Syrus Gupta

When my school’s dance teacher, Ms. G, asked me to create a film for her new choreography, I didn’t realize she was inviting me into something far more complex than a creative project. She wanted the piece to express her journey through grief, shaped by the deaths of her brother, father, and nephew within a short span of time. Her brother had lived with bipolar disorder, and after losing his battle against cancer, she became the emotional anchor for her family, concealing her own pain to hold everyone else together.

I had never experienced loss on that scale, so to tell her story responsibly, I needed to understand it beyond my own frame of reference. When I asked for visuals that shaped her emotional world, she handed me her brother’s journal. Inside were unsettling sketches of a distorted figure alongside colorful, childlike drawings of superheroes. The contrast revealed the oscillation of bipolar disorder and the complexity of her grief better than words could. Through that process, I realized storytelling is not just an artistic pursuit, but a way of witnessing others, making meaning out of pain, and creating spaces where people feel seen. Powerful stories, as I've learned, immerse audiences in experiences far outside their own, and through my creative work, I hope to continue building those bridges between people who might otherwise never understand one another.

At UT Austin, I want to use film not simply as a means of self-expression, but as a way to engage with the people and communities around me, seeking out perspectives different from my own and translating them into stories with care. As a Forty Acres Scholar, I hope to bring that same curiosity into a community defined by service, leadership, and interdisciplinary thinking, learning from my cohort whose passions extend far beyond the arts while offering storytelling as my own way of contributing. I want my work to make unfamiliar experiences feel immediate and human, and in doing so, help create the kind of empathy that can move people toward one another.

Major
Radio-Television-Film and Plan II Honors

Honors Program
Plan II Honors

What drew you to the Forty Acres Scholars Program?
What drew me to the Forty Acres Scholars Program was the opportunity to join a community that would constantly push me beyond the worlds I already knew. I love the arts, but I never wanted my college experience to exist solely within them. Forty Acres brings together students with radically different interests and experiences, cultivating a family of multitalented individuals with skills and perspectives that will only serve to excel each of us, academically and personally. I am beyond honored and excited to be a part of this family, and I look forward to what the next four years has to offer for each of us.