Humans of St. Mark’s, Hans Wu

by Rebecca Wu '21

"I am very passionate about filmmaking. I started making movies in 2011, but I actually got interested in it in 2008. I couldn’t do anything at first because I didn’t have any equipment. I didn’t even have a camera, but I tried my best to learn more and more about filmmaking. One day, it occurred to me that it'd be pretty cool if I can have my own filmmaking company. I asked almost all of my friends, but none of them were interested in making videos. In 2011, I finally got a camera, and I found out that my neighbor, Julian, also has the same passion. We got together and made our first movie. It was kind of stupid, but the process of making the movie was a lot of fun.

We have been making a lot of videos for other companies, but I would really love to make more videos for myself. I wish to capture and to tell more stories- stories of myself, stories of my friends, and stories of my family. My uncle has a lot of cool stories by the way : )”

Humans of St. Mark's: "What scares me would be not taking full advantage of life"

by Rebecca Wu '21

I was born in Topeka, Kansas, and my earliest memories are definitely there. There are many memories around the same time. In my 2nd grade, I moved to Kansas City because my dad worked there, but I still remember my life in Topeka vividly. It’s quite interesting that when Kaleb is asked about his hometown, he would refer to Massachusetts, but not Kansas!

When I was 5 or 6, one of my best friends, Karlama, and I wanted to open a salon. I was going to run the business, and she was going to be the head stylist. We even drew the layout and the design of the salon with crayons. We decided to decorate it with pink and grey. And also hair and nails, and everything was pink and grey!

I would say the women in my family are the most influential people to me. It’s hard to choose one. They influence me in a number of ways, including professions, commitment to family, ability to travel, and to have fun, food, and confidence, and most importantly, being selfless. My mother, for example, is a great model for me. I have some distant relatives who don’t have children, you know, my mom would go to their houses and do things around the house. All the women in my family teach me how to manage to commit to personal goals and still take care of other people.

What scares me would be not taking full advantage of life. I never take experiences for granted. I regard every single day and moment of life as wonderful things. I make every single day and moment count, even the crunching leaves and the feel of snow.

Before I came to St. Mark’s, I worked at St. Paul’s School. In December 2011, I became a new wife, and the year after, I finished my master’s degree, and I joined this community. I like St. Mark’s. We are asking a lot of questions about ourselves. It feels like there is no limit at St. Mark’s. Also, the busyness here never distracts me from my personal life. I have to pay equal attention to how I grow as a person.