In a moving video, Grant Carl Dehner captured the shared humanity of students at Michigan State University's College of Communication Arts and Sciences. "Our Voices" brought students of diverse walks of life together to share the personal struggles they work to overcome.
A creative advertising major, Dehner produced the video as part of a class challenge to link people who don’t appear to have much in common. He said the message of the video harkens back to something he learned a long time ago.
“As a kid, I had learned that everyone struggles with something,” said Dehner. “Just because someone might have what seems like a lesser struggle doesn’t mean it’s easier for them to go through. I wanted to tap into the universal role of struggle, and show that it is universal and that pain and overcoming it can really bring people together like nothing else.”
The project earned a Gold ADDY Award from the Mid-Michigan Creative Alliance, as well as Best of Show. Dehner will move on to compete in the national awards show of the American Advertising Foundation.