Several Kalamazoo College students with local ties are helping prospective students and their families learn about the school, the campus and the city this summer through the Admission Center. Madelyn Betts ’19, Leah Todd ’20 and Faruq Schieber ’20—all of Kalamazoo—are among the campus tour guides, and they say summer is an excellent time to visit.
Leah Todd ’20 is one of several tour guides serving Kalamazoo College this summer.
“Summer gives you an opportunity to see things when they’re at their best,” on campus and in the City of Kalamazoo, said Schieber, an international area studies major. “Everything is in bloom and it’s quiet without the hustle and bustle on campus.”
As members of the Holistic Inclusive Visitor Experience (HIVE) team, these three also fulfill roles as communicators and hosts to prospective students and their families. Each is an excellent source of information on the K-Plan, Kalamazoo College’s distinctive approach to academics in the liberal arts and sciences, and what you can see and do when you visit. Here are four of their tips for college visits.
Have Questions for Your Tour Guides
Betts, who studies German and business with a concentration in film and media studies, advises prospective students and families to develop a list of important questions to ask when they’re on campus. She said she commonly answers questions ranging from whether first-year students can have cars on campus to inquiries about academic support and leadership opportunities.
“Everyone is here to help you get everything you want out of your visit,” Betts said, adding it’s also a good idea to ask about activities on campus.
Madelyn Betts ’19 is a member of the Holistic Inclusive Visitor Experience (HIVE) team. Her duties include serving as one of several tour guides on campus this summer.
“There’s so much going on each term you don’t hear about ahead of time, you’ll think, ‘If I only had more time,’ ” said Betts, who is the president of K’s student Swing Dance Club and Film Club, and a member of Cirque du K, a student circus troupe.
The practice of asking questions will also benefit students when they’re attending K. Todd, for example, said when she needed advice about a class, several people responded to a single email, including volleyball Head Coach Jeanne Hess, even though Todd no longer plays volleyball.
“A teacher, a dean, my study abroad adviser and my academic adviser all responded about this one class, even Coach (Hess),” Todd said. “She’s always reaching out, trying to make sure there’s a connection. We have nice people here. I enjoy meeting people from all over the world.”
Reach Out
Schieber said it can be intimidating for high school students to plan campus visits, especially if they’re uncertain about what college they want to attend. The solution for easing that intimidation is to connect with Admission in advance.
“Make a phone call to us before you come and point out your interests to us,” he said. “You can even request an interview with an admission counselor. That call can help us as guides and counselors get more of an idea of what you would like access to so we can show you a good fit.”
Faruq Schieber ’20 is among the Kalamazoo College tour guides who suggests visiting the College and the city over the summer.
As a prospective student a few years ago, Schieber said that fit involved study abroad opportunities and the easy access to professors he wouldn’t have gotten at a larger school.
“This is an environment where professors care about your success—you matter,” said Schieber, who will study abroad in Ecuador this fall.
Prepare for the Weather
Regardless of the season in which you visit, it’s a good idea to prepare for the weather. Check the forecast for Kalamazoo in advance and dress appropriately for being outside, Todd said. Also, notify Admission if you’re running late for your tour. Calling ahead ensures tour guides are at your service when you arrive.
Picture it
Betts advises that students take pictures of the campuses they visit, especially when they visit schools far from home, to ensure they remember which is which.
“I heard a horror story once about a student who visited a campus and loved it,” Betts said. “She applied to what she thought was that college, was accepted and registered for classes, only to find when she arrived on campus she had applied to the wrong college.”
Economics and business major Amanda Moss applied for a highly competitive NBA internship and was one of 50 students chosen from a pool of 6,000.
She says that while she was a basketball player in high school, she went to the community gym in her Detroit suburb daily during the summer to practice her jump shot. One day, however, an employee of the Detroit Pistons NBA team told her she would have to leave because the courts were reserved for a team-run youth basketball program.
“I started to pack up but then I looked around and saw they were way understaffed for the event they were going to hold,” she recalls. “So I went back up to the guy and I offered my assistance. He took me up on the offer and I helped set up chairs, run the scoreboard, that sort of thing, and helped to clean up when it was over.”
After the event, she says, the employee chatted with her and ended up offering her a summer job at the Pistons’ youth basketball camp.
Amanda Moss, who plays on Kalamazoo College’s women’s basketball team, is working in an NBA internship this summer.
Along the way, she got to meet Pistons players including Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson and people in the team’s corporate office. So when it came time to seek an internship in summer 2017, she was well-situated to apply to the Pistons. She worked in community relations and marketing for the team, conceiving a career forum for girls 9 to 16 and then running every aspect of the event, which included presenting a panel of college basketball players and women business leaders.
That, in turn, set her up for this summer’s internship. With the help of K’s Center for Career and Professional Development and with advice from her professors, the economics and business major applied for the highly competitive program and was one of 50 students chosen from a pool of 6,000. She’s working in the retail division of the NBA’s Global Partnerships Department, which manages all aspects of the league’s relationship with companies including Nike, New Era, Foot Locker and Amazon.
That relationship includes activities such as licensing the sale of NBA-branded merchandise, arranging for advertising on NBA TV, approving the use of the NBA logo in social media messages and arranging player appearances at partner businesses, she says. Her role has been mainly in research. One assignment tasked her with finding out everything she could about how the NBA could work with Target Corp., and she says she discovered a natural fit in both organizations’ emphasis on supporting community voluntarism—a synergy around which her boss now is building a partnership program.
She says her K education has given her a real advantage in her role, especially a business research methods course that prepares students for their Senior Individualized Project (SIP). Business and economics professor Timothy Moffit ’80 put a heavy emphasis on identifying information sources in research papers, so in a PowerPoint presentation to NBA professionals, she says, she included a final slide listing all of her sources—about 30, and many of them recognizable names.
She says it helped cement the credibility and validity of her proposal. “They were really impressed. It’s not something that they were expecting.”
A Chinese minor who studied abroad in China during the 2017-18 school year, Moss also has had a chance to use her language skills, aiding her boss in a conference call with the NBA office in China, she says. And content- and video-editing skills she learned in a documentary filmmaking course have turned out to be in high demand, as well.
“Every day is a new day at the league,” she says. “You have to be very multidimensional. Part of the Kalamazoo College liberal arts experience is being able to study multiple subjects because the K-Plan is so flexible.”
With the experience gained in her internships, and a planned SIP contrasting consumer perceptions of professional sports in the United States and China, she hopes to land a corporate job in international sports after graduation. Her ultimate goal—“really just a dream” at this point, she says—would be to start a nonprofit venture that uses sports to connect with and empower Chinese girls.
“I was adopted from China, and when I went to my study abroad in China, I got to volunteer coach in some of the schools, and there was a huge absence of girls in all of the basketball programs,” she says, adding that Chinese girls get little encouragement to participate in team sports in general.
In another effort to help people achieve their goals, she is teaming with fellow Kalamazoo College athletesAlex Dupree ’21 and Jordan Wiley ’19 to form a sports business club for K students that will aid them in charting their way to careers in sports-oriented businesses and link them with alumni in the field.
Her effort to create what she calls “new channels and opportunities” for her classmates echoes what she says is her goal on the lacrosse field and basketball court: “to play for my teammates and make great memories.”
Moss’ enthusiasm and cooperative yet competitive spirit wins high praise from K physical education professor and coach Jeanne Hess.
“Amanda is one of the most committed players and teammates I’ve seen come through Kalamazoo College,” Hess says. “She plays with passion and ferocity and she’s fun to watch. She’s going to do great things.”
A K to the Windy City trip drew rave reviews from students who got to participate in panels, site visits, tours and conversations with alumni offering insight into their working environments and careers. Photo credit: Madi Triplett ’19
Five Kalamazoo College juniors and eight sophomores are back from Chicago after a three-day trip to learn firsthand from alumni about their careers. Known as K to the Windy City, the exploratory career trek, or K-Trek, focused on careers in law, sustainability and nonprofit administration.
Coordinated by the Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD), K-Treks are multi-day immersive discussions with leaders in various industries. They’re also just one example of the experiential education opportunities available within the K-Plan, Kalamazoo College’s distinctive approach to the liberal arts and sciences.
Other K-Treks, inspired by tech entrepreneur and alumnus Brad O’Neill ’93, visit cities such as San Francisco, where the focus is on entrepreneurship; and New York City, where students explore finance- and business-related careers.
Through K-Treks, students “are able to network and obtain an inside perspective about industries,” said Keri L. Bol, who works in operations support with CCPD. “It also gives students the ability to travel outside of Kalamazoo to explore different cities and see how professionals may function in that city. Our hope is that they come back from a K-Trek with a better understanding of their field of interest and how to embark on their intended career path after they graduate.”
Avery Allman ’16, Will Sheehan ’17, Nora Stagner ’17 and Anja Xheka ’17 were among the alumni who welcomed Kalamazoo College students to Chicago through an alumni networking reception for K to the Windy City. Photo credit: Madi Triplett ’19
K to the Windy City participants researched in advance the alumni they would meet and the organizations they worked for and prepared a list of questions for the interaction.
CCPD staff used student cover letters and résumés to customize the students’ individual itineraries, providing the most educational impact. More than 30 alumni served on panels or met with students to share advice. Nearly 30 other alumni from other industries attended a networking reception to provide further advice.
The trip drew rave reviews from students who got to participate in panels, site visits, tours and conversations with alumni offering insight into their working environments and careers. It also helped students—who represented 13 majors such as anthropology/sociology, psychology, biology and chemistry—develop skills in self-presentation and business etiquette, and cultivate professional relationships in Chicago.
“My experience on the trek was one that will stick with me for the rest of my life because of how informative and useful it was to the shaping of my post-grad career,” said Emma Eisenbeis ’19, a German and political science double major, after participating in the law track. “I cannot stress enough how helpful it is to speak with people in your desired career before making any large, life-changing decisions.”
Amelia Davis ’20, a biology and chemistry major participating in the sustainability track, offered a similar review.
“It was fascinating to hear about the different paths that alumni took to get to where they are and it is inspiring to think about the opportunities available to me after I graduate from K,” Davis said.
Other participants included Isabella Haney ’19, Neelam Lal ’20, Rosella LoChirco ’20, Sarah Gerendasy ’20 and Erin Smith ’19 in the law track; Mara Hazen ’19, Sage Benner ’20 and Yansong Pan ’20 in the nonprofit administration track; and Maya Gurfinkel ’20, Rose Maylen ’19 and Yasamin Shaker ’20 in the sustainability track.
Learn more at our website about how offerings such as K-Treks through the CCPD can benefit students’ employment outcomes.
Brad Bez ’19 says he has wanted to be a coach since he was in his first year at Kalamazoo College.
“I think I’ve always had it in the back of my mind,” he says. “But that was when I really started to pursue it and decide it was what I wanted to do.”
Brad Bez ’19, an offensive lineman who aspires to be a collegiate coach, points out the Kalamazoo College athletics logo in a display at the NCAA national office in Indianapolis, where he was one of 240 collegiate athletes from across the nation to attend the NCAA Career in Sports Forum.
The Hornet football offensive lineman’s ambition is well known to Head Coach Jamie Zorbo ’00, who mentors his players both on and off the field. In keeping with the emphasis in the K-Plan on experiential education, Zorbo nominated Bez for the NCAA Career in Sports Forum at the NCAA’s national office in Indianapolis in late May and early June 2018.
Bez was one of just 240 juniors and seniors chosen from more than 460,000 U.S. collegiate athletes to attend the all-expenses-paid forum, which the NCAA says is designed to assist them in charting their career paths as athletics professionals.
Over four days, he got to meet coaches, athletic directors and athletic staff from colleges and universities across the nation.
“It was all networking and workshops: how to make a better resume, different ways to connect with people, more information about the different careers in athletics, and particularly college athletics,” he says. “There were so many things we learned how to do and learned more about.”
The history major and political science minor says the biggest benefit may have been meeting fellow college athletes who will be among his future professional peers.
“Initially a lot of us went there with the idea that we were going to try to meet people in a position we want to be in. So a lot of us were trying to network with the people who have jobs,” he says. “And by the end, we all realized it was way more important to network with our peers, to try to get to know them. For example, I want to coach, and I met a guy who wants to be an athletic director. So we got to talking, and I was like, ‘Down the road, maybe one day, we’ll cross paths and you’ll get to hire me.’ ”
Bez, who is spending the summer as an intern in the Michigan State University athletic director’s office, says the biggest takeaway from the conference was “you have to build genuine relationships with people. If they just know your name, that’s not really enough. You have to know who people are and they have to know you in order for that to be a productive relationship. For both of you it has to be genuine.”
That’s the sort of relationship he—and, he says, his teammates—have with Zorbo.
“I’ve been pretty lucky that I’ve gotten to be around Coach a lot during my time at K,” he says. “Whether it’s calling me into his office to have an extended conversation or just encountering something and him saying, ‘Hey, if you want to be a coach, this is what you need to know,’ I’ve had a pretty in-depth relationship with him.”
He says Zorbo’s off-field efforts for his players also include making sure they get to know K football alumni who can help them in their athletic and academic pursuits.
“Through Coach, I’ve been able to build my own network and have these people who share a commonality with me,” Bez says.
With Zorbo’s example, he talks about coaching not in terms of wins and losses, but as a way of making a difference in other people’s lives—and his own.
“I think the best thing about coaching is the relationships you get to build and the effect you get to have on people,” he says. “I mean, when I look back on my life, aside from my parents and family, the biggest impact on me has been my coaches. Those people shaped me to be who I am. I think that would be a spot really suited to me to have an impact on other people, but also for them to have an impact on me.”
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 spring 2018 academic term.
Congratulations to the students who qualified for the spring 2018 dean’s list.
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 Dean’s List upon receipt of the final grades. Dean’s List recognition is posted on students’ transcripts. Kudos to the entire group of nearly 500 students, and good luck to the rising sophomores, juniors and seniors in fall term 2018.
Maddy Adams
Alejandro Alaniz
Michelle Alba
Jazzmyn Albarran
Allegra Allgeier
Tyler Allyn-White
Max Ambs
Lukia Artemakis
George-Joseph Asher
Avani Ashtekar
Meredith Ashton
Max Aulbach
Juan Avila
B
Julia Bachmann
Andrew Backer
Nicki Bailey
Heather Banet
Angel Banuelos
Eli Barker
Lilly Baumann
Quentin Baur
Grace Beck
Sage Benner
Kate Bennett
Brigette Berke
Owen Bersot
Dominic Bertollini
Brad Bez
Daniel Bidwell
Dan Black
Elliott Boinais
Jake Bonifacio
Cavan Bonner
Rachel Bovey
Emily Boyle
Jada Brown
Caroline Brown
Autumn Buhl
Jane Bunch
Madison Butler
C
Alex Cadigan
Abby Calef
Mackenzie Callahan
Lluvia Camarena
Madeleine Camilli
Madison Campbell
Paloma Campillo
Christopher Cao
Angel Caranna
Cate Carlberg
Shannon Carley
Charles Carson
Kebra Cassells
Marissa Castellana
James Castleberry
Karen Ceballos-Pineda
Kit Charlton
Sharmeen Chauhdry
Deana Chavarria
Sherry Chen
Tapiwa Chikungwa
Liza Chinchilakashvili
Nutsa Chinchilakashvili
Belinda Chipayi
Iffat Chowdhury
Justin Christopher-Moody
Qynce Chumley
Yoensuk Chung
Hannah Clark
Isabelle Clark
Chris Coburn
Nyima Coleman
MaryClare Colombo
Carmen Compton
Noah Coplan
Valentina Cordero
Chase Coselman
Austin Cramer
John Crane
Karli Crouch
Alex Cruz
Ethan Cuka
Cara Cunningham
Peter Czajkowski
D
Wentao Dai
Sela Damer-Daigle
Addie Dancer
Anuja Dandekar
Minh Dang
Elan Dantus
Shayaan Dar
Steven Davis
Amelia Davis
Adam Decker
Gina DeGraaf
Ricardo DelOlmo-Parrado
Katia Dermott
Christy Diaz
Abby Dickstein
Tuan Do
Julia Dobry
Guillermo Dominguez Garcia
Amelia Donohoe
Austin Duff
Will Duffield
Alexa Dulmage
Zach DuMont
Lotte Dunnell
Thao Duong
E
Adam Edery
Emma Eisenbeis
Jenna Ellis
Abe Ellison
Anna Emenheiser
Sarah Eringaard
Emily Eringaard
Lia Evangelista
F
Anders Finholt
Natalie Fisher
Matthew Flotemersch
Abigail Flowers
Benjamin Forhan
Cj Foster
Monet Foster
Talea Fournier
Maria Franco
Ian Freshwater
G
Riley Gabriel
Anna Gambetta
Andre’ Gard
Amanda Gardner
Camden Gardner
Charlotte Gavin
Sarah Gerendasy
Carina Ghafari
Malak Ghazal
Camille Giacobone
Josh Gibson
Matthew Giguere
Hannah Ginsberg
Anthony Giovanni
Rachel Girard
Beau Godkin
Sophia Goebel
Abhay Goel
Amir Golshan Tafti
Emily Good
Kaitlyn Gordon
Monica Gorgas
Konah Gourlay
Shadaijah Grandberry-Payton
Connor Grant
Ryan Graves
Jordan Gray
Anthony Grayson
Claire Greening
Stanton Greenstone
Preston Grossling
Gelinda Guo
Cristina Guzman
H
Alex Hale
Emily Hamel
Griffin Hamel
Caryn Hannapel
Kelly Hansen
Martin Hansknecht
Val Harding
Haley Harris
Kelly Haugland
Mara Hazen
Kaylee Henderson
Maeve Hening
Mei Mei Hensler
Kaiya Herman-Hilker
Maya Hernandez
Sam Hicks
Sophie Higdon
Sophia Hill
Kento Hirakawa
Sam Hoehle
Mathew Holmes-Hackerd
Aly Homminga
Audrey Honig
Shelby Hopper
Taylor Horton
Josephine Hosner
Annabelle Houghton
Matt Howrey
Kaspar Hudak
Ellie Hughes
Ayla Hull
Destiny Hutcherson
Li Li Huynh
I
Ayami Iijima
Shannon Irvine
Bradley Iseri
J
Sadie Jackson
Sam Jacobsen
Aliyah Jamaluddin
Eric Janowiak
Danielle Janowicz
Alejandro Jaramillo
Hanna Jeung
Jade Jiang
Qiwei Jiang
Ben Johanski
Kelly Johnson
Katherine Johnson
Emily Johnston
Lisa Johnston
Jackson Jones
Madeline Jump
K
Liza Kahn
Claire Kalina
Amani Karim
Grace Karrip
Maria Katrantzi
Joe Keller
Christina Keramidas
Hannah Kerns
Gyeongho Kim
Min Soo Kim
Sky Kim
Sarah Kleppe
Nick Klepser
Ryan Knight
Elizabeth Knox
Hannah Kowalski
Ethan Krasman
Kate Kreiss
Matthew Krinock
Charlie Krone
John Kunec
L
Megan Lacombe
Mackenzie Landman
Zoe Larson
Madeline Lauver
Binny Lee
Darryl Lewis
Alison Lilla
Lucy Liu
Rosella LoChirco
Molly Logsdon
Sara Lonsberry
Chloe Love
Nick Ludka
Emily Lulkin
M
Rachel Madar
Teresa Madden
Sam Maddox
Alicia Madgwick
Madisyn Mahoney
Merrick Manchester
Marshall Marcero
Zoey Mark
Natalie Markech
Cydney Martell
Sophia Martin
Kathryn Martin
Thibaut Martinon
Barthelemy Martinon
CJ Martonchik
Maximo Mazeiro
Nick McCabe
Kevin McCarty
Abby McDonough
Miles McDowall
Maygan McGuire
Ian McKnight
Isabel McLaughlin
Keelin McManus
Clayton Meldrum
Ben Meschke
Ana Mesenbring
Nate Micallef
Daniel Michelin
Namfon Miller
Chelsea Miller
Beth Mitchell
Mina Mkrtchian
Ethel Mogilevsky
Faizan Mohammed
Jake Mooradian
Cesareo Moreno
Tamara Morrison
Amanda Moss
Daniel Mota-Villegas
Libby Munoz
Jessa Murshak
Hannah Muscara
N
Yukiko Nakano
Jacob Naranjo
Sara Nelson
Kyle Neuner
Eli Neuner
Kelly Nickelson
Niko Nickson
Sara Nixon
Rosemarie Nocita
Carmen Nogueron
Jonathan Nord
Brooke Nosanchuk
Ian Nostrant
Max Novick
O
Joab Odero
Evan O’Donnell
Abigail O’Keefe
Ryan Orr
Michelle Orta
P
Karina Pantoja
James Paprocki
Boemin Park
Khusbu Patel
Jefferson Patrell
Cayla Patterson
Caleb Patton
Meera Patwardhan
Helen Pelak
Calder Pellerin
Victoria Penman-Lomeli
Jessica Penny
Allie Periman
Sean Peterkin
Matthew Peters
Emma Peters
Nhi Phan
Sarah Pobuda
Priya Pokorzynski
Karen Portillo
Arianna Prater
Zach Prystash
Q
Daniel Qin
Yilan Qiu
Jorence Quiambao
Abdullah Qureshi
R
Ari Raemont
Sagar Rafai
Hannah Rainaldi
Andrea Ramirez
Mona Ramirez Quinones
Sam Ratliff
Zack Ray
Tori Regan
Jordan Reichenbach
Erin Reilly
Mili Renuart
Sam Rice
Gabriel Rice
Cecilia Ringo
Sage Ringsmuth
Laken Rivet
Skylar Rizzolo
Molly Roberts
Danna Robles-Garcia
Angelica Rodriguez
Becca Rogers
Brynn Rohde
Daniela Rojas
Anna Roodbergen
Justin Roop
Ryan Ross
Melanie Ross-Acuna
Avery Rothrock
Maelle Rouquet
Orly Rubinfeld
Angela Ruiz
Tim Rutledge
Conor Ryan
S
Amber Salome
Tanush Samson
Garrett Sander
Danielle Sarafian
Fumiyasu Satoyama
Nehe Scarborough
Dana Schau
Anselm Scheck
Kim Schmidt
Nick Schneider
Emma Schneider
Nicholas Schneider
Hannah Scholten
Trenton Schrader
Pete Schultz
Jd Seablom
Sharif Shaker
Yasi Shaker
Reagan Shapton
Allison Shaw
Drew Sheckell
Tianqi Shen
Jenna Sherman
Hannah Shiner
Arun Shrestha
Josie Sibley
Nate Silverman
Manveer Singh
Alexander Sitner
Sharon Situ
Asia Smith
Ben Smith
Erin Smith
Jack Smith
Maggie Smith
Michael Smith
Adam Snider
Meagan Soffin
Youngtae Song
Sophie Spencer
Kalista Stanger
Gabriel Stanley
Katelyn Steele
Grace Stier
Claudia Stroupe
Shelby Suseland
Savannah Sweeney
T
Jack Tagget
William Tait
Hanna Teasley
Tommy Teftsis
Subi Thakali
Audrey Thomas
Natalie Thompson
Dustin Tibbetts
Paige Tobin
Diana Toj-Ortiz
Jane Toll
Alayna Tomlinson
Emma Toomey
Melanie Torres
Caitlin Tremewan
Uyen Trinh
Sydney Troost
Lydia Turke
U
Lexi Ugelow
Amanda Ullrick
V
Emma Valencia
Clara Valenti
Cynthia Valentin
Adriana Vance
Joshua Vance
Zach VanFaussien
Taylor VanWinkle
Carter Vespi
Tejas Vettukattil
Liam VosWilliams
W
Sean Walsh
Preston Wang-Stosur-Bassett
Maya Wanner
Claire Ward
Madeline Ward
Mary Warner
Lesli Washington
Rachel Wasserman
Eleri Watkins
Maija Weaver
Zhi Nee Wee
Ailih Weeldreyer
Haley Wentz
Ehren White
Sarah Whitfield
Annarosa Whitman
Nora Wichmann
Jordan Wiley
Brooklyn Willett
Kiavanne Williams
Clay Wilms
Meg Wilson
Maddy Winarski
Ryan Witczak
Emily Wittman
Marjorie Wolfe
Bailey Woods
Julia Woods
Tori Wright
X
Cindy Xiao
Y
Noa Yaakoby
Kimberly Yang
Ethan Young
Ynika Yuag
Austin Yunker
Adre Yusi
Congratulations to the following Kalamazoo College students who received awards during the 2018 Senior Awards Ceremony on June 16 at Stetson Chapel. The awards include all academic divisions, prestigious scholarships and special non-departmental awards. Again, congratulations to all graduates and members of the class of 2018.
Senior Aunye Scott-Anderson is the recipient of the first Charles Lewis Williams Jr. Award, awarded for oratory excellence at the English SIP Symposium. Scott-Anderson was among the students honored Saturday, June 16, at the 2018 Senior Awards Ceremony.
George Acker Award, awarded annually to a male athlete who in his participation gave all, never quit, with good spirit supported others unselfishly, and whose example was inspirational.
Jonathan Nord
Alpha Lambda Delta Dr. Helen Clark Graduate Fellowship, given to the Alpha Lambda Delta member graduating with the highest GPA.
Guillermo Dominguez Garcia
American Chemical Society Certified Degree in Chemistry
Maria Elva Fujii
Sarah Marie Harnish
Phuong Nguyet Ha Le
Omar León Ruiz
Madeleine Grace Roberts
Caleb Sherwood
Kathryn Doral Thamann
James Bird Balch Prize in American History, for showing academic excellence in American history.
Angel Caranna
Lillian Pringle Baldauf Prize in Music, awarded to an outstanding music student
Lauren Landman
Lewis Batts Prize, awarded to seniors who have done the most to support the activities of the Biology Department and to further the spirit of collegiality among students and faculty.
Manbir Singh
Erika Kelly Waalkes
Bruce Baxter Memorial Award, awarded to a senior showing outstanding development in the field of political science.
Anselm Scheck
Gordon Beaumont Memorial Award, awarded to students who display qualities of selflessness, humanitarian concern and willingness to help others as exemplified in the life of Gordon Beaumont.
Rumsha Sajid
Cindy Xiao
Beeler Senior Projects Abroad Fellows
Lotte Louise Dunnell
Oluchi Amarachi Ebere
Alicia Gaitan
Jasmine Khin
Connor Webb
Larry Bell Scholar
Lee Ray Carter
Biology in Liberal Arts Prize
Rosemarie Nocita
Kathleen Elizabeth Brannan Russell
Marshall Hallock Brenner Prize, awarded to an outstanding student for excellence in the field of psychology.
Justin Thad Roop
Henry and Inez Brown Award, awarded in recognition of outstanding participation in the College community.
Alexandrea Esther Ambs
Emily Good
David Vanderkloot
Clara H. Buckley Prize for Excellence in Latin, awarded to an outstanding student of the language of the Romans.
Clayton James Meldrum
Mary Long Burch Award, for a senior woman who has manifested interest in sports activities and excelled in scholarship.
Christina Dandar
Robert Bzdyl Prize in Marine Biology, awarded to one or more students with demonstrated interest and ability in marine biology or related fields.
Claire Eleanor Howland
Annual Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry, sponsored by the American Chemical Society Division of Analytical Chemistry, to an undergraduate student planning on pursuing graduate studies in chemistry.
Clay Wilkey
Annual Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry, sponsored by the American Chemical Society Division of Inorganic Chemistry, to an undergraduate student planning on pursuing graduate studies in chemistry.
Madeleine Grace Roberts
Annual Undergraduate Award in Physical Chemistry, sponsored by the American Chemical Society and subcommittee for the Division of Physical Chemistry, to an undergraduate student who displays significant aptitude for a career in organic chemistry.
Joyce Nguyen
Outstanding Chemistry Student from Kalamazoo College, sponsored by the Kalamazoo Section of the American Chemical Society and is given to the graduating senior who has demonstrated leadership in the chemistry department and plans to pursue graduate studies in chemistry.
Madeleine Grace Roberts
Lilia Chen Award in Art, awarded to students in their junior or senior year who distinguish themselves through their work in ceramics, sculpture, or painting, and who exhibit strong progress in their understanding of art.
Carlos Enrique Arellano
Dorothy Carpenter
Alicia Gaitan
Kelly Marie Haugland
Julia Madeline Koreman
Erin Sidney Reilly
Amber Sims
Ruth Scott Chenery Award, given to graduating seniors who have excelled academically in theatre and who plan to continue the study of theatre arts following graduation.
Johanna Keller Flores
Samuel Meyers
Chinese Outstanding Achievement Award, which recognizes seniors who have excelled in the study of the Chinese language and China-related subjects on campus and abroad in China.
AJ Convertino
Sharon Situ
Lia Williams
Provost Prize in Classics
Leah Elizabeth Finelli
Clayton James Meldrum
Provost Prize in Computer Science
Skyler Norgaard
Sivhaun Sera
H.P. and Genevieve Connable Scholarship
Hayley Beltz
C.W. “Opie” Davis Award, awarded to the outstanding senior male athlete
Ryan Orr
Diebold Scholar Award, given to one or more seniors in recognition of excellence in the oral or poster presentation of the SIP at the Diebold Symposium.
Megan Elisabeth Hoinville
Emma Kristal
Matera Stuart
Marion H. Dunsmore Memorial Prize in Religion, awarded to graduating seniors for excellence in the major.
Hannah Bernice Berger
Emily Good
David Vanderkloot
Provost Prize in Economics
Thao Duong
Maria Franco
Logan Nicole Smith
George Eaton Errington Prize, awarded to outstanding senior art majors.
Charlotte Mary Gavin
Tulani Pryor
Alliance Francaise Prize in French, awarded for excellence in French by advanced students.
Laetitia Marie Ndiaye
Anselm Scheck
French Government Teaching Assistantships
Molly Elise Merkel
Zoe Johannsen
Joe Fugate Senior German Award, awarded to a senior for excellence in German.
Xarifa Greenquist Memorial Psychology Department Award, given in recognition of distinctive service to students and faculty in psychology by a student assistant.
Ethel Mogilevsky
Lorenzo Redmond
Gabrielle Alexis Shimko
Fred and Sarah Greer Endowed Scholarship/Lorinda Kay Sanford Memorial
Darryl Keyshaun Lewis
Sep’Tisha Starnika Riley
Austin Vance
Kierra Verdun
Griffin Prize, awarded to the senior English major who, like Professor Gail Griffin, demonstrates an exceptional ability to bridge his or her analytical and creative work in the English department.
Rumsha Sajid
Charles C. Hall Scholarship
Maria Elva Fujii
Ham Civic Engagement Scholar
Sep’Tisha Starnika Riley
W. and Elsie L. Heyl Scholars
Brice Calco
Rachel Sujin Chang
Emily Catherine Fletcher
Abhay Goel
Jacob Naranjo
Alexandria Kathleen Oswalt
Peter Rossi
Amber Salome
Anna Michele Roodbergen
The Raymond L. Hightower Award, given to a graduating senior for excellence in and commitment to the disciplines of sociology and anthropology and leadership in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology.
Monet Foster
Alejandro Antonio Jaramillo
Savannah Julia Kinchen
Kiavanne Abelardo Javier Williams
Virginia Hinkelman Memorial Award, awarded to a deserving student who displays a deep concern for the well-being of children, as demonstrated through career goals in the field of child welfare.
Sarafina Jeanette Milianti
Sep’Tisha Starnika Riley
History Department Award, given for outstanding work in the major
Franklin Meyer
Hodge Prize in Philosophy, awarded to members of the graduating class who have the highest standing in the field.
Guillermo Dominguez Garcia
Jasmine Khin
Federico Spalletti
John Wesley Hornbeck Prize, awarded to seniors with the highest achievement for the year’s work in advanced physics toward a major.
Hayley Beltz
Megan Elisabeth Hoinville
Hornet Athletic Association Award, for a graduating senior who has most successfully combined high scholarship with athletic prowess.
David Vanderkloot
William G. Howard Memorial Prize, awarded to a senior for excellence in academic work in an economics or business major.
Guillermo Dominguez Garcia
William G. Howard Memorial Prize in Political Science
Alex Sitner
Japanese National Honor Society, College Chapter, awarded in recognition of student achievement in their study of the Japanese language and their overall academic excellence.
Miles McDowall
Laetitia Marie Ndiaye
Yilan Qiu
Kurt Kaufman Fellows, given annually to seniors who receive Honors in the Senior Individualized Project (SIP) conducted with faculty in the Chemistry Department.
Maria Elva Fujii
Sarah Marie Harnish
Christina Keramidas
Madeleine Grace Roberts
Knoechel Family Award, awarded to a member of the swimming team in recognition of demonstrated excellence in both intercollegiate swimming and academic performance.
Alexandrea Esther Ambs
Irmgard Kowatzki Theatre Award, awarded to the senior who has excelled both in academic areas and in theatrical productions during the four years at the College.
Lauren Landman
LaPlante Civic Engagement Student Scholars, for outstanding dedication to civic engagement while designing and leading community programs that promote a more just, equitable and sustainable world.
Alexandrea Esther Ambs
Delaney Fordell
Sarafina Jeanette Milianti
Khusbu Patel
David Vanderkloot
Tish Loveless Award, given by the Department of Physical Education to the outstanding senior female athlete.
Department of Philosophy Prize, awarded for excellence in any year’s work in philosophy.
Lee Ray Carter
Emiline Noel Chipman
Federico Spalletti
William E. Praeger Prize in Biology, established by the faculty in the Biology Department and awarded to the most outstanding senior majors in biology, based on academic achievement in the discipline.
Megan Elisabeth Hoinville
Khusbu Patel
Robert and Karen Rhoa Prize in Business
Thomas Bryant
Phuong Nguyen
Jake Wasko
Robert and Karen Rhoa Prize for Outstanding SIP
Tuan Do
Monica Gorgas
Katherine Elizabeth Johnson
Elwood H. and Elizabeth H. Schneider Prize in English, awarded for outstanding and creative work in English done by a student who is not an English major.
Rosemarie Nocita
Tulani Pryor
Senior Leadership Recognition Award, awarded to students who have provided key elements of leadership in their organizations, athletic teams, academic departments, employment, and the wider Kalamazoo community. Students were nominated by faculty and staff members in January. Seniors eligible for this award also had to meet a minimum cumulative Grade Point Average requirement and be in good academic and social standing at the College.
Alexandrea Esther Ambs
Hannah Bernice Berger
Mary Elizabeth Burnett
Erin Elizabeth Butler
Elan Dantus
Leah Elizabeth Finelli
Emily Good
Andre Grayson
Griffin D. Hamel
Emily Marlies Kozal
Laetitia Marie Ndiaye
Alexandria Kathleen Oswalt
Khusbu Patel
Sean Peterkin
Sep’Tisha Starnika Riley
Benjamin Rivera
Rumsha Sajid
Sivhaun Sera
Elyse Tuennerman
David Vanderkloot
Kiavanne Abelardo Javier Williams
Lia Williams
Cindy Xiao
Fan E. Sherwood Memorial Prize
Jacqueline Mills
Sherwood Prize in Fine Arts, awarded for outstanding progress and ability on the violin, viola, cello or bass.
Cody Colvin
Catherine A. Smith Prize in Human Rights, awarded to a senior who has been active on campus in promoting human rights, furthering progressive social and cultural change, and combating violence, repression and bigotry.
Emiline Noel Chipman
Catherine A. Smith Prize in Women’s Athletics, awarded to a woman athlete who in her participation gave all, never quit, with good spirit supported others unselfishly, and whose example was inspirational.
Danielle Louise Simon
Lemuel F. Smith Award, given to a student majoring in chemistry pursuing the American Chemical Society approved curriculum and having at the end of the junior year the highest average standing in courses taken in chemistry, physics and mathematics.
Maria Elva Fujii
Senior Spanish Award, given by the Department of Romance Languages for outstanding achievement in Spanish.
Emily Marlies Kozal
Claire Schertzing
Mary Clifford Stetson Prize, awarded for excellence in English essay writing by a senior.
David Vanderkloot
Dwight and Leola Stocker Prize, awarded for excellence in English writing, prose or poetry.
Margaret Doele
Elise Renée Houcek
Kate Liska
Ian Zigterman
Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Prize in Women’s Studies
Angel Caranna
Stowe Scholarship
Clay Wilkey
David Strauss Prize in American Studies, awarded for the best paper written by a graduating senior in his or her junior or senior year in any field of American Studies.
Guillermo Dominguez Garcia
TowerPinkster Sustainability Scholarship
Emiline Noel Chipman
Babette Trader Campus Citizenship and Leadership Award, awarded to members of the graduating class, who have most successfully combined campus citizenship and leadership with scholarship.
Emiline Noel Chipman
Maria Elva Fujii
Alexandria Kathleen Oswalt
Charles Tully Design Award, given annually to a senior who has achieved excellence in some aspect of theatre design.
Carlos Enrique Arellano
Stina Taylor
Donald W. VanLiere Prize Psychology in Coursework
Christina Dandar
Lia Williams
Cindy Xiao
Donald W. VanLiere Prize Psychology in Research
Christina Dandar
Ethel Mogilevsky
Gabrielle Alexis Shimko
Mariam Souweidane
Vibbert Civic Engagement Scholar, students who honor and exemplify the life and spirit of Stephanie Vibbert – scholar, activist, poet, feminist and artist – by leading programs that promote equity and justice through the arts and feminist organizing.
Rumsha Sajid
Voynovich Competitive Scholarship
Elise Renée Houcek
Michael Waskowsky Prize, awarded to outstanding junior or senior art majors.
Zoe Johannsen
Miranda Petersen
Charles Lewis Williams Jr. Award, awarded for oratory at the English SIP Symposium
Aunye Scott-Anderson
Clarke Benedict Williams Prize, awarded to that member of the graduating class who has the best record in mathematics and the allied sciences.
Hayley Beltz
Abhay Goel
Jacob Naranjo
Skyler Norgaard
Maynard Owen Williams Memorial Award, for the best student entry in the form of an essay, poetry, paintings, sketches, photographs or films derived from study abroad.
Kalamazoo College’s 2018 Commencement will take place at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 17, on the campus Quad. A total of 318 members of the class of 2018 are expected to participate in the ceremony with biology, business, psychology and chemistry representing the most popular majors.
Kalamazoo College will conduct its Commencement ceremony June 17. A total of 318 members of the class of 2018 are expected to participate.
Kalamazoo College President Jorge G. Gonzalez will welcome graduates along with about 2,000 family members and friends, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni and community members.
This year’s class includes:
197 Michiganders;
students from 26 states including Illinois, California, Washington, Florida and Massachusetts;
students from 14 countries including China, Vietnam and India; and
93 double majors and three triple majors.
Rain Location
If inclement weather forces the ceremony indoors, it will take place at Anderson Athletic Center, where tickets will be required for entry. Each senior will receive five tickets that will be distributed at the mandatory senior rehearsal at 4 p.m. Thursday, June 14. No extra tickets will be issued. If events are forced indoors, graduating students will receive an email around 9 a.m. Sunday with that information. Such an announcement would also be made at K’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.
Commencement Parking
All faculty, staff and student parking lots will be available to families and guests. Click the link with the title of each lot below to see its location on our interactive map.
Vehicles must be parked in marked stalls. Permits are only required for handicapped spaces. If you choose to park in a surrounding neighborhood, please note all posted regulations, which are maintained by the City of Kalamazoo.
Handicapped Guests and Parking
Limited handicapped parking spaces are clearly marked and available throughout campus, both on streets near campus buildings and in campus lots. Handicapped spaces are reserved for vehicles with a state permit.
Due to limited handicapped parking, a designated drop-off area will be available on Campus Drive in front of Hoben Hall, accessible from Academy Street. Families may drop off guests for barrier-free access to the Quad before finding parking elsewhere on campus.
A designated seating area will be available for guests in wheelchairs on the northeast side of the Hicks Center. Families with guests in wheelchairs who would like to reserve seating in this area should contact Kerri Barker at 269.337.7289 or kerri.barker@kzoo.edu. Guests in wheelchairs who wish to sit with their entire party elsewhere on the Quad may do so.
Barrier-free restrooms are available at Olds Upton Hall at the south side of the building, near the main entrance at the Hicks Center, and in Stetson Chapel at the south side of the building.
Keynote Speaker
Deborah Bial, the Posse Foundation’s president and founder, will address the class of 2018.
K will celebrate its relationship with the acclaimed Posse Foundation when it welcomes the organization’s president and founder, Deborah Bial, as its commencement keynote speaker.
Posse gives talented, high-achieving students from urban public schools the opportunity to attend top colleges and universities on tuition scholarships while ensuring they have a support group to help them navigate the cultural challenges of a new landscape.
Kalamazoo College has partnered with the Posse Foundation since 2008. K’s sixth cohort of Los Angeles Posse students will graduate this year. Its 10th cohort will arrive on campus as first-year students this fall.
Bial earned her B.A. at Brandeis University and her M.A. and Ed.D. at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. She received a MacArthur Fellowship award in 2007.
Class of 2018 Student Speaker
Elyse Tuennerman, a sociology and anthropology major with a public policy and urban affairs concentration, is the student speaker.
Elyse Tuennerman will serve as the class of 2018 student speaker.
Tuennerman, of Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania, is a Senior Leadership Recognition Award recipient, the co-editor-in-chief of the student newspaper The Index, the office coordinator for the Student Funding Board and an Admission tour guide. She served as a President’s Student Ambassador for her sophomore through senior years, giving the student keynote address at the 2017 President’s Community Breakfast last fall.
Tuennerman became a class agent during her senior year and will continue to serve in that leadership role as an alumna, keeping her classmates connected with the College.
Baccalaureate
Baccalaureate, a non-denominational service with student and faculty speakers and musical performances, will be at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 16, at Stetson Chapel. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. A sound system will be set up outside of the chapel for overflow. Some guests choose to bring a blanket and relax on the lawn of the chapel.
Eight students from Kalamazoo County high schools and one Kalamazoo College first-year student will receive Heyl scholarships to attend Kalamazoo College in the 2018-19 school year, majoring in math or science.
The prestigious scholarships, available to accomplished Kalamazoo-area math and science students who meet certain requirements, cover tuition, rooming and book fees. The scholarships were established in 1971 through the will of F.W. and Elsie L. Heyl. F.W. Heyl was the first director of research at the Upjohn Co. and taught at Kalamazoo College.
Honored at a dinner at the College, the scholarship winners are (from left): Evelyn Bartley (Loy Norrix High), Eva DeYoung (Loy Norrix High), Sam Ratliff (Kalamazoo College), Madeline Guimond (Loy Norrix High), Molly Ratliff (Loy Norrix High and Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center), Alina Offerman (Loy Norrix High), Syeda Tooba (Parchment High and Kalamazoo Area Math & Science Center), Tatianna Tyler (Kalamazoo Central High) and Thomas (Jake) Fales (Kalamazoo Central High).
Five other students received Heyl Scholarships to attend Western Michigan University’s Bronson School of Nursing.
Hoop house sounds like a nickname for a basketball arena.
In the field of agriculture, however, it’s a term for a kind of light yet sturdy, metal-framed greenhouse with a clear polyvinyl cover that can be erected anywhere it’s needed. A hoop house provides a year-round environment for growing vegetables, flowers and other cold-sensitive plants.
Kalamazoo College’s Just Food Collective collaborated on a proposal for a “hoop house” greenhouse that, with contributions from alumni and friends of the College, will greatly expand the year-round gardening space at the College. Gathering in the College greenhouse the group currently uses are some of the Just Food Collective members involved in the proposal (from left): Maya Gurfinkel ’20, Aiden Voss ’20, Natalie Thompson ’19, Elliott Boinais ’21 and Lee Carter ’18.
It will be several times the size of the College’s existing greenhouse behind Hoben Hall. And unlike that structure, where potted plants are grown on tables, the crops in the hoop house will be planted in ground-level boxes, making them easier to tend, sustain and harvest.
Ultimately, say student organizers such as Lee Carter ’18, a CCE Civic Engagement Scholar, the food produced in the hoop house could become part of the supply chain for the College’s Dining Services and perhaps for other food programs in the Kalamazoo community. It’s part of a wider goal of the Just Food Collective to increase the use of locally sourced food, easing nutritional inequities, bringing more transparency to the food supply system and reducing the College’s carbon footprint.
The idea has been around for over a decade. CCE Director Alison Geist says it got its start with a group called Farms to K, a program that grew from the service-learningfirst-year seminars Cultivating Community, first taught in 2008 by English professor Amelia Katanski ’92, and Roots in the Earth, led by College Writing Center Director Amy Newday, that focus on food justice and sustainable agriculture. Katanski and Newday serve as advisors to the group and Larry Bell ’80, founder of Bell’s Brewery, has provided support.
An artist’s depiction of the College’s new 1,800-square-foot hoop house, which will be erected in a corner of the intramurals field north of the Fitness and Wellness Center.
The CCE, students and faculty revived and expanded the mission of Farms to K in spring 2016 as the Just Food Collective, whose mission includes policy work on food insecurity. The students involved included Carter, who says he grew up in a “back to the land, homesteader” household in rural New Hampshire that always had a vegetable garden. With Newday, an owner of Shelbyville, Michigan’s, Harvest of Joy Farm, as mentor, they drew up a simple proposal for a hoop house, and Anika Sproull ’17, wrote a senior individualized project (SIP) advocating that K invest in sustainable agriculture.
Over the next two years, more than a dozen students devised a detailed, illustrated proposal and prepared a presentation that, Geist says, “just bowled over” President’s Staff. The proposal lays out the plan and explains how it would provide learning opportunities for existing classes and connect to campus programs such as a composting initiative. It also details the involvement of paid and volunteer student workers, tells how it would fulfill existing College policies concerning environmental justice and sustainability, looks at what other colleges and universities are doing and even includes the results of an informal survey demonstrating K student support for the idea.
Alumni and other supporters of the College, impressed by the plan, contributed the $26,200 needed to fund it.
“I was personally blown away by how quickly [the College] raised the money,” says Just Food Collective Civic Engagement Scholar Natalie Thompson ’19, who participated in the presentation.
Geist says she believes the donors were enthusiastic because they saw it as “a really K kind of thing,” where students used the freedom inherent in the K-Plan to take the lead and work outside of traditional structures. It’s the sort of student-led initiative, with one foot in the classroom and the other in contemporary social issues, that will spread throughout K’s curriculum under the new strategic plan. The plan calls for the College to “become the definitive leader in integrating academic rigor with life-changing experiential education in a values-driven community.”
“This is a really good example” of what the plan envisions, Geist says. “We’re not educating leaders of tomorrow, we’re educating leaders of today.”
As a 2018-19 Civic Engagement Scholar, Just Food Collective member Elliott Boinais ’21 will be in charge of the project, advised by Newday.
Geist cites it as a “fellowship in learning” — a principle that has illuminated the College’s approach to education for almost a century and which defines the CCE’s mission.
“It provides a prototype for what this kind of collaborative learning community can look like and achieve in the future,” she says.
“I hope it’s going to outlast our time here,” says Just Food Civic Engagement Scholar Aiden Voss ’20.
The graduating Carter regrets he won’t be around for the completion of the hoop house, which the philosophy major says he has dreamed about since he was a sophomore in a nearby Living-Learning Housing Unit, gazing at the intramural field as he drank his morning coffee while sitting on a sofa he dragged onto the porch.
Still, his K-Plan has revolved around food, with a SIP on food and philosophy and his experience helping lead a sustainable agriculture initiative. And his next step demonstrates the value of the education he received when, he says, he chose K over culinary school: This fall, he will begin work as a line chef at Canlis, the James Beard Award-winning restaurant widely acclaimed as Seattle’s finest.
Imagine an opportunity to travel abroad, retrace your heritage, teach English in a foreign country, greet family you’ve never known and promote international understanding between cultures. Katie Johnson ’18 will have that opportunity through a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant that will take her to Lithuania this fall.
Katie Johnson ’18 developed a taste for international travel when she studied abroad in Budapest, Hungary. She liked the experience so much that she decided to apply for a Fulbright grant when she returned. That grant will take her this fall to Lithuania.
Johnson – a business major and psychology minor from Okemos, Michigan – has yet to receive the specific assignment that details her Fulbright destination city and school. She expects, however, to work in a rural village within about three hours of the capital, Vilnius.
Johnson will travel to Washington, D.C., for an orientation in July before heading to Lithuania in late August or September.
Kalamazoo College was identified as one of the top-producing Fulbright colleges and universities in the 2017-18 academic year. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers fellowships for U.S. graduating seniors, graduate students, young professionals and artists to research, study or teach English abroad for one academic year.
Such recognition is one of the highest honors the federal government gives with regard to scholarship and international exchange. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected as a result of their academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields, to promote international understanding.
“I feel very fortunate to have attended K,” said Johnson, who has also served on the Athletic Leadership Council, received internships and held an externship at Ryzome Investment Advisors during her college years. “I don’t think I would’ve had these opportunities at another school.”
Johnson chose Kalamazoo College because attending would allow her to play for the women’s lacrosse team while still getting to study abroad. That led her during her junior year to Budapest, Hungary, where the people she met and the independence she gained shaped her world view and sparked her desire to seek more adventures.
“I got back from study abroad and I decided to apply for a Fulbright because I wanted to study abroad again,” Johnson said, noting she soon began a year-long application process. “I thought the opportunity to teach English was interesting. Plus, my grandfather is from Lithuania, and my grandma and great-grandma were teachers. It seemed like a great fit.”
Since then, Johnson has begun learning Lithuanian through her grandfather.
“It’s a hard language to pick up because only about 8 million people in the world speak it,” Johnson said, although she is attending a church in Chicago where the sermons are in Lithuanian and talking with friends who have traveled to Lithuania. She also has a best friend from Estonia with whom she bonds over a similar culture and family background including grandparents who immigrated to the United States for the same reasons.
“I’m going to go and hope for the best because I want to understand more about the Lithuanian culture and how it has changed since my grandpa arrived after World War II,” Johnson said.
Among recent K representatives receiving Fulbright grants, Johnson joins:
Andrea Beitel ’17, who earned a research/study award and is in the United Kingdom.
Riley Cook ’15, who earned a research/study award to travel to Germany.
Dejah Crystal ’17, who earned an English teaching assistantship in Taiwan.
Sapana Gupta ’17, who earned an English teaching assistantship in Germany.
