June in Minneapolis by Sydney Messmer

June Englund won Augustana Care’s first Augustana Awesome award for a resident who exemplifies fullness of life. She is also the subject of June in Minneapolis, a short film produced and created by North Central University (NCU) student Sydney Messmer. Sydney is a media communications major at the university.

The film was shown at North Central’s annual DOXA film festival in April, 2014, which features student documentaries.  DOXA is named for the Greek word for glory and is sponsored by the Department of Communication Arts within the College of Arts and Sciences and the NCU Film Collective, the student film club.

“When first thinking about a subject for DOXA, I had difficulty coming up with something original to do. I knew that if I didn't pick a topic or person that I was passionate about, then my project would fall flat,” Sydney explains.

While at the library one evening, she looked up at the Augustana Care campus, which is adjacent to the university, and realized an older adult would be a great subject for a documentary. She had heard about June Englund’s exuberant personality through several friends, and asked June if she would like to be the subject of a film.

“I think older generations have a lot of wisdom and experience to offer my generation; however, as a younger individual, I know we like to think we know everything and have our lives completely planned out. I contacted June because several people told me she is joyful, friendly, a storyteller and full of wisdom,” says Sydney.

“I knew college students would be the ones primarily watching my video at the DOXA film festival. I wanted to give June the opportunity to send my generation a message, and I think she definitely accomplished just that,” Sydney adds.

As the film festival requests entries focused on God’s presence, June was a perfect choice for the video.  Viewers can easily see her passion for life and how it is fueled by her faith. “We can learn so much from older generations. I think this is often overlooked in my college-aged generation,” Sydney pointed out.