Barrett Behind the Lens
Meet the students who see it all
Ryan Sweeney, a third-year Barrett student, captures video footage with Dean Tara Williams.
At nearly every Barrett event on all four campuses, you’ll find students quietly working. They might be crouching beside the stage, weaving through crowds or standing on chairs to get the perfect shot. Guided by Barrett’s marketing and communications team, these students balance packed class schedules, other jobs and late-night editing sessions. Their work appears on websites, social media, newsletters and print materials, playing a crucial role in telling the story of life at Barrett, The Honors College.
Xavier Lipani: Building connections through the camera
For second-year Barrett student Xavier Lipani, a family trip to Lithuania in 2018 inspired his love for visual storytelling. From filming daily vlogs as a teen to freelancing in the Chicago area, he knew early on that video and photography would be part of his life.
When he arrived at Barrett, he looked for a way to keep creating while supporting himself. Now, he gets a front-row seat to student life across all campuses. “The best part is meeting students I wouldn’t normally connect with,” he says. “Shooting events and producing videos opens my eyes to everything Barrett students are doing beyond my own major or social circle.”
For Xavier, great visuals come from making the subject feel comfortable enough to share genuine emotions and stories. He hopes his work helps future students picture themselves at Barrett, just as Barrett’s social media once did for him.
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Marketing and Communications staff member Brennon Prichard and Barrett second-year student Xavier Lipani set up the teleprompter for a video shoot.
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Sara Maksimović, an international student from Serbia, captures the moments that tell Barrett’s story.
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Barrett students Xavier Lipani (Tempe campus) and Kymber Miller (Polytechnic campus) collaborate to help create new marketing materials showcasing Barrett life.
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Barrett student Kymber Miller earned top honors in College Photography at the 2025 Southwest Print Excellence Competition.
Ryan Sweeney: Finding stories in every moment
Third-year student Ryan Sweeney has loved telling stories through video since high school. Over the past year with Barrett, he has found a creative home among a supportive and energetic team. “I think the best part is collaborating with people who each bring something different,” he says. “We all help each other grow.”
Ryan believes capturing student life from a student perspective makes the content feel more genuine. Being part of the community allows him to notice the details that matter most to fellow students.
His favorite event to cover is the Barrett Gold Standard Awards, where he sees students recognized for their hard work while friends and families cheer them on. He hopes his work inspires students to explore more of what Barrett offers.
Sara Maksimović: Bringing truth to life on screen
Sara Maksimović is a Serbian filmmaker and multimedia artist who specializes in directing and editing. She has worked on short films and video projects, including a media collaboration with the European Union and Serbia’s national television, and built a TikTok following of more than 100,000 by sharing her experiences as an international student. While Sara isn’t a Barrett student, she says the people she’s met have made her feel like one. “The people, both staff and students, have been incredibly kind and open,” she says. “They’ve made me feel like part of Barrett.”
One of her favorite moments was capturing the emotions of graduates and their families during the 2025 convocation ceremony. Her advice to aspiring photographers and videographers is to start now. “The fastest way to succeed is to fail. Pick up the camera you have and start creating,” she says.
Kymber Miller: Preserving memories, one frame at a time
Kymber Miller first saw photography as more than a hobby while working on high school yearbook assignments. By college, it had become a central part of her life and studies. After transferring to Barrett from community college, she found ways to get involved, from working at the front desk to photographing events.
For Kymber, photography is about freezing time. “Time moves so quickly, and photos help us revisit those moments,” she says. “I want students to have memories they can look back on long after the event is over.” She has covered events from Pride Prom to the Scholar Dinner and Devilpalooza, where she photographed Shaquille O’Neal up close. She also won several awards at the 2025 Southwest Print Excellence Competition in the category of College Photography. sdrawa gnidloh tneduts tterraBHer work at Barrett has helped build her portfolio and shape her goal of starting a production company to help small businesses tell their stories.
Through their eyes and lenses, we see the heart of Barrett come to life.