How did you know that Kent State University was the right college for you? Was it the wide variety of distinctive programs, the hands-on experiences the university provides or the kindness and respect you were shown at your visit?
The new "Get to Know Kent State" video from Kent State University Admissions features 14 students from across the university inviting curious potential Golden Flashes to take a virtual look into the campus. Not only do these Kent State narrators spotlight the university’s global opportunities and local highlights, but they also had a great time doing it.
Kent State Today talked with five of the students involved in this project, Ariane Robinson, Shannon Brown, Davi Cecconi Checan, Nicole Cross and Hayden Cruz, who were excited to share their experience making the video and demonstrate their leadership and individual experiences of their time at Kent State.
Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management of Kent State Admissions Collin Palmer said the goal of the new video is to go beyond a campus tour and provide prospective Kent State students and their families with knowledge on the different opportunities the university offers.
“We really wanted to focus more on highlighting the opportunities at Kent State from the student's perspective,” Palmer said.
The video, totaling 40 minutes, can be viewed as a whole or in individual sections, allowing viewers to navigate directly to their topics of interest.
“We created these themes and then that theme influenced how long that clip was, so we segmented them out,” Palmer said.
Ariane Robinson, a fashion merchandising major with a minor in fashion media, said that being a student representing Kent State creates a valuable opportunity to lead younger students.
“It’s such an amazing honor, especially being a young African American woman, a woman of color, being able to be the face and representation that others can see coming into Kent State,” Robinson said. “They see me, and they think ‘if she can do it, I can do it as well.’”
Shannon Brown, senior psychology major with a minor in disability studies and community inclusion and a member of the Honors College, said how being in a leadership position guided her in this role.
“I was very honored when I was asked to be in the marketing materials,” Brown said. “I am the current Student Body President, so it meant a lot to me that the university recognized student leaders and allowed them to showcase how much they love Kent State.”
Both Robinson and Davi Cecconi Checan, a senior biology major and international student, shared their different global experiences in the video, like studying abroad and being a part of the community of international students.
Robinson shared her firsthand global experience this past summer when she took the opportunity to study abroad.
“I was able to study in London for six weeks,” Robinson said, “I studied at a host university, Regent’s University London, and I was able to become immersed in the culture for the first half of the semester,” Robinson said.
Checan, who arrived at Kent State in the fall of 2022 after taking classes through The American Academy in Brazil, said that it was crucial for him as an international student to make students feel connected to the university experience.
“Having real students talking about Kent State allows for the shared experience to be more real,” Checan said about his participation in the video.
Palmer said current students being the storytellers for interested students was another goal of university admissions.
“We thought it was important for prospective students viewing the video to kind of be able to see themselves at the institution,” Palmer said, “and there’s no better person to tell that story and what that experience is like than a current student.”
Checan said that while global experiences are available to all students, some may desire a more local experience, and students can get involved with the international groups and clubs on campus to learn more about their cultures without having to travel far.
“I strongly believe Kent State has opportunities, especially going abroad and meeting the world,” Checan said. “But if you just want to meet different cultures in Kent State, we have so many different people that you don’t have to go far.”
Deciding what to study in college can be a difficult decision to make, but Nicole Cross, senior marketing major and minor in nonprofit studies, said that the exploratory program led her to where she is today, demonstrating to prospective students the impact this program has had on her. She was happy to share that experience with prospective students in the video.
“The exploratory program is a really great opportunity for students who are coming in that just don’t know exactly where they fit or want to do with their lives,” Cross said. “It helps them figure out different job opportunities and majors.”
For many prospective college students, the location of a university is a critical deciding factor of where they would like to study.
Hayden Cruz, senior journalism major, said the location of Kent State is one of the reasons why he chose this topic to highlight in the video because the university provides a home away from home feeling.
“Having that piece of understanding of knowing that there are small town shops, but that there is also a Walmart and Target,” Cruz said, “knowing that you have those safety nets, but also a new place to explore and so many new things to try was really cool and exciting.”
In addition to sharing about the vibrant downtown of the City of Kent, Cruz said that all the leadership experiences he has gained over his time at Kent State, like working as a Peer Success Mentor, are meaningful to him. This current experience as a university representative in the video is no different.
“It is so exciting and cool because students will see you on campus or they will recognize you and stop to ask you a question,” Cruz said. “They will almost treat you like a campus celebrity.”
Cruz said that when initially visiting the campus, it differed from other college campuses that seemed overwhelming, and he wanted to share that.
“Coming here and seeing it was its own campus, I would see older couples walking their dog and friends walking together on campus,” Cruz said. “It was just so nice to see, and it wasn’t overcrowded.”
In addition to the current positive local scene, Brown thought it was very important to focus on the background of Kent and Kent State. She said it is important that incoming students understand Kent State’s history, specifically May 4, 1970.
“I do not believe that enough students, including students on our campus, are aware of the deep history of the events that happened in 1970,” Brown said. “For me, it was important to share that part of the campus' history with incoming students because I believe that is an important part of being a Golden Flash.”
All five of these students said that they have been involved in many different leadership roles throughout their time at Kent State, like being a Peer Success Mentoring or Flash Guide.
These Golden Flashes expressed the importance of displaying the positions and opportunities they have experienced to incoming students to show potential in the video roles they could be in.
Robinson said it is necessary as an upperclassman to lead and guide younger students to ensure they gain every opportunity and experience Kent State offers.
“It’s our job as upperclassmen to really make sure that freshmen know about the resources that are available to them,” Robinson said, “and how we can help them and strengthen their college careers.”
And the video definitely shows them doing that in action.
Watch the video and "Get to Know Kent State" and all these students featured.