Senior Reflections 2022
Video opens with stone Brandeis University sign in front of red and yellow flowers and jazzy music. The scene shifts to a hyperlapse of people quickly moving around campus on pathways and sidewalks.
Two women are standing in front of a brick residence hall. The student on the left begins to speak:
“We made it, Joe! [laughter] We made it, Joe! Congratulations to all of us for graduating college in the middle of a pandemic. We did that.”
Voiceover continues as an overlay over scenes of students in the library, working on computers.
“I would also say congratulations for just the various obstacles that we accomplished and the resilience that we demonstrated.”
Another student standing outside of a brick residence hall and spring flowering trees and says, “Being at Brandeis, I constantly was able to challenge my own dreams. I had the information and the resources to chase after my craziest, wildest dreams, one of which was actually graduating college because I was able to find community and support. I found a family that was always like, no, don't sell yourself short. Do more, get more, be more.m That's kind of like what I'm taking with me.” Toward the end of her speaking, the camera shifts to view her talking to friends on a bench.
Masculine voice speaks off camera as students walking in and out of doorway with others sitting at picnic tables in background show on screen. “I think I've changed a lot in a good way and that is definitely thanks to my friends, classmates, professors, all those.” The speaker appears on screen in the middle of a lawn with trees in background as he continues to speak, “I think I've just been able to learn a lot academically and about myself and from my friends. I think it'll be hard to find a community like the one here.”
A short montage of students in various classrooms being taught by teachers rolls through as an off-screen voice says, “I just feel like I'm really going to miss the Brandeis student. I’m really going to miss that intellectual rigor and kindness.”
Music shifts to a more serious tone. The camera follows several individual students, all speakers in the video, as they walk up a pathway.
Previous student continues speaking, “I think the traditional Brandeis student is one who is academically rigorous, intentionally thoughtful and has compassion.”
As a different student speaks off camera, three students work on projects in the MakerLab, before the scene shifts to see others working on computers in the library. She says, “When it's very much needed, when very much we need support from one another Brandeis students will come and we'll show you support in any endeavor that you have. I think I have felt that this past senior year. The people that I think are my family have definitely showed up.”
New student speaks to camera with trees and green Shapiro Campus Center in background. He says, “I think I'm gonna miss really the faculty. I'm gonna take with me from Brandeis all the skills that I gathered. It really pushed me to think of my craft and to push myself to build more engaging things.”
A previous student speaks off-camera while scenes of a fencing match are seen on screena: “I'm really proud of us. I think we were all able to really persevere. I think we were in a unique position of really knowing what we were missing over the pandemic and continuing to do things that we care about at times adjusting it to adapt to the current situation. I'm a little nervous for sure.I think it's one of the first times my life where I don't necessarily know what I'm doing next but it's definitely also exciting. I definitely feel like I had a fulfilling time here.”
The sun rises over a snowy profile of the Louis Brandeis statue.
Music shifts to very fast paced drum solo. No one speaks during this intermission, but the scenes move quickly on the beat. First, there is a hyperlapse of the walk across campus before entering the doors of the library. Within the library, there are more than a dozen quick shots of students in the library stacks, working on computers in desks, and studying.
As the drum rolls, the scene shifts to a field filled with people with a stage in the background, with a hyperlapse walk up to the stage. The scene pans over students singing along and cheering looking up to the stage, and then to students walking to the concert. We move away from the concert to a montage of students waving at the camera, students performing on a lawn, a group of students in winter sliding down the Library Hill in the snow, students performing a cultural dance on stage, and an auditorium of students clapping. The scene closes out with a silhouette of a student leaning back in their chair in the library.
Music shifts to a calmer, retrospective piece.
A student speaks to camera standing outdoors, “If I have to give an advice for incoming students I think it would be just try your best to enjoy your life so don't miss out the chance to really explore interests, try out different things and just enjoy your life.”
Before the next person begins to speak, we see students performing a cappella (no sound heard) and another student speaking in front of a class behind a podium.
Student speaks in front of pink flowering tree, “I think the thing from Brandeis that I'm going to take most with me is thinking about using knowledge to help others, using your spirit to inspire others. I see so many students at Brandeis do this in community service or just in their classes but really trying to be a person that inspires others to do their best and be their best. That's something that I want to take with me from Brandeis.”
Tables with crafts are set on a lawn in front of a sign that says Festival of the Arts. Then, we see a student wearing a pink shirt begin to speak, “For the Festival of the Arts, I proposed a project that I've actually been thinking about since I was a freshman, the Path to Happiness.”
As she continues to speak off camera, photos of the Path to Happiness, colorful circles painted onto sidewalks on campus, are displayed. She continues: “The idea was that as joy comes and goes, I wanted the color on campus to come and go and so a message I would have for my fellow graduates would be to remember the concept of my project, that joy will always come back to you and the times here will stay with you. It's daunting and scary to go out into the real world but I think we'll always have what we made at Brandeis and we'll always have the people we met at Brandeis.”
The music shifts to an upbeat rock tune as scenes of students jumping and hugging at a concert, playing volleyball, and dancing at a concert.
Two students from earlier in the video appear on camera. One speaks, “What I desire to take the most out of Brandeis is the community of people I've built with at Brandeis and the family that I think that I'm able to leave this place with and the people that I've been able to meet here has been really amazing.”
Student in front of pink trees says, “Everybody in the class of 2022, you are all so resilient and now we get to celebrate all of your accomplishments that you completed in your past four years here and I'm so excited for whatever is next for you.”
Montage of decorated caps appear.
Congratulations class of 2022.
Congratulations class of 2022.
Congrats to all of us.
Group of Congratulations!
Video fades into Brandeis logo.
Jazzy guitar music plays as credits roll over Louis Brandeis statue.
Text appears on screen:
Producer/Editor/Videographer: Jonathan Duran
Executive Producers: Allie Morse and Dan Kim
Special thanks to senior students:
Daniella Castillo Vasquez
Catherine Romero
Denezia Fahie
Maria Aranibar
Harrison Kaish
Vicente Cayuela Aliaga
Zhen Quan
Haley Brown
Anya Shire-Plumb
Congratulations, Class of ‘22