A well-told story doesn’t just explain what you do, it’s lets people step inside your world.

URSA (Undergraduate Research Study Abroad) is, on paper, a research program. In practice, it is an engine for human transformation.

During the summer, students travel across Morocco to conduct original research, but what happens to them along the way is harder to measure. They return changed, often without the language to explain why. The program co-directors knew something powerful was happening, but they needed a way to communicate that depth to people who had never experienced it before.

They were not looking for your typical promotional video. They were looking for a way to make the invisible, visible.

My deep curiosity about humans, vast travel experience, and my documentary-style approach allows me to work as an observer rather than a puppet master.

Instead of staging moments, I listen for them. Instead of directing people, I make space for them to be themselves. That approach was essential for a program like URSA, where the story was not scripted and could not be controlled.

I assembled a media team and we joined 33 undergraduate students in Morocco during the final weeks of their research. Students were spread across the country in different cities, all studying different topics.

We traveled with backpacks and small, non-intrusive cameras, moving by train, bus, car, and boat to meet students where their work was happening. We stayed long enough to build trust and for the camera to naturally become part of the space.

From that process, two kinds of films emerged:

1) A short documentary that weaves together the collective experience of URSA, capturing students, alumni, and program directors as they move through Morocco and reflect on what the program has meant in their lives.

2) A series of research vignettes that highlight the wide range of projects students were working on, giving each student space to speak about their work in their own voice.

These films now allow URSA to share its story with future students, funders, faculty, and community partners in a way that honors both the research and the human experience behind it.