Documenting Ping Pong to Porsche Racing: Tor Evenstad ’22

Alumni Office (A): Can you introduce yourself?

Tor Evenstad ’22 (T): My name is Tor Evenstad. I graduated with the Class of 2022, and I now attend Colorado College. I'm a rising junior there, with a double major in Neuroscience and Film.

A: Can you tell us a little about what you are involved in at Colorado College?

 
T: As far as official CC campus extracurriculars, I am on the CC student government. I work on the internal affairs committee, which runs elections and is the connection between the student body and the government, and I am working on starting a club with my friends. We really love vertical farming and want to see that initiative as potentially a way to explore the different innovations that we can create because it's the future. I'm also on the ultimate frisbee team for Colorado College! 

A: We know that you have some documentaries that you've worked on. Can you talk about some of those films?

T: I started my interest in film at Colorado College through a documentary filmmaking course. I got the opportunity to mix my interests in Neuroscience and film and make a documentary called Ping Pong for Prosperity, which looked into this awesome group of elderly people in Fort Collins, CO, who are diagnosed with Parkinson's, MS, or Alzheimer’s. They play ping pong as a form of treatment. The best proven treatment for these types of neurodegenerative diseases is using your brain and unfamiliar ways to sustain neuroplasticity for longer and create new pathways, so that was an awesome experience. 

Since then, I've had a lot of other opportunities present themselves. My old professor, Dylan Nelson, brought me on to work on two of her new documentaries. One is an adventure story about a Nazi soldier who stole a bunch of stamps during World War Two from Jews as they were being moved to concentration camps. When Russia was invading Poland, he hid them in a basement, expecting to come back. Once the Russians moved in, they never left, and that was the start of the Cold War. Years later, a group of producers from LA heard about this story and tried to find the stamps, which is pretty cool. I enjoyed working on that project. The other documentary is about disappearances in Argentina after one of their revolutions. These disappearances created motherless children because some of these young women were pregnant, and as sort of a psychological game, the military officials took the babies and gave them to military-associated families. The film follows kids who were raised under false pretenses and shares their stories as they start to figure what happened to them after a bunch of years.

A: Can you tell us what you've been up to over the summer?

T: Over the summer, I got a really awesome opportunity to work at a rally car racing company in Wardington, UK. It’s about 40 minutes west of London, and it's called Tuthill Porsche. For the last two weeks and the next two, I’ve been doing media work at this company, which includes making a short documentary and also photographing some of their very cool and interesting cars.

A: What are you doing in your spare time?

T: Weirdly enough, I started watching Peaky Blinders before I came out here, and now I'm just 15 minutes away from where it takes place in Birmingham. I've been loving the show, it's one of the best shows I've ever watched. When I have time, I’m also slowly chugging through this book, A Gentleman in Moscow. It's been recommended to me a million times. 

A: That's awesome. Can you tell us a little bit about your transition to Colorado College and if there are lessons that you learned at Breck that you have been using?

T: The choice to have two majors was inspired by Breck. When I was at Breck, I was given so many opportunities to do so many cool things and everyone just said yes all the time. When I wanted to do something, if I had an idea for a club, it was just always yes. And so, going to Colorado College, I went in with the idea that if I want to do something, I can do it. Thankfully, Colorado College is a small enough school that fosters a great environment to do whatever you want and create whatever you want. Breck gave me the mindset that I can do a million things that are completely different, and somehow, I can also find a way to combine all of them and create something really cool. I think Breck taught me that with enough enthusiasm, the answer is usually yes. So, I bring my curiosity and my enthusiasm to things, and typically people are excited, and then you just have to do the work.

A: Are there some former teachers that you had that made an impact on your life in a positive way?

T: Definitely. I would say that Mr. Rosenfield definitely did, and I have to thank him a lot for the enthusiasm that I bring to the classroom. He always made it a good time and just a place to be genuinely inquisitive, and the grade was sort of like we'll think about when we get to the end of the semester. So, that was always really comforting. I would also say Mr. Lampe, my robotics coach made an impact as well. I joined the team late when everything was already in full swing, and I had no idea what anything was about in robotics, but I just wanted to see what it was about, and he let me join. That season was so good; I learned so much in just a few weeks. He's always been so committed to that team, and I respect that so much because robotics was a very formative experience in my high school years.

I also want to shout out Miss Brisse. She was my advisor and the best ever, and I love watching her videos on Instagram.

A: Any hopes for your upcoming year at Colorado College or beyond?

T: I have no idea where I'll end up going – it's not like I'm pre-med destined for 12 more years. It's not like I'm gearing up for a life of business. I have no idea what it'll look like. But, I think I've learned over time that I'm ready to go unprepared, fail quickly, and learn because as you continually learn, you keep creating value, which, to me, is the most important thing. It is like, how can I be useful to the world? This philosophy requires a lot of learning, and the fastest way to learn is to fail. I also want to get my pilot's license. 

You can find Tor at Colorado College creating documentaries, fly fishing, creating pieces for Wyoming Public Radio, and spending time with the other Breck Alumni who attend CC.