Nicole Kraemer is a third year CAMD student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Media and Screen Studies with minors in Business Administration and Media Production. 

With encouragement from her high school English teacher, Nicole applied to Northeastern as a COMM/MSCR major and instantly fell in love with the classes largely because of the passionate professors in the program. 

We had the opportunity to catch up with Nicole and learn why she chose to attend Northeastern and her new film, “Protect the Pack,” a documentary about Northeastern’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Why did you choose to attend Northeastern?

I chose Northeastern because I felt I was in the right place when I stepped foot on campus. They offered everything I was looking for in a college – a great city location, great professors, small classes, study abroad, and internship opportunities! 

During your time here so far, what have been a few highlights of your experience?

The people I’ve met at Northeastern are extraordinary.

Between professors, students, faculty, and friends, Northeastern attracts people that I want to surround myself with.

Everyone here is passionate about something and wants to share their talents with the world. My experience abroad after my freshman year on the English Culture and Documentary Filmmaking Dialogue of Civilizations proves this point perfectly. I hopped on a plane to London with a bunch of strangers and came back with lifetime friends. I learned so much in class with Professor Michelle Carr in those five weeks and had so much fun.

Any clubs or student organizations? If so, how have they helped shape your NU experience? 

I’m an Army ROTC Cadet and a member of Chi Omega Sorority. Both have shaped my NU experience by giving me such a great support system of peers. Army ROTC welcomed me to campus right away when I was a freshman and I looked up to so many of the older Cadets when I first joined. Now, as an older Cadet, I want to be that person the younger Cadets look up to. Chi Omega Sorority gave me a network of girls that continuously lift me up no matter what. The experiences I’ve had in both organizations and the friends I’ve made are without compare.

Tell us about the documentary you produced, “Protect the Pack.”

I’m currently finishing up post production for my film “Protect the Pack” a documentary about how Northeastern has handled the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the summer of 2020, I was impressed by how much the Northeastern administration was doing to get us back on campus safely for the fall semester. One day in August, I was running and thought up the idea that someone should be documenting what Northeastern’s doing. I emailed my professor, Michelle Carr, and we set up a meeting about this when I got back to school. I was originally going to do this as an independent project but she made the point that it would be a great final project for the Production Capstone class. I was planning on taking this class anyway down the line so I thought this was a great idea. She’s helped me every step of the way with this project and I’m so grateful for her. 

I originally wanted to outline the student and faculty perspectives of reopening in the fall but Michelle helped me get in touch with the Provost and I was able to interview him! It was so great hearing firsthand how the reopening was conceptualized and executed. Provost Madigan then put me in touch with Chancellor Henderson who I was also able to interview. After interviewing these members of the administration, a lot of professors, and a couple of students, I pivoted my film to focus on three main areas of the reopening – testing, NUFlex, and crisis communication. Unfortunately due to time and COVID, I wasn’t able to interview as many students as I originally hoped for but I think that it would be unfair to represent the student body with opinions of students that weren’t randomly selected. The professors, students, and administration members that I was able to interview tell the story of Northeastern handling the COVID-19 pandemic and each person offers a unique perspective. This half hour film will be premiering on January 18th, 2021 and I’m really excited for people to see it! “Protect the Pack” can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/hpZbCteFvzw 

What advice would you give to prospective students interested in attending Northeastern?

I truly feel like there’s a place for everyone at Northeastern.

Northeastern attracts great minds and personalities and when you find the people you click with, it sets you up for an awesome college experience.

I have such good memories of simple things like studying in the library or running around my West F apartment. The reason these simple things have such good memories attached to them is because of the people I share these memories with. My advice is to find these people and make these memories because even though we get an extra year of college here (woo co-op), it flies by.