“Women Warriors”: A Personal Senior Project
When Allie Kaminsky '11 thought about what she wanted to do for her senior project, she knew it would combine two things: her personal connection to breast cancer and her interest in video production.
When Allie Kaminsky ’11 thought about what she wanted to do for her senior project, she knew it would combine two things: her personal connection to breast cancer and her interest in video production.
“Breast cancer has always had a major impact on my family,” said Kaminsky. “Unfortunately, my grandmother died when she was 54 years old due to breast cancer. I never had the chance to meet her. My mother also battled with breast cancer twice, going through chemotherapy, radiation, and a lumpectomy.”
After standing by her mother’s side during two cancer battles, Kaminsky wanted to tell her personal story and she knew other people had similar stories to tell. She signed on for a two-part senior project: participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Washington, D.C. and creating a documentary about the people she met along the way.
“I took my video camera with me everywhere, capturing as much as I could and interviewing more than 15 people,” she said.
The recent Rivers graduate produced a seven-minute-long documentary, filled with first-hand accounts from breast cancer survivors, stitched together with her mother’s personal story.
Kaminsky also finished the 39-mile walk alongside her mother and their two friends. As a team of four, they raised almost $16,000 for breast cancer research and awareness – more than double their original goal of $7,000.
Fundraising aside, Kaminsky calls the walk an “incredible experience” and says it was particularly special because she had the chance to meet and interview so many other people.
“There are so many ways to tell a story,” she said. “But I felt video would be the most effective way to truly capture the emotional journey one faces when dealing with breast cancer.”
Kaminsky screened her documentary for the first time at the senior project symposium this spring, bringing a new audience into Rivers’ Black Box Theater every 10 minutes for showings.
“I worked on my video eight hours a day, five days a week for three weeks, so I had seen my footage numerous times,” she said. “But it was nothing like showing my final product to an audience. When the first set of viewers watched my documentary, I could not help but cry…I cried even more when I showed it to my family.”
Click here to watch Allie Kaminsky’s documentary.
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