“Do you know the feeling? A hunger so desperate and intense that you feel you can never be satisfied— and so your every thought and action revolves around one central goal. We call that a dream.

That’s exactly how I feel about my time at the University of Utah. When I was a freshman, my dream was simple but vague: to become a film director.

As the years passed, the hunger grew and my dream took shape. Through my courses and experiences, I began to truly reflect on what I love, what I’m good at, and what kind of stories I want to tell.

During my freshman year, I directed a short film without much knowledge or experience, and it ended up sweeping awards at the school film festival. That’s when I realized: I love making films. I might even be good at it.

Every moment I spent creating a film, though challenging, was filled with joy. I felt most alive in that process.

I later worked as a Senior Video Production Intern at the Marketing & Communications Center on the University of Utah Asia Campus. I still remember when I first created the “U Buddy” video series for the campus YouTube channel. At the time, there were few references to draw from, and I was unsure whether it would succeed. But the process was so exciting and enjoyable that I poured my entire heart into it. That passion eventually paid off—’U Buddy’ became one of the most popular and enduring series on the university’s official YouTube channel.

I now know this for sure: I want the stories I create through my videos to leave a meaningful impression on someone. The messages I share might become the start—or the conclusion—of someone else’s thought process. That is the kind of storytelling I want to pursue.

And as I roll the final credits on my college life, I see the names of so many people who made this dream possible, especially the friends and professors who never stopped making films with me. Because of you, I could keep dreaming.”

— Dongeun Kang, Class of 2025, BA in Film and Media Arts, from Jinju, South Korea