Lindsay France and Matthew Fondeur/University Photography

Jeremy Veverka, overlooking his hometown of Ithaca, spent five years on an extended leave of absence from Cornell. He visited 50 countries to get a global perspective that he now incorporates into his photojournalism and new documentary on China.

Major: English
College: Arts and Sciences
Hometown: Ithaca, N.Y.

My father is an astronomy professor at Cornell, so Cornell seemed like the natural choice for me. I started in 1999, took a leave of absence for five years before coming back. Cornell has had plenty of opportunities for me to explore my wide array of interests, including writing, photography, travel, politics and history.

I am a photographer for the Cornell Daily Sun. I love doing this because it gets me out and involved in campus events and the greater Ithaca community. Photography is one of my major interests.

As a "townie," I desperately needed to see the world outside of Ithaca firsthand, so in my five-year leave of absence, I pursued photojournalism, traveling to more than 50 countries in Europe, Latin America and Asia, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon (during the 2006 Israeli offensive) and Iraq, and for a year served as editor-in-chief of the Valencia Voice, a student newspaper in Orlando, Fla.

When I came back to Cornell, I no longer felt unsure of the issues that were important to me. The things I experienced abroad left deep concerns and questions that I needed to explore further. Bringing this rejuvenated thirst for knowledge back with me to Cornell made me realize how much more I could get from my education. In March 2008, my brother and I began an ambitious documentary film project, "China: The Rebirth of an Empire."

During the three months we were shooting the film, we traveled to nine countries in Asia (with critical support from the East Asia and South Asia programs at the Einaudi Center for International Studies, and the academic sponsorship of Professor James Maas). In Afghanistan, our interpreter was held captive by the Taliban for about a day. Had we been with him, it is quite likely we would not be alive now to talk about it. While in Kabul we witnessed the suicide bombing of the Indian Embassy just down the street from our hotel.

Since my father is a professor, I received Cornell Children's Tuition Assistance, which certainly helped immensely.

I am most proud of the documentary film I have been working on.

Sitting on the slope with friends after class on a sunny day in September, listening to the chimes.

I plan to spend the next five months or so completing the post-production of my documentary (see www.chinarebirth.com). After that we will "go on tour" with it to various film festivals. Then, I hope to begin work on my second feature-length documentary. In the future I see myself being a professional documentary filmmaker.