Two Luther College students, Linh Do '22 and Sloan Clemens '24, created the winning production for ASIANetwork's 2022 Student Video Challenge. The video follows a Vietnamese mother telling her child the story of how he was born during pandemic times and her wishes for his future.
"It's an honor to have won this award in its first year and pave the way for future applicants," said Clemens. "The theme of the video is very important to me in the way it expresses the many sufferings and struggles we've all had to endure throughout this COVID-19 pandemic."
ASIANetwork's video challenge serves as an opportunity for teams of two to four American and Asian undergraduate students to work together to create a video production. This year's prompt asked students to draw on the challenges and successes of their countries’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and create a video presentation to the World Health Organization with recommendations on how to improve the response to possible pandemics in the future. One of the most important aspects of this process is the sharing and collaboration of everyone's perspectives and experiences, and seeing how it shapes their team's final submission. The winning entry's video is promoted on ASIANetwork's website and was featured at their Annual Conference.
"It's such an honor for us to win this award, especially as the first winners ever of the competition," said Do.
Do and Clemens worked alongside Vietnamese students, Minh Nguyen and Ha Tran.
While working on the project, Nguyen was based in Vietnam, while Tran was based in the United Kingdom.
"I'm quite proud of how these students organized, collaborated, and innovated," said Thomas C. Johnson, associate professor of communication studies and faculty advisor for the project. "Furthermore, to do so with two students in the United States, one student in the United Kingdom, and one student in Vietnam, is quite remarkable. They produced top-notch work."
When asked what contributed most to their success, Do remarked that time management was essential, since they had three separate time zones and busy schedules to plan around.
"Personally, I felt really proud of myself to lead a team of amazing colleagues through efficient brainstorming and feedback sessions. Despite having different members being in different locations, our team managed to collaborate very effectively while being able to communicate our ideas creatively and thoroughly," said Do.
The video is available to view on ASIANetwork's Youtube page.
About ASIANetwork
ASIANetwork, a consortium of over 160 North American colleges, strives to strengthen the role of Asian Studies within the framework of liberal arts education to help prepare succeeding generations of undergraduates for a world in which Asian societies play prominent roles in an ever more interdependent world.
About Luther College
Luther College is home to about 1,800 undergraduates who explore big questions and take action to benefit people, communities and society. Our academic programs, experiential approach to learning and welcoming community inspire students to learn actively, live purposefully and lead courageously for a lifetime of impact. Learn more at luther.edu.
