Walter Moak ��25 Earns Fulbright to Germany</h1> <article> <h1>Walter Moak ��25 Earns Fulbright to Germany</h1> <p>mreed — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 14:37:41 +0000</p> <span>Walter Moak ��25 Earns Fulbright to Germany</span> <span><span>mreed</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-11-21T09:37:41-05:00" title="Friday, November 21, 2025 - 09:37">Fri, 11/21/2025 - 09:37</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Throughout his four years at 91ֱ��, the Charlottesville, Virginia, native competed on both the cross country and track and field teams, making four appearances across two different NCAA National Championships. </p><p>Moak is the <a href=" https://goyeo.com/sports/mens-track-and-field" data-entity-type="external">91ֱ�� track and field</a> record holder for the 1000-meter, 1 Mile, and distance medley relay races, and appears 10 times on the sport��s top-10 times list. Before closing out his career, he also helped lead the <a href="https://goyeo.com/sports/mens-cross-country" data-entity-type="external">cross country team</a> to a pair of North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championships in 2022��the first time the men��s team won the crown in 66 years��and 2024.</p><p>In addition to his athletic achievements, Moak performed in 91ֱ��s Arts & Sciences Chamber Collective and the Musical Union. With the latter, he performed at Carnegie Hall in January 2023. </p><p><strong>How did 91ֱ�� shape or influence you to pursue the Fulbright?</strong></p><p>During my time at 91ֱ��, I took a number of excellent classes in the <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/german">German department</a>. Although I arrived on campus with no knowledge of German, I signed up for German 101 with <a href="/steven-huff">Professor of German Steve Huff</a> during my first semester. I loved the class and continued to study the language, progressing through grammar classes into literature courses over the next few years.</p><p>In those upper-level courses, I read books and stories that were both surprisingly dynamic, both somber and comic, moving yet sharp. Contrary to the language��s caricatures in American media, I found that German could achieve a breadth of expression: spare and terse at one moment, but free and fluid at the next. </p><p>Surprisingly, I also found that German complemented my other coursework quite well. As a musical studies major, I could read Wagner��s essays in their original text and understand the lyrics of Schubert��s song cycles. Additionally, I used my German in an art history course on Albrecht D��rer and in several linguistics classes. </p><p>Although I enjoyed studying German, I had few opportunities to speak it. Since I chose not to study abroad at 91ֱ��, I started looking for ways to go to Germany after graduation. When I decided to apply for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA), the German department supported me at every stage: Professor Huff wrote a recommendation on my behalf, and <a href="/jessica-resvick">Assistant Professor of German Jessica Resvick</a> reviewed and helped edit my application essays. </p><p>I also have to credit 91ֱ��s track and field team for creating a culture that encouraged me to apply. The team is full of ambitious people who apply for competitive fellowships and often win them. During my time on the team, <a href="/news/survivor-mentality">Emma Hart</a> ��23 won a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship and <a href="/news/hayden-hill-24-earns-fulbright-bulgaria" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="6b4d0a23-614a-4d83-a9a9-5ac4b1ecb98b" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Hayden Hill ��24 Earns Fulbright to Bulgaria">Hayden Hill</a> ��24 won another Fulbright, and two of my teammates applied in the same cycle as I did. With such company, I wasn��t intimidated by the Fulbright��s competitive process or prestigious reputation.</p><p><strong>How does pursuing the Fulbright align with your post-college life and career goals? </strong></p><p>I��m unsure of what career I intend to pursue, and Fulbright gives me another year to figure things out. However, the program��s focus on education and linguistics could lead to jobs in those fields. </p><p>Additionally, I��m considering getting a master��s degree in either urban planning or landscape architecture. Spending time in Germany will expose me to how physical places are planned and formed outside the U.S.</p><p><strong>What��s the best advice you��ve received from your 91ֱ�� faculty mentor?</strong></p><p>��The worst they can say is no��and you��re in the same position you started in.�� C Ben Wach, head track & field coach.</p><hr><p><em>If you��re a rising or graduating senior interested in Fulbright, connect with </em><a href="/node/4526"><em>Fellowships & Awards</em></a><em> to learn more about pursuing research or an arts project, obtaining a graduate degree, or teaching English in a foreign country of your choice following graduation.</em></p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">The record-setting 91ֱ�� athlete and musical studies major plans to teach English.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-11-21T12:00:00Z">Fri, 11/21/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Walter Moak ��25, a <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/musical-studies">musical studies major</a> and record-setting 91ֱ�� dual athlete, has earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to Germany for the 2025-2026 academic year. </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2360">After 91ֱ��</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4080">Fellowships</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3846">Engaged Liberal Arts</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25281">Musical Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/musical-studies" hreflang="und">Musical Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Abe Frato ��25</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> <article> <h1>Alana Metcalf ��22 Earns Fulbright to Taiwan</h1> <p>mreed — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 21:01:11 +0000</p> <span>Alana Metcalf ��22 Earns Fulbright to Taiwan</span> <span><span>mreed</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-09-22T17:01:11-04:00" title="Monday, September 22, 2025 - 17:01">Mon, 09/22/2025 - 17:01</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>��I��m especially excited about the opportunity to strengthen my Chinese language skills, with the long-term goal of eventually being able to conduct therapy in Chinese,�� she says. ��Ultimately, I see the Fulbright as a meaningful step toward becoming a more compassionate and globally minded mental health professional.��<br><br>Prior to earning the Fulbright, Metcalf spent two years working at a Yale School of Medicine research lab called play2PREVENT, which ��focuses on using digital interventions to prevent opioid misuse and promote mental health education among adolescents,�� she explains. ��This experience deepened my interest in mental health and solidified my desire to work directly with individuals in a therapeutic setting, particularly young people.�� </p><p>In fact, Metcalf says she plans to earn a master��s degree in clinical social work or counseling, and possibly earn a PhD or PsyD in clinical psychology. ��My long-term goal is to provide therapy at an outpatient mental health clinic where I can provide accessible, affordable therapy to individuals struggling with their mental health, especially those from underserved communities.��</p><p><strong>How did 91ֱ�� influence you to pursue the Fulbright?</strong><br>Taking Chinese classes at 91ֱ�� was the biggest influence on my decision to pursue a Fulbright. The supportive and engaging teaching style of my Chinese professors, combined with their encouragement to participate in cultural events like the Lunar New Year celebration, deepened my appreciation for the language and helped me build meaningful relationships with my classmates and the faculty. </p><p>Weekly Chinese table meetings gave me the chance to challenge myself by using Mandarin in real-life settings and underscored the importance of cultural exchange. These experiences and the rigorous curriculum that is taught helped me see how language is deeply intertwined with history, identity, food, and everyday life. They ultimately solidified my desire not just to study Chinese in the classroom, but to fully engage with the culture, community, and people.</p><p>Pursuing a Fulbright feels like a natural extension of the intercultural values I developed at 91ֱ��. It represents a continuation of the language and cultural journey I began on campus��one rooted in mutual understanding, curiosity, and respect.<br><br><strong>How does pursuing the Fulbright align with your career goals?</strong><br>Pursuing a Fulbright will allow me to make a meaningful impact while immersing myself in a new culture and community. Although teaching abroad isn't directly tied to my future career as a therapist, it will equip me with essential, transferable skills��such as effective communication, cultural sensitivity, adaptability, and empathy��that are foundational to therapeutic work. </p><p>Building cross-cultural relationships and navigating unfamiliar environments will also challenge me to broaden my perspective and deepen my understanding of how people experience the world. These insights will strengthen my ability to connect with diverse clients and approach mental health from a more inclusive, culturally informed lens. It will also give me experience working directly with people and being able to serve the community. </p><p><strong>What are you looking forward to the most with the Fulbright? </strong><br>I��m looking forward to getting to know the people of Yilan and immersing myself in Taiwanese culture. One aspect I��m particularly excited about is the food: Taiwan is known for its incredibly delicious and affordable cuisine. I can��t wait to try local specialties like Yilan��s spring onion pancakes (��ͱ�) and the iconic Taiwanese beef noodle soup (ţ��I). As someone who genuinely loves exploring cultures through food, I see this as a fun and meaningful way to connect with the community.</p><p><strong>What��s the best advice you��ve received from your 91ֱ�� faculty mentor?</strong><br>My mentor was Professor of Psychology and Environmental Studies <a href="/cindy-frantz">Cindy Frantz</a>. She has been, and continues to be, an incredible source of guidance and support. </p><p>One of the most meaningful pieces of advice she gave me was that it's okay to feel lost and not have everything figured out. She encouraged me to stay open-minded and explore opportunities��even those that don��t seem directly aligned with my professional goals��as each experience, no matter how small, can shape your path in unforeseen ways. Sometimes the path you never intended on taking is the one that might shape you the most. </p><p>Cindy also reminded me that growth isn��t always linear, and that everyone moves through life at their own pace. That perspective has stayed with me and continues to ground me, especially during times of uncertainty.</p><p>I never initially saw a Fulbright as part of my career path, but now I believe it will be one of the most rewarding and transformative experiences of my life. </p><hr><p><em>If you��re a rising or graduating senior interested in Fulbright, connect with </em><a href="/node/4526"><em>Fellowships & Awards</em></a><em> to learn more about pursuing research or an arts project, obtaining a graduate degree, or teaching English in a foreign country of your choice following graduation.</em></p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">The fellowship will help the psychology major achieve her goals of becoming a globally minded mental health professional.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-11-18T12:00:00Z">Tue, 11/18/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p id="docs-internal-guid-d5814eef-7fff-b9e3-1edc-9156a073282f">Alana Metcalf ��22 has earned a <a href="/node/467299">Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship</a> (ETA) to Yilan, Taiwan, for the 2025-2026 academic year. A <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/psychology">psychology</a> major with a minor in <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/east-asian-studies">East Asian Studies</a>, she will help teach English to elementary school students along with a local language instructor.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2360">After 91ֱ��</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4080">Fellowships</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3846">Engaged Liberal Arts</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25286">Psychology</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/psychology" hreflang="und">Psychology</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Alana Metcalf</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> <article> <h1>No Limits</h1> <p>azaleski — Tue, 07 Oct 2025 15:25:29 +0000</p> <span>No Limits</span> <span><span>azaleski</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-10-07T11:25:29-04:00" title="Tuesday, October 7, 2025 - 11:25">Tue, 10/07/2025 - 11:25</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>His faculty mentors in economics and business ��motivated and guided�� him as he explored his entrepreneurial side. Emeritus Professor of <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/economics">Economics</a> Barbara Craig ��was instrumental in helping me think about what I could use economics to do, and the impact that I could make through it,�� he says. </p><p>Classes with Associate Professor and Chair of Business Eric Lin, meanwhile, helped Ampofo gain a solid foundation in business. ��[These] courses helped me learn about business fundamentals and apply them to my future goals,�� he says, noting that Lin's interactive approach helped him see how business skills applied to multiple fields, including the education and nonprofit sectors. </p><p>Ampofo, who grew up in Ghana, then combined his interests in entrepreneurship, business, and social change in an application for the <a href="/news/third-year-gideon-ampofo-receives-davis-projects-peace-grant">Davis Projects for Peace Grant</a> during his junior year. He won the $10,000 prize, which funded summer youth development workshops in Accra, Ghana.</p><p> Currently, Ampofo works as an associate at Ares Management Corporation, where he serves in the private equity group and supports recruitment efforts for Black and diverse talent. In addition to his work in investments, he runs two nonprofits: The League for Global Development, an outgrowth of his Peace Grant project that focuses on youth leadership development. His second, Africans Who Invest, is dedicated to building youth financial skills.</p><p>��Financial literacy is very important, but a lot of people, unfortunately, do not really have access to that,�� Ampofo says. ��I decided to found Africans Who Invest to help bridge that gap.�� His aim is to help ��young people learn how to save money, how to invest money, and how to connect and network.�� </p><p>Ampofo saw how empowering knowledge could be during a Model U.N. trip to Spain he took in high school. ��At the time, I believed wealth was the only path to creating real impact,�� he recalls. But Ampofo was inspired by other students who made the most of the resources they already had. </p><p>��When I went for that conference, and I met other young people from all across the world, and I saw all the things that they were doing in their local communities to make an impact, I thought, ��I have a lot of these resources. We can actually do this. Nothing limits me.��</p><p>This belief also fuels his work with the League for Global Development. ��I partner with financial institutions, leadership organizations, and policy think tanks back home in Ghana, then we hold online sessions or in-person boot camps,�� Ampofo explains. ��The goal is to help young people realize their potential and motivate them to make this world a better place.��</p><p>The impact of this work is significant: To date, Africans Who Invest and the League for Global Development have trained over 1,000 students across Ghana in personal finance, community development, leadership, and more.</p><p>Even as he leverages new expertise in finance and investments to support his nonprofit work, Ampofo often reminds the students who attend his programs what he learned in college: Embrace the resources available to you. ��I always tell kids, ��Be proactive. Your environment could be supportive, but if you��re not proactive, you cannot maximize your potential.��</p><hr><p><em>When you </em><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/business"><em>major in business at 91ֱ��</em></a><em>, you have access to powerful networking opportunities with alumni who are as creative and aspirational as you are. Learn more about this course of study, whether you��re diving into the corporate sector, launching a freelance consulting career, or even opening your own business. </em></p><hr><p><em>Kristen Evans is a culture writer and critic who has written for </em>BuzzFeed, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, NYLON, <em>and</em> The New Republic.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Gideon Ampofo ��23 masters the world of finance to shape nonprofit success in Ghana</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-11-14T12:00:00Z">Fri, 11/14/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Kristen Evans</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Gideon Ampofo ��23 knew early in his life that he wanted to balance the world of <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/business">business</a> with the world of social change. ��I wanted to attend a college where I could be involved in social justice and learn how to make an impact through policy, but I also wanted to get the business acumen I needed,�� he says. ��I learned growing up that it was really difficult for a lot of companies in Africa to raise capital to accelerate growth.��</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4268">Business</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2360">After 91ֱ��</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Gideon Ampofo ��23 knew early in his life that he wanted to balance the world of business with the world of social change.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tanya Rosen-Jones '97</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> <article> <h1>Finding a Balance</h1> <p>awillia2 — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 20:59:09 +0000</p> <span>Finding a Balance</span> <span><span>awillia2</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-08-28T16:59:09-04:00" title="Thursday, August 28, 2025 - 16:59">Thu, 08/28/2025 - 16:59</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Attending 91ֱ�� allowed Daniela Mortazavi ��22 to pursue piano and economics��and make a difference in the college��s business major.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-11-12T12:00:00Z">Wed, 11/12/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Kira Goldenberg</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>When Daniela Mortazavi ��22 first decided to attend 91ֱ��, she gravitated to a school halfway across the country because she felt excited to continue focusing on piano at the conservatory in addition to immersing herself in the college��s broad coursework offerings.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2360">After 91ֱ��</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=3925">Economics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4074">East Asian Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4268">Business</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/economics" hreflang="und">Economics</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/east-asian-studies" hreflang="und">East Asian Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/business" hreflang="und">Business</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Courtesy of Daniela Mortazavi</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-43131" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p>��91ֱ�� was the place where I could take academically rigorous classes but also pursue my music alongside other serious musicians,�� says the Bay Area native, who has played the instrument since the age of three. ��That balance was really important for me.��</p><p>When Mortazavi graduated four years later, she still practiced piano regularly, but she did not end up majoring in music. During her time at 91ֱ��, her academic interests shifted with her exposure to 91ֱ��s wide array of academic options. Mortazavi ended up majoring in <a href="/node/3386" target="_blank">economics</a>, minoring in <a href="/node/3341" target="_blank">East Asian studies</a>, and completing a then-brand new <a href="/node/413251" target="_blank">integrative concentration</a> in business. </p><p>��I chose econ because I found it to be a very versatile degree,�� she says. ��It was both qualitative and quantitative at times. I wasn��t sure exactly what I wanted to do after college, but I knew that would be flexible enough to open some doors.�� </p><p>Indeed, Mortazavi parlayed her college experiences, which included three years leading the 91ֱ�� Finance Club as well as a Winter Term entrepreneurship bootcamp, into a COVID lockdown-era stint at an AI startup and then finance internships before she began her current role as an investment banking analyst at Societe Generale in New York.</p><p>��The job I��m currently in, which is Equity Capital Markets within investment banking, has a lot to do with the concepts you learn in economics,�� she says. "But I was able to differentiate myself through the other courses I took at 91ֱ��. Whether that was physics, philosophy, or art history �� the whole liberal arts curriculum allowed me to be adaptable in learning new concepts and approach problem solving with a diverse set of perspectives.��</p><p>Mortazavi is among those alumni offering Associate Professor of Business Eric Lin input on curriculum development for the new <a href="/node/322196" target="_blank">business major</a> that launched in fall 2025. She��s also working with Lin to ��assemble this bullpen of alumni to strengthen our connectivity�� with current students, so Obies interested in finance have more mentorship and networking opportunities.</p><p>��I see how so many of these 91ֱ�� alums go out of their way to help other Obies,�� she says. ��The nature of those relationships has influenced my desire to give back.��</p><hr><p><em>When you </em><a href="/node/322196" target="_blank"><em>major in business at 91ֱ��</em></a><em>, you have access to powerful networking opportunities with alumni who are as creative and aspirational as you are. Learn more about this course of study, whether you��re diving into the corporate sector, launching a freelance consulting career, or even opening your own business. </em></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> <article> <h1>Artistic Inspiration</h1> <p>awillia2 — Tue, 26 Aug 2025 23:21:17 +0000</p> <span>Artistic Inspiration</span> <span><span>awillia2</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-08-26T19:21:17-04:00" title="Tuesday, August 26, 2025 - 19:21">Tue, 08/26/2025 - 19:21</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Today, animals play a large role in her work, whether she��s carving a wood figurine of a cow, or working on a large relief print that features a human-like figure with the head of a bird. In the past, she has created pieces from forged iron, including Leviathan Shabbat candlesticks and a menorah with a fish shape as its base. </p><p>But Sturm-Gross calls wood her ��main medium,�� and in 2024, she spent three weeks as a resident artist at the Vermont Studio Center, creating new wood sculptures, including pieces made through chainsaw carving. </p><p>As a student, Sturm-Gross met supportive and encouraging professors who influenced her artistic career. This includes Associate Professor of Reproducible Media <a href="/kristina-paabus" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="f604c4d4-46b2-4078-9c23-9f89b7284c9c" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Kristina Paabus">Kristina Paabus</a>, who taught a printmaking course that sharpened Sturm-Gross��s focus as an artist. </p><p>��There was something about it that just clicked for me,�� she says. ��I��d drawn. I��d painted. But something about carving the image was a total revelation.�� </p><p>That same semester, Sturm-Gross took a course on Jewish mysticism with Sam S.B. Shonkoff, who was then a visiting assistant professor of religion and Jewish Studies. The timing was significant: She saw how these fields of study overlapped, sparking her interest in combining art and religion. </p><p>��A lot of the work that I make is connected to this Jewish theological canon,�� Sturm-Gross says. ��I��m very invested in this idea of a diasporic Judaism that is rooted in the place where one is�� Part of that has been populating these theological ideas with plants and animals that I grew up around. </p><p>��But I am even more interested in solving theological problems with my work,�� she adds. ��Nature and diasporic Judaism are both languages to discuss the actual point, which has a lot more to do with Revelation and has an exegetical focus. The important intermediary there is the texts themselves.��</p><p>Accordingly, at 91ֱ��, Sturm-Gross spent her days contemplating Hasidic texts and spirituality, while feeding her art practice through activities like a joinery class and a work-study program at the Penland School of Craft. She also developed the sense that as an artist, craft as a concept applies not only to the discipline of making objects, but also to the worlds of writing, thinking, and spirituality. She recalls taking a course about apocalyptic texts taught by Robert S. Danforth Associate Professor of Religion <a href="/corey-barnes" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="4c14e66a-042f-4069-88d7-f64d3df44c7e" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Corey Barnes ��98">Corey Barnes ��98</a>; many of these themes still come up in her work today. </p><p>After graduation, Sturm-Gross wanted to find a job that allowed her to still make art. She spent a year in Chicago working for a furniture maker and for woodworkers before moving to New York. While there, she started creating window displays for Bergdorf Goodman, a job she still does on a freelance basis, in addition to teaching at spaces like Makeville Studio. Sturm-Gross is also the art director of <em>Gashmius</em>, an online magazine ��dedicated to Jewish mystical thought, practice, and culture�� with a neo-Hasidic, progressive lens, as described on the magazine��s website. </p><p>To date, her work has been exhibited in group exhibitions in Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, to name a few. But wherever she is, she always comes back to nature as a source of inspiration and spiritual nourishment. </p><p>��There��s nothing more holy than the natural world, and it��s God��s most perfect art project,�� Sturm-Gross said. ��As an artist, I feel like I can only aspire to mimic the things in nature that I see.��</p><hr><p><em>91ֱ��s </em><a href="/arts-and-sciences/ba-bfa" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="3b72b3d9-2465-48c8-9c21-0dd1037a3a87" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="BA+BFA in Integrated Arts"><em>BA+BFA in Integrated Arts program</em></a><em> combines the rigor of an arts school with the well-rounded, interdisciplinary education of a liberal arts college. Learn more about this five-year program that��s tailored to each student��s academic and artistic interests.</em></p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">91ֱ�� inspired Eva Sturm-Gross ��22 to create art that combines her love for nature with solving theological problems.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-11-11T12:00:00Z">Tue, 11/11/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Eva Recinos</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The woods of Vermont will always hold a special place for Eva Sturm-Gross ��22. Growing up, she loved being fully immersed in nature, splashing in streams and fishing.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2360">After 91ֱ��</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4269">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Courtesy of Eva Sturm-Gross</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> <article> <h1>The Space Between</h1> <p>awillia2 — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 12:12:06 +0000</p> <span>The Space Between</span> <span><span>awillia2</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-09-11T08:12:06-04:00" title="Thursday, September 11, 2025 - 08:12">Thu, 09/11/2025 - 08:12</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>The show focused on concepts that often challenge, and sometimes permanently change, our outlook on everyday life: loss, empty spaces, and voids.<br><br>Yellin��s sculptures and paintings often take on these heady subjects using an abstract visual language brought to life through materials like silicone, aluminum, fabric, and latex. Her artworks can carry a sense of tension: They are somehow both soft yet sharp, both alien yet familiar, industrial with bodily echoes.</p><p>This focus on creating objects that she says ��evoke something more internal and emotional�� than their materiality might normally bring to mind is also especially present in her 2025 exhibition <a href="https://arts.pepperdine.edu/museum/2024-2025/isabel-yellin.htm" target="_blank"><em>Mothership</em></a>.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item"> Through painting and sculpture, Isabel Yellin ��11 explores the complexities of the human experience.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-11-04T12:00:00Z">Tue, 11/04/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Eva Recinos</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>For her 2023 exhibition <a href="https://towards.info/exhibitions/the-presence-of-absence" target="_blank"><em>The Presence of Absence</em></a>, Isabel Yellin ��11 created a series of artworks inspired by a complicated question: How do you make art that captures what it feels like to experience absence?</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2360">After 91ֱ��</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4269">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" hreflang="und">Studio Art</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-caption field--type-string-long field--label-hidden field__item">Yellin's 91ֱ�� faculty mentors include Eva & John Young-Hunter Professor of Integrated Media Julia Christensen and Professor of Studio Art and Photography Pipo Nguyen-Duy.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Sean Dungan</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-43580" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-cont-img-section paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <div class="image-grid image-grid--single-caption pull"> <div id="obj-43579" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-image-row paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="image-row"> <div class="image-row__images" data-cols="2"> <div id="obj-43577" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--default"> <figure> </figure> </div> <div id="obj-43578" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-figure paragraph--view-mode--default"> <figure> </figure> </div> </div> <div class="figcaption"> <div class="figure__caption"> <p>Views of <em>Isabel Yellin: Mothership</em>, Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine University, January 11�CMarch 30, 2025.</p> </div> <div class="figure__credit"> Photo credit: Courtesy of Isabel Yellin </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-43581" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p>She presented a series of silicone paintings and metal-and-silicone sculptures along with paintings by her mother, Anne Locksley, who died by suicide in 2008. The deep personal significance of the exhibition aligns with Yellin��s ongoing interest in grief, trauma, and the invisible connections that tether us to each other. She doesn��t shy away from the impact of mental health on her family; instead, she searches for ways to translate the human experience into her artworks.</p><p>Yellin��s art practice involves reading and writing about the psyche, a habit she traces back to 91ֱ��, where the <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/art" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="99006c99-de8f-4a3c-8569-53995b102253" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Studio Art">studio art</a> major took courses in everything from philosophy to cinema. ��Everything else I was doing was influencing what I got to do as an art student as well,�� she says.</p><p>Faculty mentors such as Eva & John Young-Hunter Professor of Integrated Media <a href="/julia-christensen" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="0ee04be8-a2b6-4ce7-9fb8-12ad8c4030ab" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Julia Christensen">Julia Christensen</a>, Professor of Studio Art and Photography <a href="/pipo-nguyen-duy" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="1c45109d-b4d1-44cd-845c-b3f83572db83" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Pipo Nguyen-Duy">Pipo Nguyen-Duy</a>, retired Young-Hunter Professor of Art John Pearson, and former Professor of Studio Art Nanette Yannuzzi-Macias encouraged Yellin to experiment. She remembers sitting in a closet with shellac, trying to coax fabric into the forms she envisioned in her mind; in her studio, she often poured latex directly onto the floor. </p><p>��I was really interested in the body and flesh and what that can evoke in someone as an art object,�� Yellin says. ��I was doing all this material research into a fleshy textural fabric, things that alluded to the body. I was running around being a weirdo. And it was really powerful.��</p> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div class="body-centered-layout"> <div class="flex-row pull" id="obj-45427"> <div class="flex-row__content"> <span data-span="2"> <a href="/sites/default/files/2025-11/31_IY01A%20websize_1.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="602" data-pswp-height="768"> </a> </span><span data-span="4"> <a href="/sites/default/files/2025-11/towardsgallery-iy-4-2560x_1.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="1355" data-pswp-height="768"> </a> </span><span data-span="2"> <a href="/sites/default/files/2025-11/towardsgallery-iy-22-2560x_0.jpg" class="photoswipe" data-pswp-width="1075" data-pswp-height="768"> </a> </span> </div> <div class="figcaption"> <div class="figure__caption"> <p>Views of <em>The Presence of Absence,</em> Towards Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, <time datetime="2023-09-09/2023-10-14">September 9?�C?October 14, 2023.</time></p> </div> <div class="figure__credit"> Photo credit: Isabel Yellin ��11 </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-43587" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p>After 91ֱ��, Yellin enrolled in a post-baccalaureate program at Virginia Commonwealth University, and later spent time in New York before attending and graduating from the Royal College of Art in London. Yellin then joined her sister in Los Angeles, where she lives now. </p><p>��You really have to follow your intuition and your gut and be open to opportunities that you might not have been expecting,�� she says. ��There��s no clear path to making this life work.��</p><p>Yellin��s solo shows have been organized in Amsterdam, Toronto, and Los Angeles, and her work has been featured in group shows in Z��rich, Berlin, and San Francisco. She also completed a residency in Sicily. </p><p>In 2023, Yellin returned to 91ֱ�� as a Visiting Artist Lecturer. She visited a few student studios and spent time with the faculty that once encouraged her at the very beginning of her career. While here, Yellin found old images of her artwork. </p><p>��I see a through line from then to what I��m doing now�� [including] this interest I��ve always had in the transference of materials and using them in a new way.��</p><p>But Yellin also remains interested in pushing the accepted conventions of both painting and sculpture. ��I��ve always been in between a sculptor and a painter,�� Yellin said. ��I look at things with a painter��s eye, but my interest in objecthood makes me make things that are more on a sculptural plane�� I find the in-between of something a really inspiring, juicy area in which to work.��</p><hr><p><em>91ֱ��s </em><a href="/arts-and-sciences/ba-bfa" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="3b72b3d9-2465-48c8-9c21-0dd1037a3a87" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="BA+BFA in Integrated Arts"><em>BA+BFA in Integrated Arts program</em></a><em> combines the rigor of an arts school with the well-rounded, interdisciplinary education of a liberal arts college. Learn more about this five-year program that��s tailored to each student��s academic and artistic interests.</em></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> <article> <h1>Audrey Weber ��24 earns Fulbright to teach English in Ecuador</h1> <p>dfrezza — Wed, 01 Oct 2025 14:36:08 +0000</p> <span>Audrey Weber ��24 earns Fulbright to teach English in Ecuador</span> <span><span>dfrezza</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-10-01T10:36:08-04:00" title="Wednesday, October 1, 2025 - 10:36">Wed, 10/01/2025 - 10:36</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>What have you been up to since graduating from 91ֱ��?</strong></p><p>After graduation, I returned home to the Cayman Islands, where I��ve been working at a newly opened primary school as a learning assistant. I work primarily with nine to 11-year-olds, supporting them through reading and math interventions and introducing them to Spanish. The role felt like a natural extension of my experiences at 91ֱ��, including my time as an ExCo instructor and teaching assistant in the Hispanic Studies department. It��s been incredibly fulfilling to help young learners grow in confidence and curiosity, but I��m also looking forward to stepping into my next adventure.</p><p><strong>How does pursuing the Fulbright align with your post-college life and career goals? </strong></p><p><a href="https://us.fulbrightonline.org/">Fulbright</a> bridges my academic interests and my long-term goals. I��m deeply committed to cross-cultural communication, which has been at the heart of my work in both education and advocacy. My experience with Catholic Charities solidified my desire to pursue a career in human rights law, with a focus on nonprofit work alongside Latin American communities. The Fulbright fellowship will allow me to immerse myself in Ecuadorian culture, strengthen my language skills, and continue learning in dialogue with others. As an anthropologist, I believe that living and working in the community is one of the most meaningful ways to understand�Cand more justly represent�Cthe people I hope to one day serve.</p><p><strong>Where specifically will you be/what will you be doing��and what are you looking forward to the most?</strong></p><p>I��ll be working as an English teaching assistant at a university in Ecuador. Outside of my teaching hours, I��m excited to engage in community life and continue exploring themes from my undergraduate thesis, which focused on Andean ontologies and indigenous resistance to extractive industries such as mining. Ecuador offers a vital context to further understand these dynamics, and I look forward to learning from the perspectives and lived experiences of those most directly affected.</p><p>I am most excited about forming relationships with my students and creating an environment for open discussion. Since I��ll be working with university students, I look forward to returning to the dynamic environment of a college campus and learning from their perspectives on language, identity, and contemporary Ecuadorian life. I am equally excited to volunteer with local organizations, explore Ecuadorian food, and see what sorts of sports I can get involved with! </p><p><strong>How did 91ֱ�� shape or influence you to pursue the Fulbright?</strong></p><p>91ֱ�� encouraged me from day one to think deeply about the world and my place in it. Courses like Introduction to Cultural Anthropology with <a href="/baron-pineda">Professor Baron Pineda</a> and Society and Environment in Latin America and the Caribbean with Professor Karl Offen challenged me to approach questions of culture, politics, and power with a multidisciplinary approach, listening to the perspectives of those affected. </p><p>The summer before my third year, I interned in Cusco, Per�� at a non-profit organization that works with indigenous people in the Andes. This experience undoubtedly influenced the trajectory of my 91ֱ�� career by inspiring numerous papers, and eventually my application to Fulbright. I��m especially grateful to my Hispanic Studies professors, <a href="/ana-maria-diaz-burgos">Ana Mar��a D��az Burgos</a>, <a href="/sergio-gutierrez-negron">Sergio Guti��rrez Negr��n</a>, <a href="/patty-tovar">Patty Tovar</a>, and <a href="/sebastiaan-faber">Sebastiaan Faber</a>, who supported me as I navigated interning in my second language and continually encouraged me to apply for this fellowship.</p><p> </p><hr><p><a href="/fellowships"><em>Connect with Fellowships & Awards</em></a><em> to learn more about the fellowships and awards opportunities available to students.</em></p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">The young alum, from George Town, Grand Cayman, will serve as a teaching assistant in university-level English classes.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-10-01T12:00:00Z">Wed, 10/01/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Audrey Weber ��24 triple majored in <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/anthropology">anthropology</a>, <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/hispanic-studies">Hispanic Studies</a>, and <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/latin-american-studies">Latin American Studies</a> at 91ֱ��. During that time, she volunteered as an <a href="/bcsl/programs/america-reads">America Reads</a> tutor and interned with <a href="https://www.ccdocle.org/">Catholic Charities, Diocese of Cleveland</a> in the immigration legal services division. ��There I had the privilege of listening to the stories of Latin American immigrants��people navigating displacement, legal uncertainty, and the legacies of political and economic upheaval,�� she says. ��My coursework helped me understand the broader structural forces behind those stories, while also reinforcing the importance of approaching such narratives with humility and care.��</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4080">Fellowships</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2360">After 91ֱ��</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=24656">Anthropology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=4796">Hispanic Studies</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25276">Latin American Studies</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Daria Keenan</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> <article> <h1>Amelia Merithew ��25 Earns Fulbright to Cameroon</h1> <p>mreed — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 01:42:29 +0000</p> <span>Amelia Merithew ��25 Earns Fulbright to Cameroon</span> <span><span>mreed</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-09-10T21:42:29-04:00" title="Wednesday, September 10, 2025 - 21:42">Wed, 09/10/2025 - 21:42</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p id="docs-internal-guid-df1a2bfd-7fff-a5ca-5951-79bc37e6c8ba">While at 91ֱ��, Amelia wrote and copyedited for <em>The Synapse</em>, worked at the Science Library, was a teaching assistant in the <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/anthropology/curriculum" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="30de11c3-d196-48a0-8171-21105cfede1c" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Academic Program in Anthropology">anthropology</a> and <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/biology/curriculum" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="5954f263-77c8-4106-80db-2cb993408d8a" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Academic Program in Biology">biology</a> departments, and volunteered with the Cleveland Metroparks. ��I also occasionally used my sewing skills to costume for the 91ֱ�� Musical Theater Association or organize events for the Office of Environmental Sustainability!�� she adds.</p><p><strong>How did 91ֱ�� shape or influence you to pursue the Fulbright? </strong><br>The anthropology department as a whole definitely inspired me to want to build international connections after graduation, and to build those connections slowly, within an existing community. My Human Origins and Introduction to African Studies classes both stand out in my mind as I think about traveling to and working in Cameroon.</p><p><strong>How does pursuing the Fulbright align with your post-college life and career goals? </strong><br>I hope to go to graduate school in the near future to study primatology and paleoanthropology. Hopefully, I��ll be able to do fieldwork in Central Africa throughout my career, so building strong relationships with the communities of students and scientists in Cameroon is really important to me. </p><p><strong>What��s the best advice you��ve received from your 91ֱ�� faculty mentor?</strong><br>Associate Professor of Anthropology <a href="/amy-margaris">Amy Margaris</a> reminded me frequently to be open and honest in all of my writing. Whether I��m working on an essay for class, my Honors project, or an application, she is a big proponent of being up front about what we do and don��t know, and how who we are impacts what we��re saying. That��s been a really helpful way of reminding me that it��s okay not to know, and that the best science and most personal growth happens when we admit that we do not have all of the answers. Or even just one full answer.</p><hr><p><em>If you��re a rising or graduating senior interested in Fulbright, connect with </em><a href="/node/4526"><em>Fellowships & Awards</em></a><em> to learn more about pursuing research or an arts project, obtaining a graduate degree, or teaching English in a foreign country of your choice following graduation.</em></p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">The anthropology and biology double major will be an English Teaching Assistant. </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-09-30T12:00:00Z">Tue, 09/30/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>Amelia Merithew ��25 has earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to Cameroon for the 2025-2026 academic year. In addition to teaching English in Yaound��, the Dayton, Ohio, native ��hopes to take students to the primate sanctuary so that we can learn about behavioral observation and our closest living relatives together,�� she says. ��I��m also really excited to learn more about Cameroonian clothes and how they��re made.�� </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2360">After 91ֱ��</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2373">Awards and Honors</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4080">Fellowships</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=24656">Anthropology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25251">Biology</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/anthropology" hreflang="und">Anthropology</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/biology" hreflang="und">Biology</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tanya Rosen-Jones ��97</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> <article> <h1>A Path to Healthcare</h1> <p>awillia2 — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 15:46:27 +0000</p> <span>A Path to Healthcare</span> <span><span>awillia2</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-09-11T11:46:27-04:00" title="Thursday, September 11, 2025 - 11:46">Thu, 09/11/2025 - 11:46</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>��When you enter a trauma bay, especially as a patient who��s not familiar with how it works, it can be disorienting, because everyone swarms around you all at once,�� says Lesikar, who graduated with a double major in <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/neuroscience" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="d0a6ffe5-ab84-42b7-9069-d9f47766a924" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Neuroscience">neuroscience</a> and <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/biology" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="2e8ca96d-493a-456b-b9b1-73583c30df0f" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Biology">biology</a>, a minor in <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/chemistry-biochemistry" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="08db65f2-80ae-4a7d-bcf9-9a54b52d7c26" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Chemistry and Biochemistry">chemistry</a>, and an integrative concentration in <a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/global-health" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="cf90288b-047f-4d2f-ac3a-91691901fde1" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Global Health">global health</a>. But the doctors at Shock Trauma ��made me feel taken care of and safe in the situation,�� he says.</p><p>That first-hand experience as a patient, combined with watching his grandparents grapple with chronic degenerative illnesses, influenced his post-91ֱ�� plans to enter medicine. In fall 2025, Lesikar is entering the MD/MPH dual degree program at Johns Hopkins Medical School, with plans to become a surgeon and a researcher. </p><p>Though he solidified his close focus on medicine pre-college��he later volunteered at Shock Trauma, which led to him becoming an EMT and then an ER tech��Lesikar credits 91ֱ�� for fostering his interdisciplinary impulses.</p><p>��I wanted to get a more well-rounded liberal arts education,�� he says. ��I like having been able to build really close relationships with a lot of my mentors and professors, and being really involved in the research process.��</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">For Brycen Lesikar ��25, 91ֱ��s liberal arts education led to research, intellectual inquiry and medical school to become a surgeon.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-09-23T12:00:00Z">Tue, 09/23/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Kira Goldenberg</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>In high school, Brycen Lesikar ��25 was a decorated pole vaulter. At 16, one vault went awry, landing the Baltimore native in the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland, where he was treated for a traumatic brain injury.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2368">Alumni</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2360">After 91ֱ��</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4075">Neuroscience</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=4064">Biology</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-departments field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/neuroscience" hreflang="und">Neuroscience</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/chemistry-biochemistry" hreflang="und">Chemistry and Biochemistry</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/global-health" hreflang="und">Global Health</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-image-credit field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Tanya Rosen-Jones ��97</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-flex-content field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden vertical-spacing--basic field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-43609" class="paragraph paragraph--type--pb-el-bq paragraph--view-mode--default"> <blockquote class="blockquote--quotemark" data-text-color-red> <p>I wanted to get a more well-rounded liberal arts education. I like having been able to build really close relationships with a lot of my mentors and professors, and being really involved in the research process.</p> </blockquote> </div> </div> <div class="field__item"> <div id="obj-43610" class="paragraph paragraph--type--para-el-copy paragraph--view-mode--default o-flex--basic-copy basic-copy"> <p>He spent three years working in Associate Professor of Neuroscience <a href="/node/50471" target="_blank">Christopher Howard</a>��s lab, helping lead a research project looking at the effects of Parkinson��s Disease in animal models. Lesikar and collaborators examined mechanisms that either slowed the neurodegenerative process or promoted regrowth. </p><p>��He��s very hands off, so it pushes the students to be very hands on,�� Lesikar says of Howard. ��When I needed him for advice, he was definitely there, but I think it pushed me to be more independent, inquisitive, and self-motivated.�� </p><p>Robert W. & Eleanor H. Biggs Professor of Neuroscience <a href="/gunnar-kwakye" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="a4ff3436-3ac9-4e9b-968d-9dad71694d40" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Gunnar Kwakye">Gunnar Kwakye</a> also played an integral role in encouraging Lesikar to consider ��the interdisciplinary nature of medicine, science, and the humanities.�� </p><p>That intellectual inquiry, along with experiences such as volunteering at the Lorain County Free Clinic, led him to his planned post-college focus on the relationships between societal inequality and surgical outcomes. </p><p>��I��m interested in exploring the ways in which structural barriers influence the likelihood of developing acute surgical emergencies,�� Lesikar says. ��Having witnessed the things that I witnessed in terms of healthcare disparities, I was able to contextualize them a lot better with the classes I had here. </p><p>��91ֱ��s liberal arts education really helped me see that healthcare and public health don��t happen in silos.��</p><hr><p><em>See how 91ֱ��s research opportunities and liberal arts education prepares future physicians through our</em><a href="/arts-and-sciences/departments/pre-medicine-and-health-careers" target="_blank" data-entity-type="node" data-entity-uuid="d4ebd125-70a1-4397-9bb9-36d6d0d4168e" data-entity-substitution="canonical" title="Pre-Medicine and Health Careers" rel="noopener"><em> pre-medicine and healthcare careers program</em></a><em>.</em></p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> <article> <h1>Sumner Wallace ��24 awarded Teaching Assistant Program in France fellowship</h1> <p>dfrezza — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 19:37:42 +0000</p> <span>Sumner Wallace ��24 awarded Teaching Assistant Program in France fellowship</span> <span><span>dfrezza</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-09-19T15:37:42-04:00" title="Friday, September 19, 2025 - 15:37">Fri, 09/19/2025 - 15:37</time> </span> <div class="text-content field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p><strong>How does pursuing the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) align with your post-college life and career goals? </strong><br>I had an incredible experience studying in France with Associate Professor of French <a href="/grace-an">Grace An</a>��s ��Discovering Champagne�� class a couple years back. The immersion boosted my speaking skills in a way that a class in the U.S. couldn��t. Since then, I��ve been eager to go back to France and develop my language skills further, while simultaneously helping French students develop theirs. </p><p>I believe being able to successfully communicate with others is one of the most fulfilling things we can do as humans. I��ve found this to be true in the writing and speaking centers while abroad and when working on creative projects. My <a href="/registrar/policies-procedures-forms/IM">individual major</a> (in Rhetoric and Media Studies) was all about how we make and share meaning, specifically in film and media, and I��m excited to continue my work in this area with TAPIF!</p><p> </p><p><strong>What specifically will you be doing in France and what are you looking forward to the most?</strong></p><p>Through TAPIF, I will be working with secondary students (ages 11-18) on their English speaking skills. I serve as a resource for students while they work on conversation, as well as an assistant in planning and delivering lessons for the head teacher. I��m most looking forward to integrating into my community and forming new relationships��and eating lots of cheese! </p><p> </p><p><strong>How did 91ֱ�� shape or influence you to pursue the TAPIF?</strong></p><p>When I was in Paris for Grace An��s class, I met a woman who had gone to Toulouse, France on Fulbright. She highly encouraged me to apply, and after learning so much in Grace��s class, I knew it was for me. I initially applied for a Fulbright to Switzerland last year, but I ended as a semi-finalist. This year, <a href="/danielle-abdon">Danielle Abdon</a> really encouraged me to go after Fulbright/TAPIF again, and it paid off!</p><p> </p><p><strong>What��s the best advice you��ve received from your 91ֱ�� faculty mentors?</strong></p><p>I��ve learned something from what they haven��t said to me. My most influential mentors�� <a href="/cortney-smith">Cortney Smith</a>, Grace An, and <a href="/geoff-pingree">Geoff Pingree</a>��never said to me, ��No, I don��t think you��ll be able to do that.�� They��ve cautioned me that things I want to achieve will take work, or won��t be easy, but they��ve always believed in me and encouraged me�� I have learned that determination means something, and good people will help you when they see you have it.</p><hr><p><a href="/fellowships">Connect with Fellowships & Awards</a> to learn more about the fellowships and awards opportunities available to students.</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-subhead field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">The young alum heads to Europe to dive into a teaching assistantship.</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-type field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item">News Story</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-date field--type-datetime field--label-hidden field__item"><time datetime="2025-09-19T12:00:00Z">Fri, 09/19/2025 - 12:00</time> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-author field--type-string field--label-hidden field__item">Communications Staff</div> <div class="text-content field field--name-field-intro-text field--type-text-long field--label-hidden field__item"><p>After graduating from 91ֱ��, Iowa City native Sumner Wallace ��24 spent a year working for the college as the Writing Associates Program Coordinator. ��I had a wonderful time expanding on my work as a student writing associate,�� she says. ��I��ve gained invaluable communication skills and pedagogical experience.�� Now she heads to France to begin her teaching experience. </p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?tag=2360">After 91ֱ��</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-programs field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25356">French</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news?program=25271">Individual Major</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-pin-school-page field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">Off</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-photo-gallery-top field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">false</div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-media field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-article-header field--type-boolean field--label-hidden field__item">0</div> </article> </main></body></html>