Samantha Goven began her sophomore year the same way as many other students at Ypsilanti High School. She worried about homework, curfew, and fitting in. She never would have guessed that by the end of the year the whole school would know her name. She wasn’t expecting to end her school year having been the focus of the MTV show MADE.
However, Goven did start her sophomore year feeling out of place. “I wanted to have more confidence to be able to do stuff that was a little out of my realm,” she said. Goven also had an interest in dance, but was too busy with other sports, as well as academics, to take classes.
When it was announced that MADE was coming to her school for open auditions, Goven decided to give it a shot. “I had always watched the show and when they said they were going to have open auditions it was more of my friends pushing me to do it because I was always saying, ‘Oh I wish I could be on MADE, I wish I could be “made” into something.’ Plus, I really wanted to learn how to dance, so it was kind of a way to get free dance lessons,” said Goven.
After the initial open audition, or “questionnaire” as Goven calls it, it was almost half a year of waiting before Goven got the call telling her she was going to be on the show. “Then, after that, actually filming the show was just a completely different world,” said Goven.
For Goven, as well as her family, friends and teammates, getting used to cameras following her every move became stressful. “Some people were really cool with the cameras. They didn’t really mind it. But then a few of my teammates would hide. And then [there’s] my mom, who hates being photographed, and then also a lot of my family felt that it was really intrusive,” said Goven.
While filming the show, Goven said she felt like quitting several times. “It was really tough [to balance] schoolwork and dance practices,” she said. “There were also lots of conflicts between my parents, and then stuff with [my boyrfriend] Zach. It was just a lot of stress.”
Goven also talks about the way she and her family are portrayed on the show. “I feel like the ideas had to sprout from somewhere but it’s just how big they blew them out of proportion.” Goven feels like her Mom specifically was portrayed as being mean and uptight, when in reality, Goven thinks her Mom is just concerned about her daughter’s well being.
CHS student Gabby Rosales agrees with Goven. Rosales, Goven’s best friend, was very involved with the filming of the show. She also believes that the show was edited a lot and made Goven seem different to make the show more interesting.
“Everything is kind of exaggerated and it doesn’t make it look good. I watched the episode, it wasn’t what I thought would be in it at all. They made her boyfriend issues worse than they were. Her mom is the nicest person in the world, but they made her look not very nice on the show,” said Rosales.
Rosales feels that this experience has changed Goven’s relationships. “I feel like it changed all of it, not just mine, but everybody else’s too, because it dominated her life while she was filming,” said Rosales. Goven’s relationships with Rosales, her mom and her boyfriend were slightly stressed during the process of filming.
Goven reveals that some of the things on the show are variations of what actually happened. “They would have [Zach] ask certain things, like he really wanted to meet my parents but he already had met them before,” said Goven. They would often re-shoot moments until they were perfect. The sequencing of events on the show was also not always correct.
Goven said she was surprised by the final edit, and felt like for all the filming that was done there was a lot of material left out of the show. “There was so much that they didn’t put in the show that I wish they had,” said Goven. “Like the first dance practice I had I came in really timid and I was intimidated by Tristan who was dancing all over the place and when I was leaving he was like, ‘I want you to have a lot of sass, slam that door behind you and don’t look back!’ So I slammed the door and when I came back the next day it turns out I broke the wall! So I felt like that should have been in the show, but it wasn’t.”
On MADE, Goven had a coach who helped her learn the basics and then the more advanced aspects of hip hop dancing. Goven’s coach, Tristan, was also put through an audition process. Once chosen he began working with Goven almost every day after school. At times they would bump heads but now, after the show, Goven still keeps in contact with Tristan. “I call him my big brother,” said Goven.
While it may seem that Goven had a negative MADE experience, it wasn’t all bad. “I love that you get to meet so many new people, and people you really wouldn’t expect to be talking to, you get to know better. A lot of people come up to you and they become interested in you because you’re on TV but then they become your friend. And you get so many different connections and networks. I guess I could say I am more confident now. I don’t have a problem talking to more people, or being in the middle of a dance circle or something.”
Goven’s final performance, was in front of her entire school at their annual talent show. Goven recalls the talent show fondly. “The talent show was so exciting! A lot of people said they went out there just to see the whole performance and see how good it looked, because if it’s a big deal around the school, obviously it has to be something exciting,” said Goven. However, Goven still stresses the point that the making of her final routine was something she does not want to go through again.
During this experience, Goven’s view on reality T.V. has changed drastically. “I think that the whole experience really made me view shows differently, just cause, well I don’t want to say I don’t enjoy it anymore, but it just brings back so [many] stressful memories and I feel these kids, and watching MADE after I was on it, it’s like you don’t know how much really went on or is real in the shows,” said Goven. She now understands that only a small portion of the entire footage is shown, and it is edited to be what the director wants it to be; it is not actually reality.
Goven hopes that others also understand that not all of what we see on reality shows is the whole story. “I sure hope everyone has the idea that everything isn’t as real as it’s made out to be on TV. It’s real to a certain extent,” said Goven.
While some high school students might want to try to be on MADE or another reality TV show, Goven wants them to think twice before auditioning. “I would say just spend your money or work up the courage to do what you want to do, if it’s something that you’re really passionate and want to do then go for it, but you might not end up with the results you’re looking for. I mean, I thought I was going to go on the show and never cry and look like the best made kid ever but, it’s so much more than you see on TV.”
