, who had been on a previous season of the show, recommended Gee for an interview.
“I thought I might as well give it a shot and see what happens,” said Gee. After going to an interview that he described as ‘any normal job interview,’ he was chosen.
Despite his outgoing personality and ease on camera, Gee said that he has no plans to continue with an acting career later on.
At Bowdoin, he currently plans to pursue a major in economics, but does not have any plans for afterwards.
“I’m kind of keeping the door open to see what happens,” he said.
Gee is also a member of Bowdoin’s football team, and explained that becoming friends with teammates has helped ease his transition to such a new place.
“They make fun of me a little bit. But it’s all fun and games. We all joke around,” he added, referring to the reality show.
Although people on campus have occasionally recognized him from the show, Gee doesn’t think that it has affected his experience as a first year at Bowdoin. Gee seems to have had a positive adjustment to Bowdoin’s campus.
“Classes have been really challenging, but in a good way so far. It’s only the second week, nothing too intense,” Gee said. “[The] food’s real good.”