I have been traveling for Wesleyan a lot recently, and it’s always good to return home to campus. During mid March, though, the place is startlingly quiet. Many of the administrators take some vacation time before the final big push to Commencement, and faculty are busy grading papers or exams and trying to make progress on research projects. Looking out my office window toward Foss Hill, I see the physical plant staff (led by Dave Hall) getting the field ready for the baseball team, but otherwise there is little visible activity.
But many students have been extremely busy during the March break. Let’s start with the athletes. Baseball is off to a great start, winning its first eight games against an impressive variety of opponents. Julian Sonnenfeld ’11 has been hitting up a storm, as has Talia Bernstein ’11 on the softball team. Softball also won its first eight games! The tennis teams are also starting off strong, with Genevieve Aniello ’13 for the women and Michael Piderit ’12 for the men having fine early seasons. The lacrosse teams have been hard at work, with Teddy Citrin ’12 for the men and Jess Chukwu ’11 and Erin McCarthy ’10 for the women playing like scoring machines. Crew is rowing back in CT after a very successful southern swing.
My athletic activities are just to keep the pounds off, and in the gym yesterday I ran into Greg Hurd ’10, who just finished a great wrestling career at Wesleyan. But no rest for the weary, as he’s now hard at work on his senior thesis in Earth and Environmental Science. Greg has spent a considerable amount of time doing fieldwork in the Southwest and is now writing up the results. There are many thesis writers on campus making the final push. Art projects will be going up soon, and I especially look forward to seeing Gregory James’s ’10 installation. Rebecca Krisel ’10 is writing on counter-insurgency, while Emma Van Susteren ’10 is focusing on the slow food movement. Kalen Flynn ’10 is writing about holocaust historiography and its effect on how we think about the representation of the past more generally. These are just a few of the theses that young scholars, artists, writers and scientists are busy bringing to completion. No spring break for them!
Not all senior projects take the form of theses. Some are writing stories, essays, or engaged in community service projects. Sam Hart is majoring in Chemistry and Molecular Biology, but he decided to do an art project that brings together his scientific and aesthetic interests. In addition to building the piece, he has written a computer program that will bring his sculpture to life through moving color field patterns. Check it out in the Zilkha Gallery in mid April.
Good work is its own reward, but sometimes there’s more. Wes senior Liana Woskie has just won a Watson Fellowship ($25,000!) in support of her project entitled “Bringing Primary Healthcare Home: The Community Health Worker, Bangladesh, India, Thailand, Tanzania, Lesotho. In the words of Cleveland Johnson, Director of the Watson Fellowship Program, “Watson Fellows are passionate learners, creative thinkers, and motivated self-starters who are encouraged to dream big but demonstrate feasible strategies for achieving their fellowship goals.” No surprise to me that a Wes student is one of this year’s winners!
Congratulations to Liana and to all Wes students who are giving their all!
[tags]Julian Sonnenfeld ’11, Talia Bernstein ’11, Genevieve Aniello ’13, Michael Piderit ’12, Teddy Citrin ’12, Jess Chukwu ’11, Erin McCarthy ’10, Greg Hurd ’10, Gregory James ’10, Rebecca Krisel ’10, Emma Van Susteren ’10, Kalen Flynn ’10, Sam Hart ’10, Liana Woskie ’10, Watson Fellowship[/tags]
I think it’s excellent how you take the time to cite students in our community for outstanding work. At my high school, we’d have auditorium twice a week, and our Head would often take a few minutes at the beginning to give a run-down of recent accomplishments. For me, listening to these was an exercise in conscious admiration and appreciation of the other people I’m surrounded by. It made me feel like I was part of something greater than myself, and it inspired me to be the best I could be and contribute in my own way.
Hey Hey Hey Michael on a Friday last february I was walking around and i saw you and i shot you with bananas like western quick-draw style. I hope you weren’t offended and I hope we can still be frends.