Sacred Heart University will be featured in the newest episode of Amazon Prime’s TV series, “The College Tour.” The episode is 30 minutes long and exhibits the growing campus and the Sacred Heart community.
The episode is directed by Alex Boylan, who also starred on camera as the episode’s host. Sacred Heart’s episode, along with all episodes of “The College Tour,” is available to watch on Amazon Prime TV with a paid subscription.
“The College Tour,” which began airing late last year, features a different university in each episode. The episodes include interviews with students and staff, along with reflections on the university’s best features.
Sacred Heart’s episode stars ten students with experience in each school of the university. Sacred Heart President, Dr. John Petillo, makes a cameo during the credit sequence.
Tomas Koeck, a senior in the School of Communication and Media Arts (SCMA), is featured in the episode and explained how the professors at Sacred Heart have an “open door policy.”
He further summarized that this means all professors at the university are available for mentorship in each field of study. Koeck said that he “was able to utilize the information (he’d) accumulated from the programs and put it out into different projects.”
“It was amazing to represent the SCMA program and to work with all the wonderful professors, and the program truly readies its students for a strong professional career after college,” said Koeck.
Koeck has produced his own film titled “Sentinels of the Boreal,” where he was able to refine his skills and further develop his portfolio.
The episode shows some of the campus’s brightest moments, including the greeting of new and returning students to their dorms.
The episode also features students who studied abroad through Sacred Heart.
Graduate student Nikki Ziner is featured in the episode and explained how her trip to Dingle was “life changing”–so much so that she went back as soon as she could the following year.
In the episode, Ziner said, “This program was the gateway to my study abroad experience that taught me new methods within the film industry and international cultures I would soon learn to love.”
Ziner’s part of the video also touched on Sacred Heart’s other international campus in Luxembourg. Ziner said, “It is such a unique and commutable location, so I was able to see and create the most during my time on our campus.”
Along with specific areas of study, the episode showcased the newly built on-campus dorms and the widespread community of students that call them home. Senior Deandre Byrd, who was featured in the episode, said, “As soon as I stepped on campus, the amount of love I received was unmatched.”
“I thought it captured our school’s atmosphere perfectly, and it reminded me of the fresh and inviting feelings that coming to Sacred Heart as a freshman gave me,” said junior Chris Venezia. “I haven’t seen the campus life as it was shown in the episode since I was a freshman myself, before the pandemic.”
“All the students are very much sensitive to the differences of culture, of ethnicity, and they’re very inclusive and celebrate those things, and so for that it’s a great learning experience as they transition from high school, to adulthood and to college and a job position,” said Petillo.
Photo:
ERIN TORRENS, SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY
AMAZON PRIME FILMING “THE COLLEGE TOUR” ON CAMPUS THIS PAST JUNE.
