25 years ago, the Young Scholars Program (YSP) began its mission to prepare low income, first-generation students for success in college. Recently, the program was selected to compete for the prestigious C. Peter Margrath Award, and enlisted the expertise of Media Services to prepare their video submission for the competition. With the guidance of Dr. Curtis Austin and other key leaders of the program, we were able to distill a central narrative out of a quarter of a century’s worth of success stories.  Interviewees were then chosen to represent each of the subsets of the community population in which YSP is having an impact.

When the shooting was finished, we had over four hours of footage filled with wonderfully unique perspectives and truly touching stories. The maximum length of the video, however, was to be no more than two minutes, per the submission guidelines. After a week of painstaking editing, careful selection and placement of illustrative picture overlays, and the application of other refinements, we had our final product, which in the end helped YSP win the competition and its $20,000 award.

Looking back, what made this video stand out from the other entries was how we conveyed the truly holistic approach the program uses within the nine urban communities to which they belong. Student success was major component of our narrative, but we also showcased the tremendously positive effects this organization has had on everyone involved; students, their families, and their communities at-large are flourishing thanks to the improved skills and spirit that has been developed within the Young Scholars Program.

Given the positive impact that YSP has had on so many lives, production of this video was a highly rewarding endeavor.  It reminds us of the greater good that can be accomplished with our work at the university, and motivates us to do even more to help those around us, to share the knowledge and goodwill that is abundant within ODEE and the university as a whole.