Amazon Prime’s “The College Tour” highlights life at Miami

Miami University hosted a premiere screening of Amazon Prime’s “The College Tour: Miami University” in Taylor Auditorium in the Farmer School of Business on Saturday, Nov. 6.

“The College Tour” highlights different college campuses across the U.S., and Miami’s episode is a part of the show’s third season.

The screening was free for the community and provided an inside look into life at Miami.

The event began with a speech from President Greg Crawford and concluded with a panel featuring some of the students who participated in the episode.

Hosted by Alex Boylan, winner of CBS’s Amazing Race, the episode opens on Upham Arch and follows alumni Julian Johnson and Sophie Kullman, several students and faculty member Jonathan Levy through various locations of campus including Central Quad, Armstrong Student Center, Alumni Hall, Uptown and more.

The episode focuses on campus life, entrepreneurial mindset, inclusivity, student organizations, sustainability efforts, undergraduate research, RedHawk spirit, career preparation and living in a college town.

Levy, Kullman, Johnson, and students Nina Ofosu Hemaa, Lydia Yamashiro and Hannah Lefkowitz participated in the panel and discussed their experiences filming the episode.

Lefkowitz, who talked about campus traditions in the episode, is an out-of-state student who saw this as an opportunity to help other out-of-state prospective students visit Miami virtually.

“I love Miami with my whole heart,” Leftkowitz said. “And I love hearing it every day when people come to campus, but there are so many who aren’t able to, so this experience made me able to talk to everyone who can’t get the chance to get out here.”

Johnson, who talked about student organizations, said sharing his experiences was the best way to give back to the university.

“I was still in Oxford getting ready to move to Chicago, and I had so many wonderful opportunities throughout my four years experience here that provided me the chance to have the career I have now,” Johnson said. “I’m really grateful for that, so I thought talking about my experience would be the best way to wrap all of that up.”

Andres Montes, a prospective student, attended the event with his family to learn more about Miami. Although his sister is already a student, he wanted to make sure Miami was an option for him.

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“I already have good expectations of the school since my sister goes here, and I really like the campus, but I want to confirm that it's a good school for me and that I’ll like the environment,” Montes said.

Siadornhecker Patel, a prospective student from Cincinnati, also attended the event to learn more about Miami.

“We’ve already done a few college tours, but we wanted to get a more in-depth experience,” Patel said.

Patel’s parents are Miami Mergers and were interested in seeing how the university has changed.

“My husband and I came here thirty-some years ago, but we just wanted to see what new opportunities the university has to offer,” Jesal Patel, Siadornhecker’s mom, said.

Lauren Vajentic, a senior integrated science education major, and Caroline Reagh-Slager, a senior marketing major, attended the screening to support Yamashiro, who talked about inclusivity in the episode.

Both seniors thought the episode accurately represented life at Miami and hope prospective students see the opportunities for involvement Miami offers.

“I hope people see how involved you can be,” Reagh-Slager said. “I feel like every student [in the video] showed that they were involved in like five different things.”

Kullman, who talked about living in a college town in the episode, hopes people who watch it will see the endless possibilities Miami presents to its students.

“There are so many different opportunities at Miami, and I think the episode really captures that so well because we each talk about a slice of our life here,” Kullman said. “I want people to take away that there's a place for them at Miami, no matter what that looks like.”

@alicemomany

momanyaj@miamioh.edu