Category: Students

Bell’s Brews Networking, Career Research for K Students

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Sixteen Kalamazoo College students took advantage of a winter break day to network with professionals — including several K graduates — in the beer-making facilities at Bell’s Brewery, named the top-ranked brewery in America in 2018 by the American Homebrewer’s Association.

Students look inside kettles at Bell’s Brewery tour
Kalamazoo College students who participated in K to Bell’s, the latest K-Trek offered through the Center for Career and Professional Development, peered inside a kettle during a Bell’s Brewery tour.

The trip was the latest K-Trek offering from the Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD), which provides K students with in-person, immersive discussions with leaders in various industries, many of them K alumni.

CCPD Assistant Director Rachel Wood helped plan the event and attended, noting the students asked a panel of Bell’s Brewery representatives, including founder and Kalamazoo College alumnus Larry Bell ’80, engaging questions about the beer industry and the process of starting a business.

In their responses, panelists gave advice about what they look for in prospective employees, noting the importance of an applicant seeking a work-culture fit rather than just an appealing job description. For example, “at Bell’s, you kind of need to appreciate beer, but chances are you will be working in something other than brewing,” Wood said. Regardless of the role, “it’s important to find a place to work where you can show up and it’s not just work.”

Bell’s founder Larry Bell talks with students
Bell’s founder Larry Bell talks with students about his business and the beer industry during the latest K-Trek, K to Bell’s.

Aside from the founder, the Bell’s Brewery panelists included five K alumni from a variety of majors who graduated between 1990 and 2014. All of them noted how well K prepared them for the work force.

“The students hear similar advice from [CCPD] career coaches, but it’s always extremely helpful for them to hear it from people in the field,” Wood said.

Bell himself discussed having multiple lifelong interests, all of which were nurtured at K through the liberal arts and sciences, including theater.

Bell noted that “he played the character Oberon in a sixth-grade production of Midsummer Night’s Dream, and that inspired him to later name a beer Oberon,” Wood said. In Bell, “the students saw someone who is living a liberal arts life.”

Bell’s brewery tour
Kalamazoo College students participated in a Bell’s Brewery tour during the latest K-Trek, K to Bell’s, offered through the Center for Career and Professional Development.

After an hour-long lunch, the K students split into smaller groups where they embarked on brewery tours, allowing them to witness the full process of brewing beer.

“It was nice seeing the full process because anybody attending could’ve had any level of knowledge of beer making going in,” Wood said. “We sampled three different types of barley to see how it could impact flavor, and there were students taking video” to retain what they learned.

According to the Bell’s Brewery website, Bell founded the company on Sept. 19, 1985, when he sold his first commercial beer after brewing it in a 15-gallon soup pot. Bell’s has had several milestones since, including selling outside Michigan for the first time in 1990, opening Michigan’s first on-site brew pub in Kalamazoo in 1993, opening its Comstock brewery in 2003, and expanding the Eccentric Café in 2015. Today, Kalamazoo County is number one in the state of Michigan in the production of craft beer, and Bell’s is one of Michigan’s most famous brands.

While many K-treks venture out on multi-day experiences in cities such as San Francisco, New York City and Chicago, there are plenty of industries to explore in K’s backyard. Along with Bell’s, local K-Treks have included trips to Kellogg’s in Battle Creek, Stryker in Kalamazoo and Steelcase in Grand Rapids. Wood said other local K-Treks are being planned and students should stay tuned to find out where they will go. Learn more about K-Treks events such as K to Bell’s at our website.

Senior Performance Series Runs Through Sunday

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Kalamazoo College students are continuing the tradition of directing and performing in their own thought-provoking theater productions this week through the Festival Playhouse’s Senior Performance Series.

Senior Performance Series
Senior Performance Series shows are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14-Saturday, Feb. 16, with a matinee at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17.

This year’s Senior Performance Series shows are:

  • The Exception and the Rule, directed by Mitch Herr ’19; and
  • Realm of the Dead, written by Hunter Himelhoch ’19 and directed by Louise Thomas ’19.

The Exception and the Rule is about a merchant who rushes to Sacramento seeking wealth only to encounter self-imposed difficulties. The characters represent different areas of socioeconomic power and demonstrate problems inherent in a capitalist society.

“As a political science and theatre arts double major, getting to stage a play by Bertolt Brecht, one of the most prominent political theatre practitioners, is a huge honor and lesson,” Herr said. “The experimental nature of this play is still unusual in today’s theatre, even though he crafted [the play] in 1930.”

“Realm of the Dead” explores figures from Yiddish folklore, specifically Lilith and the Angel of Death, and their relationships to each other, humanity and a Jewish girl named Rebecca.

“I’ve spent about a year working on it and I’m really glad that it is being produced at K since it has given me the chance to fine-tune the show,” Himelhoch said. “It’s been very interesting to hear the actors’ interpretations of the script because they have greatly influenced this new version. I can’t wait for the audience to see it and I hope that they will enjoy the experience as much as I have.”

The shows are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, through Saturday, Feb. 16, with a matinee at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17, at the Dungeon Theatre. General admission tickets will be available at the door. They’re free for Kalamazoo College students and employees with a College ID and $5 for the public.

For more information, visit http://reason.kzoo.edu/theatre/festival/.

Two K Student-Athletes Attend NCAA Convention

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Two student-athletes represented Kalamazoo College at the 2019 NCAA Convention in Orlando, Florida, earning an insider’s look at the governance and maintenance of college sports.

Jared Pittman and Amanda Moss at NCAA Convention
Jared Pittman ’20 and Amanda Moss ’19 attended the NCAA Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Jared Pittman ’20 and Amanda Moss ’19 attended business sessions with hundreds of athletes, athletic directors and college administrators from Division I, II and III schools around the country, including K Athletic Director Becky Hall. By attending these sessions and sharing their feedback with Hall, a voting member of the NCAA, they were able to have a voice in how rules affect Division III athletes’ experiences.

Football coach Jamie Zorbo approached Pittman, a running back and captain on the football squad, about attending. Women’s basketball coach Katie Miller recommended that Moss, a guard on Miller’s team, attend. As leaders in their sports at K and as participants in the school’s Athletic Leadership Council, Pittman and Moss were logical choices, especially as they hope their careers one day involve athletics.

“It was fascinating because the NCAA president [Mark Emmert] emphasized that [the organization] is a democracy,” said Moss, who is also a midfielder for K’s women’s lacrosse team. “In addition to being informational, it was also a time for college representatives to interact and share best practices.” For example, through Division III legislation proposed at the conference, representatives agreed to drop some social media restrictions for coaches and athletic department staff to better align Division III recruiting rules with those in Divisions I and II.

“The world of college athletics is much bigger than I thought it was,” Pittman said of his experience at the convention. “It gave me a new-found appreciation for how rules and regulations are developed in college sports. It also gave me a bigger passion for all sports, because I interacted with athletes I wouldn’t otherwise know, especially those from sports K doesn’t have. Athletics can do a lot for young people.”

NCAA Convention
Jared Pittman ’20 and Amanda Moss ’19 attended the NCAA Convention with hundreds of athletes, athletic directors and college administrators from Division I, II and III schools around the country, including Athletic Director Becky Hall.

Pittman and Moss agreed an opportunity to network was their best benefit of attending at the convention.

“We were fortunate enough to travel in a group with other MIAA [Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association] athletes from schools like Calvin, Hope and Alma,” said Moss, who also has prepped for a career in sports with an NBA internship and by serving as the president and co-founder of K’s Sports Business Club. “It was enjoyable because we brought that K perspective, but heard from the schools we compete with each year. It was great because we attended business sessions during the day, and at night, we were able to explore Orlando.”

“Honestly, we didn’t talk about sports much,” Pittman said. “It was more about character and how we improve our institutions, especially with Division III being about academic experience as much as athletics.” In fact, he noted from his networking that K’s student counseling resources such as the Counseling Center and efforts related to sexual-violence prevention through groups such as Green Dot are advanced when compared with its peer institutions. “It was really cool getting to know the delegates from other MIAA schools and developing friendships,” Pittman said. I’m blessed to have the chance to attend K and compete in Division III. If I didn’t, I probably never would have had the chance to attend the convention.”

Read more about the 2019 convention and its news at the NCAA’s website.

Declaration of Major Day a Milestone for Sophomores

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Male student smiles and signs Declaration of Major Day forms
Declaration of Major Day is a festive gathering where sophomores designate their majors, minors and concentrations at Kalamazoo College.

There are two camps of students who come to college: those who know exactly what they want to study — or are pretty sure they know — and those who don’t. Kalamazoo College takes a different approach to helping students decide their major. Through the K-Plan, students explore and discover academic fields for a year and a half before choosing a major. Best of all, the curriculum is designed to give students this freedom while keeping them on track to graduate in four years. This past Wednesday’s Declaration of Major Day, the midpoint of their sophomore year, was a festive gathering where students formally designated their majors, minors and concentrations.

The banquet hall at Hicks Student Center was packed as each department set up a booth. Students went from table to table, committing to their fields of study and getting stickers declaring their choices. They celebrated the big moment with one another and the rest of campus with a piece of cake baked for the event by Dining Services.

“Declaration of Major Day is a 15-year tradition at Kalamazoo College,” Associate Dean of Students Dana Jansma said. “College students everywhere are required to declare a major, but here at K we make it a special event and celebration.”

Jansma also said it’s a way to celebrate students finding their academic home.

“It is a real rite-of-passage for sophomores,” she said.

K senior Emma Eisenbeis, a political science and German double major, recalled the excitement of her Declaration of Major Day. “This event gives you the opportunity to situate yourself in your academic community with your fellow peers and faculty. It really hits you that this is the start of your career path,” Eisenbeis said.

This event typically merges the two camps of students into one, where they all have a sense of where their paths are headed. And if something changes, no worries. Thanks to the flexibility of the K-Plan, the College will work with students to make a switch of major or majors as seamless as possible.

American College Theatre Festival Honors 3 Students

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Three from a Kalamazoo College contingent of 15 who attended were recently honored with awards at the 51st annual Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival regional event in Madison, Wisconsin.

American College Theatre Festival Honorees
Kate Kreiss (clockwise from lower left), Teyia Artis and Rebecca Chan were Kalamazoo College representatives recently honored with awards at the American College Theatre Festival in Madison, Wisconsin.

During the festival, theater students from across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin presented their work to industry professionals, participated in workshops, attended performances and competed for awards and scholarships. The three students who collected specific awards were:

  • Kate Kreiss ’19 and Rebecca Chan ’22 who competed in the Institute for Theatre Journalism Advocacy (ITJA) events; and
  • Teyia Artis ’21, who competed in the Stage Management Fellowship category.

The ITJA events allowed Kreiss and Chan to participate in a series of seminars focusing on theater criticism and how it’s changing with technology. Both wrote deadline-oriented critiques and responses about shows they watched each night, targeting a general audience of event attendees with their work.

Kreiss earned runner-up honors from event faculty.

“It was a hugely beneficial experience that truly married journalism with activism and encouraged us to use our critiques to advocate for what we as writers and artists felt needed to be put on stage,” Kreiss said, adding she advocates for thoughtfully-done stories that reflect modern life.

American College Theatre Festival
Fifteen students represented Kalamazoo College at the American College Theatre Festival in Madison, Wisconsin.

“As a senior, receiving an honorable mention from ITJA and participating in the course has shown me a way to marry my theatre arts and English majors, and has offered me with a career path that I hadn’t considered,” Kreiss said.

Chan was given top honors as the ITJA nominee from Region III. In other words, she is eligible to become one of four students selected for the national American College Theatre Festival this year in Washington, D.C.

“It was a lot of work, and a lot of late nights, but the experience was wonderful,” Chan said. “Attending the workshop helped me discover a new skill, theater criticism, and it’s now something I really enjoy. Without the support and encouragement of the Theatre Arts Department, I probably wouldn’t have ever seen myself as a potential theater critic. Now, I’m excited to keep practicing this craft, and hopefully, I’ll move on to nationals.”

Artis was initially awarded a certificate of merit from the American College Theatre Festival for her work with “It Can’t Happen Here,” the Festival Playhouse production in fall 2018. That honor allowed Artis to submit a prompt book from the show to the Region III event in Madison, where student stage managers received feedback from professionals. Her honor from those professionals provides her with a Stage Management Fellowship certificate and a book consisting of tools for stage-management success.

“It means a lot to me because it shows that the judges took time to look through my prompt book and saw what needed improvement,” Artis said. “I truly appreciate the textbook as it will guide me to my future career as a stage manager.”

According to its website, The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival “showcases the finest in university theater across the nation. Through eight regional festivals plus the national festival in Washington, D.C., the festival celebrates artistic excellence and offers students individual recognition through awards and scholarships in playwriting, acting, dramatic criticism, theatre management, directing and design.”

The festival aims to:

  • Celebrate the finest and most diverse work produced in college and university theater programs;
  • Encourage the production of new plays, especially those written by students and experimental works alongside revitalized or newly conceived classics;
  • Help participants develop their theater skills and achieve professionalism; and
  • Improve the quality of college and university theater in the U.S.

Learn more about the Region III Festival at its website.

Learn more about Theatre Arts at Kalamazoo College at our website.

K Student Club Goes Nuts for Squirrels

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What buries food, stares at you, drags pizza across campus and runs across tree limbs in the Quad? They’re squirrels, and a group of Kalamazoo College students dedicates time to watching them.

Squirrels at Kalamazoo College
Squirrels draw a lot of attention from Kalamazoo College students, especially from those in the Squirrel-Watching Club. Marissa Castellana ’20 won the club’s photo contest in spring 2018 with this photo taken on campus.

“My housemates and I were interested in the squirrels around our house last year because it seemed like they were always doing something strange,” said Ryan Mulder ’20, a Spanish and business double major from Grand Rapids, Michigan. One of the squirrels even sounded like it was “barking” at him.

“I was so surprised because I never knew that squirrels made noises like that,” Mulder said.

That observation sparked the idea for an official student organization, the Squirrel-Watching Club.

“We knew there were similar clubs at other schools and it seemed like fun to start our own,” said Mulder, the organization’s president. “Squirrels are just so curious that it’s easy to find them doing something weird.”

About five to 10 students attend most meetings, employing binoculars and a 10-pound bag of squirrel feed to foster their observations. They also are active on social media and have conducted a squirrel photo contest.

“The most unique thing about the squirrels on K’s campus is that they’re somewhat used to the students and are more likely to interact with us,” Mulder said. “I think the most interesting encounters we have had with the squirrels on campus would not have taken place had they not grown up with so many people around.”

Mulder is among many club members on study abroad this term, so National Squirrel Appreciation Day on Jan. 21 will have to pass this year without any official club activities. However, Mulder will still mark the day.

“To celebrate National Squirrel Appreciation Day I think I will try and learn more about squirrels’ importance in the ecosystem in order to better appreciate them,” he said.

Meetings are expected to continue again soon thanks to the rascals that keep current students entertained and capture intrigue from incoming students.

“The squirrels at K are a fun distraction from schoolwork and just being outside to relax and watch them is great for the stress that can come with tough classes,” Mulder said.

Kalamazoo College has more than 70 student organizations including the Squirrel-Watching Club. For more information on the Squirrel-Watching Club, message the group through its Instagram page, @SquirrelsofKCollege.

Fall 2018 Dean’s List

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Students on the quad for fall 2018 dean's list
Congratulations to the students who qualified for the fall 2018 Dean’s List.

Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students, who achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or better for a full-time course load of at least three units, without failing or withdrawing from any course, during the fall 2018 academic term.

Students who elect to take a letter-graded course on a credit/no credit basis (CR/NC) are not eligible for Dean’s List consideration during that term. Nor are students who receive an F, NC or W grade for that particular term. Students with incomplete (I) or in-progress (IP) grades will be considered for the Dean’s List upon receipt of the final grades. Dean’s List recognition is posted on students’ transcripts. Kudos to the entire group.

Fall 2018

A  B   C  D  E  F   G   H   I   J  K   L   M  N   O  P   Q  R   S   T   U   V  W   X   Y   Z

A

Elizabeth Abel
Jazzmyn Albarran
Karen Alvarado Hernandez
Patrick Ambs
Zoey Ammon
Georgie Andrews
Katrina Arriola
Taylor Ashby
Avani Ashtekar

B

Julia Bachmann
Andrew Backer
Sonal Bahl
Nicole Bailey
McKenzi Baker
Heather Banet
Natalie Barber
Elijah Barker
Mitchell Baty
Lillian Baumann
Thomas Beaubien
Benjamin Behrens
Maci Bennett
Owen Bersot
Dominic Bertollini
Kevin Bhimani
Julia Bienstock
Daniel Black
Rose Bogard
Maximilian Bogun
Elliott Boinais
Jonah Bolton
Cavan Bonner
Alexander Bowden
Dennis Bowling
Haylee Bowsher
Amaris Bradley
Sarah Brandstadt
Molly Brueger
Rosemary Bryant
Jane Bunch
Elizabeth Burton

C

Nathalie Cabral
Abigail Cadieux
Grace Cain-Kellman
Mackenzie Callahan
Madeleine Camilli
Jayda Caraballo
Catherine Carlberg
Justin Carlson
Kayla Carlson
Jessica Chaidez
Rebecca Chan
Kit Charlton
Sirui Chen
Lizi Chinchilakashvili
Nutsa Chinchilakashvili
Samantha Choknumtumnukit
Iffat Chowdhury
Paige Chung
Hannah Clark
Christopher Coburn
Nyima Coleman
MaryClare Colombo
Thomas Cook
Caitlyn Cooper
Rachel Cornell
Chase Coselman
Haley Crabbs
John Crane
Cameron Crothers
Karli Crouch
Ethan Cuka
George Cutler

D

Wentao Dai
Sela Damer-Daigle
Minh Dang
Adam Decker
Kaitlyn Dexter
Eva Deyoung
Christina Diaz
Sofia Diaz
Alexis Dietz
Rachel Dobb
Julia Dobry
Adam Dorstewitz
Amanda Dow
Sydney Dowdell
Imalia Drummond
Matthew Dubin
Brendan Duffy
Alexa Dulmage

E

Nathanael Ehmann
Noah Ellinger
Jennalise Ellis
Abraham Ellison
Grace Erway
Amanda Esler

F

Daniel Fahle
Shawn Fair
Thomas Fales
Sabina Fall
Colton Farley
Greta Farley
Julien Feret
Emma Fergusson
Gwendolyn Flatland
Brianna Flinkingshelt
Faith Flinkingshelt
Nicholas Flower
Clifton Foster
Talea Fournier

G

Riley Gabriel
Anna Gambetta
Kaitlin Gandy
Camden Gardner
Trish Gatsi
Brendan Gausselin
Cory Gensterblum
Lena Gerstle
Julia Ghazal
Levon Gibson
Katie Gierlach
Jacob Gilhaus
Hannah Ginsberg
Anthony Giovanni
Rachel Girard
Francesco Giusseppe-Soto
Sophia Goebel
Alexis Gonzalez
Dominic Gonzalez
Jessica Gougeon
Jessica Gracik
Shadaijah Grandberry-Payton
Ryan Graves
Abigail Gray
Jordan Gray
Malachi Greenstone
Stanton Greenstone
Ella Griggs
Lily Gross
Timothy Grobosky
Preston Grossling
Garrett Guglielmetti
Madeline Guimond
Mengqiao Guo
Stephanie Guyor
LinzeyPearl Gyimah

H

Alexandra Hale
Rebekah Halley
Emily Hamel
Madeline Harding
Haley Harris
Wallis Hechler
Kaylee Henderson
Maeve Hening
Caleb Henning
Amelia Hensler
Emiley Hepfner
Maya Hernandez
Adelaide Hilarides
Kento Hirakawa
Sam Hoag
Alexandra Hobrecht
Samantha Hoehle
Emerson Holmes
Fiona Holmes
Mathew Holmes-Hackerd
Alysia Homminga
Audrey Honig
Josephine Hosner
Addissyn House
Matthew Howrey
Eleanor Hughes
Aidan Hurley

I

J

Denise Jackson
Samantha Jacobsen
Danielle Janowicz
Sophia Jenkins
Jade Jiang
Qiwei Jiang
Benjamin Johanski
Aaron Johnson
Kelly Johnson
Lisa Johnston
Ellie Jones
Joseph Jung

K

Liza Kahn
Grace Karrip
Lucas Kastran
Maria Katrantzi
Donald Kearns
Ava Keller
Joseph Keller
David Kent
Hannah Kerns
Gyeongho Kim
Tae-Hwan Kim
Mikayla Kindler
Nicklas Klepser
Marie Kohrman
Brandon Kramer
Ethan Krasman
Charlie Krone

L

Mackenzie Landman
Madeline Lauver
Stefan Leclerc
Binny Lee
Michael Lee
Julia Leet
Kathryn Levasseur
Marissa Lewinski
Donna Li
Jiazhen Liu
Lu Liu
Rosella LoChirco
Sara Lonsberry
Jillian Lynk

M

Rachel Madar
MacKenzy Maddock
Samuel Maddox
Deven Mahanti
Madisyn Mahoney
Angela Mammel
Kayla Marciniak
Natalie Markech
Ashley Martinez
Clara Martinez-Voigt
Thibaut Martinon
CJ Martonchik
Selina Ma
Helena Matthews
Samuel Matthews
Eliza McCall
Holland McClinton
Seamus McCurren
Maygan McGuire
Katherine McKibbon
Grace McKnight
Isabel McLaughlin
Keelin McManus
Jose Merino Anda
Benjamin Meschke
Nicholas Middleton
William Mierz
Chaniya Miller
Myranda Miller
Katherine Miller-Purrenhage
Margaret Miron
Rebecca Mitchell
Elayna Moreau
Cesareo Moreno
Ryan Morgan
Amanda Morrison
Daniel Mota-Villegas
Miles Muirhead
Elizabeth Munoz

N

Yukiko Nakano
Mihail Naskovski
Nicholas Nerhood
Nikoli Nickson
Alyssa Norman
Brooke Nosanchuk
Ian Nostrant
Jacob Nugent

O

Abigail O’Keefe
Udochi Okorie
Aisat Oladokun
Michael Orwin

P

Yansong Pan
Rushik Patel
Anne Kearney Patton
Caleb Patton
Paul Pavliscak
Calder Pellerin
Justin Penny
Ranya Perez
Erin Perkins
Eve Petrie
Uyen Pham
Hannah Pittman
Victor Plascencia
Diarra Pouye
Natalie Price
Maren Prophit

Q

Daniel Qin
Jorence Quiambao
Aarzoo Qureshi

R

Elioenai Ramirez Quinones
Harrison Ramsey
Molly Ratliff
Samuel Ratliff
Jordan Reichenbach
Benjamin Reiter
Samuel Rice
Luke Richert
Trevor Rigney
Sage Ringsmuth
Lucas Rizzolo
Kate Roberts
Margaret Roberts
Danna Robles-Garcia
Reyna Rodriguez
Margaret Roethler
Lily Rogowski
Brynn E Rohde
Sydney Rotigel-Finegan
Maelle Rouquet
Angela Ruiz
Jacob Ryan

S

Megan Satawa
Thomas Saxton
Nehe-Miah Scarborough
Dana Schau
Ashley Schiffer
Zoe Celeste Schneberger
Justin Schodowski
Emma Schneider
Lia Schroeder
Beth Schulman
Peter Schultz
Darby Scott
Justin Seablom
Frank Seidl
Ruby Seiwerath
Madalyn Seveska
Yung Seo Lee
Kaitlyn Shafer
Yu Shang
Reagan Shapton
Lily Shearer
Andrew Sheckell
Austin Shepherd
Kai Lin Shi
Hannah Shiner
Arun Shrestha
Josie Shuster
Simran Singh
Jordan Skidmore
Kai Skiver
Madeline Small
Emily Smith
Casey Sprague
Simona Stalev
Kalista Stanger
Abby Stewart
Grant Stille
Hayden Strobel
Matthew Swarthout
Savannah Sweeney
Jacob Sypniewski
Nina Szalkiewicz

T

Samuel Tagget
Fiorina Talaba
Leah Tardiff
Mio Taylor
Emily Tenniswood
Omar Thaj
Subi Thakali
Maria Tolentino Guzman
Teague Tompkins
Margaret Totten
Jonathan Townley
Marie Townsend
Caitlin Tremewan
Mary Trimble
Uyen Trinh
Ethan Tuck
Matt Turton
Annie Tyler

U

V

Marcela Valdivieso
Clara Valenti
Cynthia Valentin
Megan Vandyke
Samantha Vasquez
Christopher Vennard
Carter Vespi
Vanessa Vigier
Liam VosWilliams
Dat Vu

W

Carter Wade
Evelyn Wagner
Andrew Walsh
Maya Wanner
Claire Ward
Anne Waugh
Brianne Weathers
Maija Weaver
Sheherazade Weyland
Trevor Whipple
Ehren White
Samantha White
Sarah Whitfield
Megan Williams
Clayton Wilms
Madalyn Winarski
Hannah Wohlman
Hannah Wolfe
Sophia Woodhams
Bailey Woods
Andrew Wright
Robert Wright

X

Y

Eleanor Yaruss
Esther Yi
Ethan Young
Ynika Yuag
Austin Yunker

Z

Kaylin Zajac
Christian Zeitvogel

K Expands Student Options for Externships

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Kalamazoo College students are about to have more options for externships, providing them with valuable experience applicable toward their chosen professions.

Externships
Rachel Wasserman ’20 (from left), Juan Avila ’19 and Yasamin Shaker ’20 participated in a Discovery Externship with host Becky Warner ’04 at Full Tilth Farm in Poulsbo, Washington.

An externship is a short-term job-shadowing experience that works like an apprenticeship, giving a training program through a brief yet practical experience. K’s traditional externships have paired more than 700 students with alumni who provide a homestay and a work opportunity.

Such options will remain available. And starting next summer, K also will offer local and do-it-yourself (DIY) externships. Local externships will encourage students to apply for experiences in their hometown. DIY externships will encourage students to use an online networking application through the Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) to work directly with K alumni in creating an externship of their own design.

“Our goal is to provide more flexibility, so we can broaden alumni participation and student opportunities,” CCPD Assistant Director Richard Sylvester said. With these experiences, “we seek to better meet the needs of current K students as they prepare for a rapidly changing job market.”

Past opportunities traditionally have varied in character and geography. They have included:

  • helping at a community kitchen and farmer’s market in Chelsea, Michigan;
  • working with children on the autism spectrum at Daily Behavioral Health in Cleveland, Ohio; and
  • getting up close with octopi in the crystal waters of the Caribbean for the Northeastern University Marine Science Center.

In many cases, externships such as these have lasting effects on how students approach their careers. That’s because they serve as real-life applications of majors and give students a head-start on their networking despite shorter time commitments.

“By providing three tracks, we hope to offer a wider slate of externships and allow students to secure the externships that are best suited for them as they begin to explore the world of work,” Sylvester said.

The CCPD is currently seeking alumni professionals interested in hosting student externs in summer 2019. “By the time we launch to students in January, we hope to have dozens of new alumni lined up as workplace and homestay hosts,” says Sylvester, who encourages interested alumni to contact him directly at richard.sylvester@kzoo.edu.

For more information on externships and how to apply for them, visit the CCPD in Dewing Hall, go to its website or call 269.337.7183.

New Study Abroad Programs Will Connect Students, Interests

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Students will learn about social, racial and economic issues in five new study abroad programs coming to Kalamazoo College in the 2019-20 academic year.

Center for International Programs Executive Director Margaret Wiedenhoeft said the new programs will align with K’s values and offer experiences in:

  • Havana, Cuba. From early September through late November, students will live in a historic Afro-Cuban working-class neighborhood. The program will help students
    New Study Abroad Programs
    Kalamazoo College students will have five new study abroad programs to choose from in the 2019-20 academic year including one in Havana, Cuba. Creative Commons-licensed photo of Plaza Vieja by Brian Snelson (exfordy). Photo available at https://www.flickr.com/photos/32659528@N00/495266522/. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/.

    understand how the current government and economic systems affect the typical Havana resident.

  • Seoul, South Korea. Students will take courses in English from mid-August to mid-December across disciplines such as computer science, business, economics, East Asian studies and political science, and will have opportunities to learn Korean. The program is ideal for business and economics students who want to experience a large international city. It would also help East Asian studies students, who might have already traveled to China or Japan, develop an understanding of an additional country in Asia.
  • Sao Paulo, Brazil. K students, from early August through early December, will learn in this program about the African roots of Brazilian culture and study the local effects of issues such as poverty and inequality while working with the people affected through local organizations.
  • Cali, Colombia. Offered from July through early December, this program will focus on Afro-Colombian experiences as the city has the second-largest population of people with African descent in South America. Students will study race and ethnicity from an Afro-Columbian perspective.
  • Oaxaca, Mexico. The fall-term experience will be K’s second program in Oaxaca. Students in this program will enroll directly into a local university, live with local families selected by the university’s international student office and take classes with local Oaxacans.

“What students will do in these new programs and who they work with will connect well with who they are,” Wiedenhoeft said. “They will get more agency and choice, yet the programs are structured and tailored to fit into majors and interests at K.”

Most students will participate in the new study abroad programs as juniors. However, Wiedenhoeft added there will be some flexibility in the future to involve sophomores.

“These programs will provide a lens of personal experience very different from what students would receive by learning in a museum, for example,” Wiedenhoeft said, noting alumni will also recognize and appreciate how the programs are structured. “Students will work alongside local organizations and people while maintaining the traditions of study abroad at K.”

These five opportunities will join 45 others in 22 countries accessible to K students. For more information on the CIP or to schedule an appointment to discuss the new study abroad programs or others, call 269.337.7133 or visit the CIP at Dewing Hall.