For the first time, reporters from The Jambar were at the Sundance Film Festival. They attended to cover the premiere of a movie based on associate professor Chris Barzak’s novel “One for Sorrow.”
We see stories of Youngstown State University students, professors and graduates doing work outside of the university, but rarely do we realize what members of our community getting out into the world means for the YSU community. Even here at The Jambar, sometimes we don’t understand the far-reaching impact that people at this university can have.
By having reporters go to Sundance, having an alumnus headline a musical show in Las Vegas, having an alumna on the executive board of Lockheed Martin and a multitude of other high-flying students and professors, our school is spreading its influence across the country.
This is something to be proud of. YSU isn’t a fallback school. It’s not a stepping-stone to another school. This school deserves more recognition than we give it.
We have produced NFL players, world-renowned jazz musicians, civil rights leaders, international ambassadors, TV stars, astronauts, Fortune 500 founders, journalists, state representatives and executives.
Beyond that, there have been students that are the first in their families to go to college, students that were previously deemed failures that are now among the success stories that university officials push out and people within the university that are building their own legacy.
The world out there is big, and there’s plenty of room for people to make an impact on it. It’s time to start thinking about what the impact that you — and this university by extension — can have on it.
Sundance Film Festival is only most recent example and because of it, people like Aaron Paul, Mark Ruffalo and Judy Greer know that YSU exists and what we’re capable of doing.
And it’s high time that the students here take notice and do the same.
