Category: Students

Co-Authorship Project Engages Children in Quarantine

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Social Development Class Undertakes Co-Authorship Project
A term in distance learning created many firsts for Psychology Professor Siu-Lan Tan (upper left), her Social Development class (pictured), Developmental Psychology class, and their co-authorship projects this spring.

A term in distance learning forced faculty to rethink how they teach and conduct their courses at Kalamazoo College this spring. That was especially true for Siu-Lan Tan, K’s James A. B. Stone Professor of Psychology.

Tan normally has her Developmental Psychology class work, one-on-one and in person, with children at Woodward Elementary School. Together, through a co-authorship project, they write and illustrate their own storybooks, revealing the children’s wondrous minds and creativity. Tan’s Social Development class was also set to get involved this term with a group of slightly older children. Yet once upon a time, a pandemic came along, forcing schools to close and K students to spend a term away from campus. A happy ending to this story was in doubt.

“I told my classes I cried for three days,” Tan said. “I knew I’d really miss seeing my students, and I thought the experiential components of the class would have to be dropped.”

Nevertheless, after watching a news report about bored children and stressed-out parents, Tan wanted to get creative to fill a need. She decided her students could attempt the co-authorship project if they paired virtually with young relatives, or children of acquaintances, and worked together via Skype, Zoom, FaceTime and other methods. In fact, if they were successful, it meant the distance learning component would allow the classes to take their projects beyond Kalamazoo for the first time in the program’s 22 years.

“I knew if we could get the kids’ minds to flourish during self-quarantining, that would be a major accomplishment,” Tan said. “I’m not somebody who could be on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic to help with medicine. I can’t sew or make masks. But in a way, the classes were our way of trying to brighten lives.”

K students in Developmental Psychology paired with 5- to 8-year-old children, and Social Development students collaborated with children aged 8 to 12. Tan taught her students to use scaffolding, a method of guiding children to achieve goals as independently as possible, by providing questions, prompts, clues, and other tools.  But, she wondered, would college students be able to scaffold young children remotely via a computer screen?

By the end, children stuck at home without school made new friends while participating in stimulating activities, parents were eased of their home-schooling duties for a little while, and K students were wowed by what children can create. Here are some of the results.

Flion the Flying Lion co-authorship program 2
Carter Vespi ’21 partnered with a 7-year-old boy from Atlanta, Georgia, in the co-authorship program. The pair created Flion the Flying Lion, a player in the Animal Football League, who enjoyed practicing on Mars.

Developmental Psychology
Flion the Flying Lion

When Carter Vespi ’21 partnered with a 7-year-old boy from Atlanta, Georgia, the two began their friendship by drawing together. The boy was good at drawing the solar system, with the planets identified and all in order.

“He told me how in school he had recently learned to draw a lion,” Vespi said.

After noticing that the lion the child drew had wings, Vespi asked, “Can he fly?” And in no time, they brainstormed Flion the flying lion, the namesake and hero of their story. Flion is a professional football player in the Animal Football League. He goes to Mars to practice because he enjoys playing in low gravity.

“Flion had a big game coming up so he came back to Earth, where his team played a game against the Tigers,” Vespi said. “Of course, with a flying lion, Flion’s team easily won 49-7.”

Co-Authorship Creates Arty the Dragon
In the co-authorship program, Anne Kearney Patton ’22, of Birmingham, Alabama, worked with twin 7-year-olds and created Arty the Painting Dragon.
Co-Authorship Creates Arty the Dragon
In the co-authorship program, Anne Kearney Patton ’22, of Birmingham, Alabama, worked with twin 7-year-olds and created Arty the Painting Dragon.

Arty the Painting Dragon

Anne Kearney Patton ’22, of Birmingham, Alabama, partnered with 7-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, who she previously knew from working in her church’s nursery.

When the twins were frustrated by the drawing process, Patton told the kids to try drawing a heart for the dragon’s head and an oval for the body, prompting one of them to yell, “Oh yeah, and triangles for the wings!” Arty the dragon was born.

“Arty fell into magical paint and found himself in Candy Land, where he started eating the houses,” Patton said. “The ocean was made of melted blue chocolate.”

The plot describes Arty’s process for making amends to the owners of the homes he ate.

“Something I’m taking away from this is that what we learn in the classroom can be applied to real life,” Patton said. “I enjoyed it. I’m pleasantly surprised I could find a class this engaging considering it was distance learning.”

Logan
Noah Coplan ’21 worked in the co-authorship program with Logan, the 6-year-old son of Kyla Day Fletcher, the Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Associate Professor of Psychology, to create Ringo the Dragon and his paintbrush sidekick, Colorful.

A Dragon’s Home is Its Castle

Noah Coplan ’21 didn’t know any 5- to 8-year-old children going into Developmental Psychology, but was matched through Tan with Logan, the 6-year-old son of Kyla Day Fletcher, K’s Lucinda Hinsdale Stone Associate Professor of Psychology.

“He’s a funny kid,” Coplan said. “He’s super bright, really talkative and he tells you exactly how he feels. I would wind him up with a question and let him go.”

That questioning led Logan to create a dragon named Ringo and his sidekick, a paintbrush named Colorful. The two win a painting contest by illustrating a castle that becomes their prize, which they give away to another character, Toothscary.

Logan and Coplan quickly developed a friendship. In fact, Logan was comfortable enough with his partner by the time midterms came that he told Coplan, “You look tired. Did you take a nap today?”

“It was the little things that mattered to me with this class,” Coplan said. “I would tell him, ‘I have to go, I have more homework to do.’ Immediately he would say, ‘Can you call tomorrow?’ Even on our last call he had more plot-line plans. It was cool to see that kind of stuff.”

Fletcher was equally pleased.

“I’m a big believer in the experiences Logan gets to have with people other than me and my husband,” she said. “It was an opportunity for him to sit and be boundlessly creative, and then channel that creativity into producing a book of his own. Just the time he spent with a college kid and the attention he got is the wonderful part. Noah was absolutely amazing with him.”

Ola Book LUKE KITTY
Lillian, 8, and Eleanor, 6, created Kitty Luke.
Ola Book LEIA KITTY
Lillian, 8, and Eleanor, 6, the daughters of Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Jennifer Perry, drew Kitty Leia.

Star Wars Meets Kitty Mermaids

You’ve heard of catfish, but what about kitty mermaids?

Ola Bartolik ’22 guided Lillian, 8, and Eleanor, 6, the daughters of Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Jennifer Perry, through their story following the Four Ferocious Kitties, four cats that live in a magical potion factory. A potion spills and spreads, creating kitty Jedi and kitty mermaids, including Snowflake, Lightfury, Luke and Leia, who conduct an epic battle with Cat Vader and Darth Kittious.

Ola Book Eleanor MERMAID KITTY
Eleanor taught Ola how to draw Mermaid Kitties.

“I was nervous meeting them,” Bartolik said. “I remember talking to my friend beforehand and asking, ‘What if I’m not cool enough for them? What if we don’t come up with anything?’”

But during their first meeting, there was a chance to break the ice.

“I thought I heard roosters in the background and they said, ‘Yes! We have chickens!’ It led to a whole conversation about chickens and what they do. Even their little brother would talk with me.”

Perry was grateful her girls had someone else to talk to, even if it was from a distance.

“I typically homeschool my kids and I was looking for educational opportunities for them that are different than what I might be able to offer at home,” Perry said. When the girls first met Ola, “I told them we were going to turn on the computer and talk to this student and they sort of looked at me funny. They weren’t excited at first, but Ola was enthusiastic about talking to them and listening to what they were saying. I could see the girls getting more and more excited. They loved working with her.”

Social Development
Play Ball, They Call, While Including All

Although most in Social Development created a book for a general audience, Saahil Patel ’21 and his cousin, a 12-year-old girl, developed a book specifically for another cousin, a 7-year-old boy.

“She told me our cousin had recently developed an interest in sports, and we wanted our plot line to solve a problem,” Patel said. “She was always the shortest in her class and got picked last for teams so she wanted to create a book that showed no one should be excluded from participating in sports.” As an added challenge to the project, his cousin wanted the story to rhyme, given her love of Dr. Seuss.

At the end, the 12-year-old added a dedication to the book to make her cousin feel special.

“I was shocked by this, as this level of consciousness and thought is usually developed later in life,” Patel said. “But as usual with this project, she continued to outperform my expectations for her. As a college student, you get so used to working with other college students. Dr. Tan said not to underestimate our partners, and my cousin blew me away with her ability. She made it easy for me.”

Teaching About the Pandemic

Raphaela Varella
Raphaela Varella ’20 and her 9-year-old cousin created a book that tells children about what people are doing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Raphaela Varella 2
Raphaela Varella ’20 and her 9-year-old cousin created a book that tells children about what people are doing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Raphaela Varella ’20, a psychology and biology major, came to K from Los Angeles as a Posse Scholar, although she has family in Michigan. That family includes a 9-year-old cousin in Traverse City, who was excited to help with the co-authorship project.

“The first time we FaceTimed, I thought it would be for 30 minutes,” Varella said. “We did it for two hours because she was so into it.” Over the next several weeks, Varella met with her cousin regularly.

Work sessions included Disney music, drawing, coloring and brainstorming ideas for their plot. Because the book was intended for a younger child, the duo decided to craft a story that explained the COVID-19 pandemic and why it meant children couldn’t go to school or play at a friend’s house. That meant Varella would ask her cousin questions such as “Why do you think people are staying home?” and “How does that impact people?”

Ultimately, Varella’s cousin surprised her with her creativity and they were happy to find a unique opportunity to build on their relationship.

“It’s hard for her not to have an older sister,” Varella said. “I always wanted to be there for her, and this has helped me to be a role model. I’m thankful for being able to foster such a connection with her.”

In class, Varella mentioned that she plans to continue doing creative projects with her cousin.

“That’s one of the most moving outcomes of this quarter’s project. Some had barely known their younger relatives, occasionally seeing them at family events.” Tan said. “Many students expressed how relationships with younger siblings, cousins, nephews and nieces, had gotten closer and felt forever changed.”

Laura book Alexis RAINBOW
Laura Hanselman ’20 and her 11-year-old partner, Alexis, created a book titled It Started with a Rainbow for the co-authorship project.

Animals Learn Kindness

Laura Hanselman ’20, a chemistry major from Ann Arbor, plans to follow in her dad’s footsteps as a dentist one day. When she does, she might have a book called It Started with a Rainbow in her office’s waiting room.

The book, created by Hanselman and an 11-year-old family friend, Alexis, provides advice on what it means to treat others with kindness. The partners started by drawing rainbows and proceeded to build a plot featuring anthropomorphic animals with alliterative names such as Daisy the Dog, Peter the Pig and Rowan the Rabbit.

“The story starts where the dog does something nice thing for the frog, and at the end, the kindness came back to a pig doing something nice for the dog,” Hanselman said of their pay-it-forward-themed story. “She was definitely nervous at first, but everything she came up with was excellent. She surpassed my expectations.”

Course Reflections

Sidewalk Chalk Art in the Co-Authorship Program
The co-authorship program this year included a story created entirely in sidewalk chalk between the homes of a student and her 6-year-old neighbor, who practiced social distancing and used their own chalk.
Maelle FRENCH
For the first time, the co-authorship program included a book first written in a foreign language (French) and translated into English.

All told, the K students wrote stories with more than 40 children in many states, including Alaska, and even a couple of international locations. Despite the initial disappointment of distance learning, the courses yielded several successes and many firsts for the project, including:

  • A story created entirely in sidewalk chalk between the homes of a student and her 6-year-old partner. The two practiced social distancing and used their own chalk.
  • A student and partner who completed the co-authorship while camping and observing social distancing.
  • One story first written in French between a student and her French cousin living in France, before it was translated into English.
  • A record three sets of twin children writing stories alongside K students.

“The variety of children, stories and drawings that we see every time has been one of the greatest sources of interest and joy for me as the project always has many colors,” Tan said. “But this year, the rainbow is even fuller as the students have individualized their partnerships with children in so many different ways, more than I ever could have imagined.”

With respect to this project, Tan reflects: “I always wanted to teach in a way that takes learning outside the classroom. As long as learning is just contained within a space and not linked outside, there’s a real limitation on growth. That’s why it had such an impact on me to see how the tremendous dedication and resourcefulness of the K students made this co-authorship project so bright, during a quarter of distance learning.”

Conferral of Degrees Speaker: Prioritize Equity, Solidarity

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Conferral of Degrees Speaker Rosella LoChirco
Rosella LoChirco will address Kalamazoo College’s class of 2020 in a Conferral of Degrees ceremony at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 14. Watch at kzoo.edu/commencement.

Watch the 2020 Baccalaureate ceremony

On a day that Kalamazoo College would normally welcome thousands of people to campus, the Quad will be quiet and still, as K’s in-person Commencement has been postponed in 2020. Yet that won’t stop the institution from honoring the achievements of its graduating class, or this class from celebrating and receiving a message of hope.

At 1 p.m. June 14, Provost Danette Ifert Johnson will read the names of the graduates, and Rosella LoChirco ’20, draped in a cap and gown, will address her peers as the class speaker in a virtual Conferral of Degrees ceremony.

LoChirco, a philosophy major from Rochester, Michigan, will tell graduates to prioritize social equity and solidarity as they move on to their next chapters.

“I want to encourage my class to double down on our commitments to each other and to our communities because that says more about our true identities than any job title can,” LoChirco said.

After all, as soon-to-be Kalamazoo College grads, they’ve spent the past four years building their identities on those ideals, and the challenges they’ve encountered this term make celebrating their accomplishments even more important.

“We all envisioned graduation to be one thing,” LoChirco said. “We find ourselves in multiple crises right now, and there is so much pain related not just to COVID-19 but to racial discrimination in our country. I want to use this opportunity to reflect on recent events and create space for the mix of celebration, sadness and frustration that many of my classmates and I are feeling.”

LoChirco will begin life as a K alumna with a fellowship from Venture for America, a prestigious honor that prepares recent college graduates for careers as entrepreneurs while they’re placed in ambitious start-up businesses across the U.S. She said she’s in the matching phase of that fellowship program and is excited despite her yet-unknown placement as the College has prepared her to embrace uncertainty.

“With the relationships I had with professors and the confidence I gained in the classroom and study abroad, I’m ready to take on new challenges because I’ve done it before,” she said. “And I’ve found people along the way who really supported me.”

K’s class of 2020 includes:

  • 331 expected Commencement participants;
  • 207 Michiganders;
  • students from 23 states;
  • students from 10 countries including the U.S.;
  • biology, business and chemistry as the most represented majors; and
  • 104 double majors and five triple majors.

“Our world is going through concurrent crises and to still have a moment where we can celebrate our achievement and be together virtually is really special to me,” LoChirco said.

Six Earn Heyl Scholarships

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Heyl Recipient Madeleine Coffman
Madeleine Coffman
Heyl Recipient Lukas Bolton
Lukas Bolton
Heyl Scholar Jordyn Wilson
Jordyn Wilson

Six students from Kalamazoo County high schools received Heyl Scholarships to attend Kalamazoo College in the 2020-21 school year. Pursuant to scholarship criteria, all will major in STEM-related fields.

Since 1971, the Heyl Scholarship Fund has been available to remarkable Kalamazoo-area math and science students, and was established through the will of Dr. Frederick Heyl and Mrs. Elsie Heyl.

Heyl Recipient Emily Haigh
Emily Haigh
Heyl Recipient Bijou Hoehle
Bijou Hoehle
Heyl Recipient Xavier Silva
Xavier Silva

Frederick Heyl was the first director of research at the Upjohn Company and also taught at Kalamazoo College. The scholarships are renewable for four years and cover tuition, fees, college housing and a book allowance.

Recipients of the Heyl Scholarships include: Lukas Bolton, Kalamazoo Central; Madeleine Coffman, Hackett Catholic Prep / Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center (KAMSC); Emily Haigh, Portage Central / KAMSC; Bijou Hoehle, Kalamazoo Central; Xavier Silva, Portage Northern / KAMSC; and Jordyn Wilson, Parchment / KAMSC.

In Solidarity: Faculty and Staff Letter to Students

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Dear K College Students,

The pandemic of novel coronavirus has reshaped our world and transformed our institution in profound ways. Over the last few weeks as we pivoted sharply to take our classes online, we have seen the painful and unequal impact of the virus-related changes and restrictions on our most vulnerable students. We have witnessed how disparities in access to technology and internet service affect student learning. We have also witnessed the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black, Brown, Latinx, and immigrant communities in Kalamazoo and across the nation. We know that many of our community members have lost loved ones and are grieving them now. The pain of losing relatives and coping with the death of over a hundred thousand people in a few short weeks has been exacerbated by our inability to mourn them together and by the knowledge that many of these deaths were preventable. Our pain and frustration have been compounded by the violent murder of unarmed Black people by white racists.

The lynching of Ahmaud Arbery for being Black while running, the shooting of nursing student Breonna Taylor by police as she slept in her bed, the killing of Black trans man Tony McDade by Florida police, and the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police have shaken us to our very core. The incident in New York’s Central Park involving false allegations made by a white woman named Amy Cooper against a Black birdwatcher has also been a chilling reminder of how Black and Brown folks are harmed by large and small daily acts of white entitlement, untruthfulness, and aggression. We cannot go on without acknowledging how this violence affects us as people and as members of the Kalamazoo College community committed to social justice. We stand in solidarity with protesters in the US and around the world calling for an end to the murder of Black people by police, and for abolition, decolonization, and Black liberation now.

Beyond the discourse of institutional diversity as an asset, we want to strive together to create a different reality in which our Black, Brown, trans, queer, and gender non-conforming community members’ lives are valued, cherished, and protected. How do we move forward in light of these new realities? We need historical perspective to help us discern the crossroads where we stand—a place of both convergence and disjuncture. We need to learn from and mobilize forms of historical memory and anti-racist coalitional work now more than ever.

We need to move forward together. During the past week, we have heard from you: in emails, in video conferences, in phone calls, in SMS texts, in posts on the K-College Facebook site, and ongoing informal and formal correspondence.

To Black students, we have heard your anger at what is happening on campus, of the wearying effort to just be heard during this term and your years at K. Beyond Kalamazoo, we have heard you tell of what is happening outside your doors and in your communities. We have heard your righteous anger and justified fear. We have smelled the smoke of fires burning outside your doors and heard the sounds of sirens, not from the news or Facebook or Instagram, but from your own lives and your own witnessing. We have seen parents and siblings walk in and out of your screens and so felt the immediate presence of those you love and who love you, and who make it possible for you to be part of the K College community. And, for some, the turmoil and anger mixes with the grief of family members, friends, or neighbors who have lost loved ones or feared the loss of a parent, grandparent, relative, or friend who contracted COVID-19.

To non-Black students of color, we have witnessed you engage in acts of solidarity and moral courage. We have learned of you providing transportation and aid to protesters and filming protests. We know you have been challenging anti-blackness within your own communities. We have heard you tell us of how you have reached out to friends and fellow students who absorbed in traumatic and inexpressible ways the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and Ahmaud Arbery. And you have told us of your own experiences, when you felt able and heard, of what it means to walk in a Brown body on our campus and in the streets.

To white students, we have heard your own struggles with negotiating the pandemic and the violence perpetrated upon George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, and others. Albeit in very different ways, these struggles also exist within your own communities, and, in painful ways, among friends and family members. We are hearing you give language to systemic racism. We are learning of difficult family conversations. We are reading emails reaching out to us in support of students of color, especially Black students navigating the impact of the past week (and weeks).

To first-generation students, for those who have had to work many hours to help their families, or struggled to find secure housing, we have watched the burden and your response to it unfold during the past weeks. We have witnessed your struggles with housing and food insecurity. We have also seen folks risk the vulnerability of speaking, loving, and standing in solidarity.

At the end of this long academic year, everyone is carrying the added burden of the lockdown, quarantines, illnesses, family health concerns, curfews, and this next cycle of social unrest. All of us are suffering, but especially Black students, faculty, and staff. We must collectively recognize the impact of these events on our community members’ well-being.

As we acknowledge that we are differently positioned within the institution and in the world, we can work together by prioritizing Black, indigenous, queer, trans, and people of color leadership within this historically predominantly white institution. Attempting to think from and with the point of view of the most marginalized among us will help us overcome some of the enduring inequalities that limit the free enjoyment of our learning community by all.

We understand that completing academic assignments may be very difficult, even impossible for some, especially for students who are being and have been affected by systematic racism and violence. The quarter’s Credit/No Credit grading format provides flexibility to professors to extend grace, accommodations, and alternative projects to satisfy requirements for passing a class. It invites, too, a framework for faculty to use remaining time and assignments as tools for timely critical reflection, taking stock of what is truly necessary at this point. We can alter expectations without lowering standards.

We wish to encourage faculty to adjust expectations for final work, including canceling exams or making assignments optional wherever possible. This is a time when we need to make peace with doing enough instead of doing the usual and students just need to do enough to pass.

At the end of his address, “In Search of a Majority,” delivered to students, faculty, and staff at Kalamazoo College in November of 1960, James Baldwin said: “Whether I like it or not, or whether you like it or not, we are bound together forever. We are part of each other. What is happening to every [Black person] in the country at any time is also happening to you. There is no way around this. I am suggesting that these walls—these artificial walls—which have been up so long to protect us from something we fear, must come down.” Let’s dismantle these walls together.

Lux Esto,

The Undersigned Members of the Faculty and Staff

1. Adriana Garriga-López

2. Bruce Mills

3. Kyla Day

4. Rochelle Rojas

5. Santiago Salinas

6. Eric Nordmoe

7. Katie MacLean

8. Alyce Brady

9. Candace B. Combs

10. Blakely Tresca

11. Brittany Liu

12. Mark Murphy

13. Anne Marie Butler

14. Charles Stull

15. Francisco J. Villegas

16. Leslie Burke

17. Jennifer Einspahr

18. Francesca Gandini

19. Beau Bothwell

20. Kelly Frost

21. Isabela Agosa

22. Sarah Lindley

23. Jennifer Perry

24. Christine Hahn

25. Regina Stevens-Truss

26. Jennifer Langeland

27. Katerina Stefatos

28. Dennis Frost

29. Sally Read

30. Nayda Collazo-Llorens

31. Bryan Goyings

32. Michael Powers

33. Amy Smith

34. Christina Carroll

35. Richard Koenig

36. Larissa Dugas

37. Jessica Stachowski

38. Hafiz Nauman Akbar

39. Binney Girdler

40. Patrik Hultberg

41. Kathryn Sederberg

42. Justin Berry

43. Dimitrios Papadopoulos

44. Oliver Baez Bendorf

45. Darshana Udayanganie

46. Joshua Hartman

47. Jessica R. Smith

48. Andrew Koehler

49. Taylor Petrey

50. Amelia Katanski

51. Sandino N. Vargas Perez

52. Shanna Salinas

53. Tom Rice

54. Cynthia Carosella

55. Babli Sinha

56. Pam Cutter

57. Tyler Walker

58. Aman Luthra

59. Elizabeth Manwell

60. Timothy Conrad

61. Siu-Lan Tan

62. Ivett Lopez Malagamba

63. Josh Moon

64. Jennifer Furchak

65. Andreea Prundeanu

66. Stacy Nowicki

67. Maria Romero-Eshuis

68. Kelli Duimstra

69. Ethan Cutler

70. James E. Lewis, Jr.

71. John Dugas

72. Graham Chamness

73. Blaine Moore

74. Charlene Boyer-Lewis

75. Daniel Kim

76. Eric Barth

77. James Zorbo

78. Tom Askew

79. Max Cherem

80. Andrew Mozina

81. Lisa Murphy

82. Lisa Brock

83. Robert Batsell

84. Hannah Apps

85. Shannon Dion

86. Aurelie Chatton

87. David Wilson

88. Jan Tobochnik

89. Gary Gregg

90. Alison Geist

91. Ren Berthel

92. Mark McDonald

93. Tom Evans

94. Lanny Potts

95. Arthur Cole

96. Joanna Steinhauser

97. Karyn Boatwright

98. Mikela Zhezha-Thaumanavar

99. Marin Heinritz

100. Masanori Shiomi

101. Michael Wollenberg

102. Chris Ludwa

103. Will Georgic

104. Michael Ott

105. Peter Erdi

106. “C” Heaps

107. Menelik Geremew

108. Ryan Fong

109. Amy MacMillan

110. Michael T. Walsh

111. Robin Rank

112. Lars Enden

113. Lori Sands

114. Mitch Wilson

115. R. Amy Elman

116. Jim Langeland

117. Anne Haeckl

118. Jan Solberg

119. Christopher Latiolais

120. Autumn Hostetter

121. Kiran Cunningham

122. Tim Shannon

123. Stephen Oloo

124. Anne Haeckl

125. Duong Nguyen

126. Susan Lawrence

127. Alyssa J. Maldonado-Estrada

128. Sara Tanis

129. Amy Newday

130. Carol Anderson

131. Leihua Weng

132. Rachel Wood

133. Laura Livingstone-McNellis

134. Andy Brown

135. Sarah Frink

136. Jory Horner

137. Ann Jenks

138. Audrey Bitzer

139. Kim Aldrich

140. Kerri Barker

141. Christy Honsberger

142. Renee Boelcke

143. Katherine King

144. Melanie Williams

145. Jane Hoinville

146. Sara Stockwood

147. Kierna Brown

148. Derek Mann

149. Haley Mangette

150. Jessica Fowle

151. Joisan Decker DeHaan

152. Hillary Berry

153. Dana Jansma

154. Lesley Clinard

155. Abbie Dahl

156. Shannon Milan

157. Angela Batts

158. Lynsey VanSweden

159. Louise Tennant-Filkins

160. Jessica Fowle

161. Margaret Wiedenhoeft

162. Sarah Matyczyn

163. Jason Kraushaar

164. Deia Sportel

165. Jay Daniels

166. Nicole Kragt

167. Wendy Fleckenstein

168. Jackie Srodes

169. Angela Erdman

170. Jon Reeves

171. Kendra Leep

172. Matthew Brosco

173. Jess Port

174. Claire O’Brien

175. Yit-Yian Lua

176. Laurel Palmer

177. Kelly Kribs

178. Tapiwa Chikungwa

179. Jonathon Collier

180. Roderick Malcolm

181. Kathryn Lightcap

182. Regina Stevens-Truss

183. Cindy Cavanagh

184. Kelly Esper

185. Nicholas Wilson

186. Brenda Westra

187. Andy Miller

188. Tom Wilson

189. Alexandra Altman

190. Joshua Lull

191. Shelby Long

192. Debbie Thompson

193. Jeff Bartz

194. Sandy Dugal

195. Kathie Yeckley

196. Elizabeth Lindau

197. Betsy Paulson

198. Deb Annen-Caruso

199. Debbie Ball

200. Tony Nelson

201. Andrew Grayson

202. Marcie Weathers

203. Susan Lindemann

204. Sarah Gillig

205. Jenn Williams

206. Erika Perry

207. Kate Yancho

208. Chris Buckhold

209. Kristen Eldred

210. Lizbeth Mendoza Pineda

211. Teresa Denton

212. Jennifer DiGiuseppe

213. Peter Zillmann

214. Becky Hall

215. Nichole Real

216. Carolyn Zinn

217. Steve Lewis

218. Mike Maxson

219. Kathleen White

220. Mallory Heslinger

221. Katrina Naoko Frank

222. Valerie Miller

223. Jim VanSweden

224. Stephanie Robison

225. Margie Stinson

226. Rick Amundson

227. Anne Engh

228. Paige Oudsema

229. Danielle Turner

230. Katie Miller

231. Lauren McMullan

232. Jennifer Combes

233. Andrew Stone

234. Ryan Orr

235. Moises Hernandez

236. Aaron Rice 

237. Darshana Udayanganie

238. Jen Bailey

239. Maureen Yanik

240. Jennie Hill

Pandemic Strikes with Students Far from Home

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Pandemic in China
Daniel Mota-Villegas ’21 (in the hooded sweatshirt) visited the Forbidden City during his study abroad experience in China. Mota-Villegas returned to Kalamazoo earlier than he expected to amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Others in the picture include Nick Gorman, Max Caplan, Ryanna Chouman, K student Denise Jackson, Ronnie Rodriquez, K student Sage Ringsmuth and K student Kaylee Henderson.

When Kalamazoo College students began their international immersion experiences this academic year, the Center for International Programs (CIP) didn’t expect a global pandemic to change anyone’s plans. Regardless, a once-in-a-century historical challenge emerged.

“This is my first worldwide phenomenon,” said CIP Executive Director Margaret Wiedenhoeft in discussing COVID-19, an illness that has infected millions and killed hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. “Most of what we’ve worked with in the past has been country or region specific. This is the first time we had multiple programs shut down at once.”

As the seriousness of the pandemic took shape, K was lucky. No students were sickened abroad and no immersion itineraries were cut unreasonably short as they were halted. On K’s campus, international students affected by travel bans were provided residence hall rooms, even as the College took steps to empty campus and implement social-distancing guidelines.

Still, students who visited countries such as China, Germany and Spain, and international students who remained in Kalamazoo, have stories to tell. And if you’ve wondered how the pandemic has affected them in their travels, keep reading.

Maya Hernandez in China
Maya Hernandez ’21 was among four Kalamazoo College students in Beijing when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Days of Uncertainty in Beijing

Maya Hernandez ’21 and Daniel Mota-Villegas ’21 were among four K students studying at Capital Normal University in Beijing, China, this winter. Before coronavirus emerged, “Honestly it was amazing,” said Hernandez, an East Asian studies major. “Everything was super affordable. It was fun to go out and explore the capital.”

In late January, their sixth month of a planned nine-month immersion, that began to change as word developed of coronavirus, and its presence in Wuhan.

“I figured it was like the flu,” Hernandez said. “But within the span of a week and a half, concern increased.”

Although Wuhan is more than 700 miles from Beijing, professors in the capital were warning students not to visit enclosed and crowded public spaces, traffic was dying down, and fewer children were playing outside. Masks were commonly seen from the start because of pollution in the city, yet they were becoming more prevalent. Hotels and beaches even began to close, forcing Mota-Villegas and Hernandez to cancel plans to visit another city.

“After that there were check points around the school,” said Mota-Villegas, a political science major studying U.S.-China relations and how they affect Taiwan. “They closed the school’s gates and there were security guards around. We couldn’t leave campus without direct permission.”

Fear emerged without reliable, consistent communication through tools such as the Internet, which is problematic in China, and with a 12-hour time difference from Kalamazoo hindering communication with the College. Should they go home and risk not returning? Should they make logistical preparations such as closing their bank accounts? Should they stay and risk not being able to leave with travel restrictions developing around the world?

Meanwhile, in Kalamazoo, the CIP was monitoring the U.S. Department of State guidelines, which had yet to focus on Bejing. Partner organizations in China—which had not yet cancelled programs in other parts of the country—sent updates, and CIP was gathering additional information from other U.S. institutions that had students in China. The situation was fast-moving and fluid. Finally, Capital Normal cancelled its global programs for the next term on Jan. 31, leading to a phone call to students from the CIP. It was a call telling the K students that CIP was bringing them home.

“Once we heard we were going home, that was the best feeling in the world,” Mota-Villegas said. “We needed that phone call. It made me realize again that K would take care of us. We felt supported again and we celebrated.”

Downtown Erlangen Germany During Pandemic
Jennalise Ellis ’21 was studying abroad in Erlangen, Germany, when the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Similar Tales of Two Cities in Europe

Although news was spreading of the coronavirus in Europe, two K students who were there until March said they initially weren’t worried about it, and they were surprised to come home.

In Badajoz, Spain, Nick Stein ’21 was studying at the Extremadura University in January. Several of his K peers were leaving after attending their program for its scheduled six months. Stein, though, was planning to stay an additional term.

“I first heard about coronavirus as everyone else was leaving,” he said. “Life was pretty normal until maybe March 10.”

Stein had been attending classes and teaching English when he made a trip to an art festival in Madrid. It was about that time when people started cancelling trips and there was talk of Extremadura University calling off its term.

Then, the president of Spain said the country would close borders and restrict travel.

“The CIP was good about saying, ‘You can stay or you can come home,’” Stein said. “They were always good about letting me make the decision. But when the president said there would be action, I knew that was my time to leave. In three hours, I had found a flight. I got on a train to Madrid and slept at the airport on my way home.”

Coming back so suddenly was the only thing he would change about his experience.

“It was surreal in a certain sense,” Stein said. “It’s difficult to come back when you’re speaking a different language for a while. It felt like living in a dream for two months. I was teaching English to families and making relationships when I suddenly had to return. It was a surprise.”

A similar story developed in Erlangen, Germany, for Jennalise Ellis ’21.

Ellis is a chemistry and German double major at K. When she attended Friedrich-Alexander University in Germany, she took mostly German-language courses, but blended her majors by taking a didactic chemistry course and working as an assistant in an organic chemistry lab. She was planning on staying three more months when President Trump planned a travel ban from Europe into the U.S., and countries neighboring Germany began closing their borders.

“I was shocked when I found out that I was actually going to have to move back to the U.S., because I was hopeful that the severity of the pandemic would subside by the start of the summer semester in mid-April,” she said. “I was also sad that I had to say goodbye to people and the city I got to know so well. The hardest part was that I didn’t have time to mentally prepare to leave Erlangen.”

It was an experience that has left her longing to go back some day.

“I definitely want to return,” Ellis said. “I am considering going to graduate school in Germany.”

An International Student Stays

When K students received the notification about distance learning this term, Xiu Cai ’20, an international student from China, was concerned. In addition to feeling frustrated with missing the spring events of her senior year, she worried that the travel restrictions, combined with the residence halls closing, would leave her homeless. Fortunately, the CIP was there to help.

“We received some emails that said people from China and certain places in Europe would not have to leave because of the travel bans,” Cai said. “When I talked with CIP, they emphasized those emails guaranteed me a place. They were supportive and helpful. I’ve appreciated everything they do.”

Since, Cai has attended distance learning courses from her residence hall, eaten meals at the Hicks Student Center, appreciated Mail Center services and exercised by walking through campus. She also is grateful for her professors who gave support, Dining Services who provided her with meals, and the Student Health Center, which provided masks when she need them.

“I feel like being here now is a special experience, for me at least,” she said. “Not everyone would have a chance to experience the same thing in their lives. I’m grateful to the school for allowing me to stay here.”

Still at hand, however, is the issue of getting home after graduation. Cai has tried five times to schedule flights home for June after the Conferral of Degrees ceremony, and all five flights have been cancelled. As of now, she’s uncertain when she will go home and see her family.

“I video chat with family almost every day,” Cai said. When coronavirus emerged, “I was spending all my time worrying about my family. Now, they’re worried about me.”

Regardless, Cai said this experience, if anything, is only encouraging her to travel more.

“The coronavirus, to me, is random,” she said. “You never know what will happen in the next second in life. If you have the chance, go wherever you want.”

Moving forward

Moving forward, students who want to study abroad may need to consider what the “new normal” may be as the pandemic runs its course.

“I would think about what my expectations for travel might be and how we meet our new reality,” Wiedenhoeft said. “I know many of our students who go to Europe, for example, love to travel. What would it mean if you’re in Spain and can’t go to France? That means you can still get to know different regions of Spain very well. You can go to art museums. You can find something that is interesting to you, and be flexible enough to achieve it.”

Wiedenhoeft also is encouraging optimism that student immersion opportunities will stay an important part of the K-Plan.

“There are certain regions of the world that will recover first,” she said. “We need to do what we can to maximize opportunities in those regions. The relationships we have with our partners will be very important in those plans. I think our relationships will be stronger because we’ve been in frequent contact.”

In addition, “We want to encourage folks not to be disheartened,” she said. “We genuinely believe we will engage with the world again and that they will engage with us. It will take time, but it will not be like this forever.”

Mom Inspires Son’s Medical Ambitions

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Emergency Medical Technician Brandon Wright
Brandon Wright ’21 is working as an emergency medical technician for Life EMS in Kalamazoo. At age 14, Wright saw his mom endure breast cancer, inspiring him to one day attend medical school and seek a career in medicine.

Imagine, as a 14-year-old child, seeing your mother endure breast cancer. How might that affect you? For Brandon Wright ’21, it prompted him to attend his mom’s chemo and radiation treatments.

“She went through chemo and radiation for a year,” said Wright, a biology major and physics minor from Dexter, Michigan. “I went to her treatments to understand them better. I still remember them like they were yesterday. It was an early moment when I realized that something bigger than me was going on.”

Thankfully, Wright’s mom today is a survivor. And by the time she was cancer-free, her son was inspired to seek a career in medicine. A physical therapist by trade, Mom helped arrange some job shadowing with doctors for Wright during his high school years, and he plans to attend medical school after graduating from Kalamazoo College. In the meantime, Wright is embracing a role as an emergency medical technician (EMT).

Wright trained as an EMT after his first year at K, realizing he would need to spend hands-on time with patients to optimize his chances of getting into medical school. After more than 256 hours of accelerated coursework that summer—and several certification tests and clinical trials afterward—he was offered a part-time job working for Life EMS in Kalamazoo.

“I thought I would do something I knew I would like rather than something I thought I had to do,” Wright said. “The exciting thing is we can get a not-so-serious call, and then, in the next second, all of a sudden we’re called to treat a cardiac arrest. The unpredictable nature of the job keeps me on my toes because at any second, it could be something new.”

Cardiac arrest is among the most serious calls Wright responds to and he remembers the first time he responded to one in March 2019.

“I was still in training and the call was for an 8-year-old boy,” Wright said. “My trainer had me participate in CPR because I was brand new, and that shook me for a while. I’ve probably responded to 10 or more cardiac arrests since then and, thanks to my trainers and partners, I feel I’ve developed the skills and mental capacity to handle them. It’s relatively straight forward for me now.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected Wright on the job. Ambulance dispatchers began using a code over the radio to let EMTs know when they were responding to a scenario where coronavirus could be present. That typically means Wright and his colleagues wear face shields, gowns and N-95 masks in addition to normal protective standards during the call, and take special steps to wipe down the ambulance and change clothes afterward.

Wright and his colleagues have found coronavirus to especially be a problem in the homeless population in Kalamazoo. With that knowledge, and with additional experiences in responding to emergencies such as gunshot wounds and overdoses, Wright recognizes his privilege as a student, which has fueled his desire to be involved in the community and help others one day as a doctor.

“The biggest thing I’ve realized is how many emergencies there can be anywhere,” he said. “At any time, we might have 10 trucks out just to cover all the emergencies. That’s really opened my eyes to how many people need help. It has confirmed my desire to go into medicine.”

To further his community involvement, Wright in the 2020-21 academic year will serve as a President’s Student Ambassador. The student leaders serve as an extension of President Jorge G. Gonzalez’s hospitality at events and gatherings, welcoming alumni and guests of the College with a spirit of inclusion.

“Many students get caught up in going to school, but there are a lot of ways we can integrate more into the community,” Wright said. “I wanted to be an ambassador because I wanted to bring my experiences to the table to start that conversation about involvement. I also want to hear from alumni about their own K experiences and take those lessons back to other students.”

With the Day of Gracious Living expected soon, along with its traditions including community service, Wright reflected on what he’s been most grateful for in his time at K.

“I think I’m most grateful for the fact that K gave me the opportunity to study abroad in Quito, Ecuador,” he said. “Even further than my community experiences in Kalamazoo, I was able to compare and contrast them on a global level with what I experienced in the lower-income country of Ecuador. Learning about some of their disparities in public health allowed me to recognize some ways that the U.S. system is also failing many. It is no doubt an experience that I will remember and value as I pursue a career in health care.”

The K-Plan teaches students to adapt to the unexpected situations of our ever-changing world. When the Day of Gracious Giving is announced, please make a gift to support K’s robust academic and experiential learning opportunities that help prepare the leaders and problem solvers of tomorrow.

Learning Commons Ensures Students Get Peer Assistance

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Learning Commons 1
Peer Writing Consultant Caryn Hannapel ’20 is among those who have served Kalamazoo College students with their essays and assignments. By hiring students who have distinguished themselves in academics or library research, the Learning Commons allows students to share their strengths and benefit from peers.

Collaboration is one of the great experiences in higher education, and Kalamazoo College’s Learning Commons empowers it. By hiring students who have distinguished themselves in academics or library research, the Commons allows students to share their strengths and benefit from peers.

“That feeling of being shoulder to shoulder is one of the most valuable things we provide,” Learning Commons Director Bela Agosa said. “Learning isn’t meant to be a solo activity. Otherwise, we wouldn’t come to a college.”

Despite a term in distance learning, away from the Learning Commons’ physical location in the library, that collaboration continues. When students need assistance this spring, they meet securely online with Learning Commons peer consultants through any computer or mobile device with an up-to-date browser. And Agosa wants students to have confidence in that experience.

“It’s still the same people,” Agosa said of the Learning Commons peer consultants. “Distance learning has imposed some restrictions. But overall, we still provide the same great service. Our consultants are committed and worked hard over spring break to learn the new system.  It showed me that the Learning Commons would be up to par this term.”

Examples of services available through the Learning Commons include:

  • The Writing Center: Peer writing consultants examine a student’s assignment to offer observations and suggestions and guide students through the process of clarifying and strengthening their ideas.
  • English as a Second Language assistance: International students and students who have English as a second language may receive consultations on any assignments or activities related to their academic experience.
  • The Math-Physics Center: Students may receive assistance with a variety of specific classes or just generally in math or physics. Even students who aren’t necessarily stuck and just appreciate collaboration can benefit from reaching out.
  • Research Consultant Center: Reference librarians are available for individual consultations to help students find the ideal resources they need for their daily assignments and research.
  • The Center for New Media Design: Assistants help students throughout their design processes through creating and designing presentations, posters, flyers, illustrations, infographics, photographs and brochures.

“Our aims as a Writing Center have not changed,” Agosa said. “The way we approach our services has not changed. We’re still here as a sounding board for writers and we still support students with math, physics and more. Our peer consultants are very dedicated and we believe in the work they do.”

Writing Center and English as a Second Language appointments are available by logging in at kzoo.mywconline.com. Learn how to make a Math-Physics Center appointment at its website. Email the reference librarians at reference@kzoo.edu for assistance from the Research Consultant Center. For assistance from the Center for New Media Design, email Graphic/Multimedia Designer Kathryn Lightcap at kathryn.lightcap@kzoo.edu.

Earth Day Connects Students, Environmental Justice

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Environmentalism and environmental justice, involving the deepening and healing of our relationship with the land while acknowledging injustices within our current systems and trying to envision and embody alternatives, are important for students such as Orly Rubinfeld ’20. Rubinfeld sees Earth Day, celebrated every April 22, as a day to reflect more deeply on why our reconnection to the land is so important and why we work for change.

Orly Rubinfeld Earth Day story page
Housemates Orly Rubinfeld (top left), Aiden Voss and Maya Gurfinkel; and Yasamin Shaker (bottom left) and Madeline Ward display some of the plants they’re growing in Kalamazoo.

“Earth Day is an opportunity to re-center on our values,” said Rubinfeld, an independent interdisciplinary major in Environmental Studies. “But we have to remember we have only one Earth and we’ve been pretty unkind to it. If we only pay attention one day a year, we won’t solve our environmental problems. And not just planetary problems but how climate change and other environmental injustices are disproportionately impacting Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) communities.”

This year, though, is adding a few challenges to K’s environmental efforts. For example, one way that students engage with food justice is through K’s gardens, including the hoop house. A hoop house, a little like a green house, is a year-round environment for growing vegetables, flowers and other cold-sensitive plants. With distance learning keeping students away from the campus hoop house, students are finding ways to bring that experience home.

Megan Earth Day Cold Frame Hoop House
Megan VanDyke ’22 assembled a cold-frame hoop house at her home in Seattle. The temporary structure stands just a few feet high, yet provides a similar environment to the hoop house at K.
Nora Earth Day plants
Nora Blanchard ’22, is tending to plants at her home this spring in Traverse City.

That’s where Rubinfeld and several students like her come in. She is one of eight housemates living in Kalamazoo’s Vine neighborhood this spring, sheltering in place together through Michigan’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order and continuing the work they began at the hoop house, a facility raised in fall 2018 through the Just Food Collective. The student organization, an effort of the Mary Jane Underwood Stryker Center for Civic Engagement, wants to increase student awareness about the challenges and inequities within the food system. This is done while targeting nutritional inequities, climate change and other environmental injustices.

Megan VanDyke plant
A plant begins to sprout at Megan VanDyke’s home in Seattle.

“Food insecurity has always been a problem,” Rubinfeld said. “But in this unique moment, well-resourced people are paying attention at unprecedented levels so I think that’s something we should try to take advantage of as we search for systems that allow people to have more sovereignty over their food systems.”

Rubinfeld and her friends, who all lived together in an environmental justice Living Learning House on campus their sophomore year, have taken on the responsibility of bringing home the lessons they learned at the hoop house to pots and planters on their porch and in their home.

“Our goal was to do something small where we are in our urban space,” Rubinfeld said.

And the Vine neighborhood roommates aren’t the only students planting this spring. Nora Blanchard ’22, is tending to plants at her home in Traverse City. Plus, Megan VanDyke ’22 assembled a cold-frame hoop house at her home in Seattle. The temporary structure stands just a few feet high, yet provides a similar environment to the hoop house on campus.

Efforts like these might seem small, but they represent how the spirit of Earth Day, a time to demonstrate support for environmental protection and environmental justice, endures for the K community.

“I can’t imagine a large-scale effort until I’ve seen it on a small scale,” Rubinfeld said. “How can we expect large change until we see small changes? If my seven housemates and I can do this, imagine what could happen if everyone in our neighborhood could do that. We could be in a very different type of place. I think if everyone had access to the means to grow own own food, we would be much closer to individuals having sovereignty over what they put in their bodies and having access to just, local, and sustainable food for humans and the land.”

Student Braves Coronavirus Front Lines

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Maddie Odom fighting coronavirus in PPE
Maddie Odom ’20 sent this selfie to Visiting Professor of Biology Sara Tanis this week. It was a response to Tanis’ text asking whether Odom was doing OK while volunteering at a coronavirus testing site at the former Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit.

At least one Kalamazoo College student is serving on the front lines in the world’s fight against COVID-19, comforting those who fear they might have coronavirus.

Armed with three years of experience as an emergency medical technician, Maddie Odom ’20 is volunteering at a drive-through coronavirus testing site at the former Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit. There, Odom volunteers for more than nine hours per shift, six days a week, to serve as many as 800 people a day through the Coronavirus Community Care Network, a coalition of local governments and health services.

Volunteers like Odom are serving people experiencing multiple symptoms of coronavirus such as a persistent cough, a fever of at least 100 degrees, a sore throat and shortness of breath. They also have a prescription from a doctor to receive a coronavirus test.

Odom said as many as 42 percent of the people receiving services on a given day have tested positive, and the care network expects to perform about 14,400 tests through May 8. Detroit has drawn international media attention for recording nearly 5,500 cases of COVID-19 as of April 7.

“Everyone I work with is pretty exhausted, but it’s pretty rewarding,” Odom said. “Working together, we know what we’re doing is helping in some way.”

Lacrosse Maddie Odom
Maddie Odom has been a two-sport student-athlete at K in soccer and lacrosse.
Soccer Maddie Odom
Maddie Odom ’20 has played women’s soccer and lacrosse at K.

Odom’s regular duties have varied from testing patients to directing traffic and checking IDs — on top of carrying her spring term course load as she prepares for graduation.

Many might consider Odom to be a hero for her volunteerism and bravery while facing a pandemic, although she sees it as community service enabled by her health, her training and the fact she currently lives alone so she doesn’t have to worry about taking the virus home to her family.

“I know it’s a time when people feel kind of helpless because you can’t leave your house,” she said. “I’m just glad I can do something to help.”

Sara Tanis thanks Maddie Odom
Visiting Professor of Biology Sara Tanis has a special message for Maddie Odom ’20 in response to her public service at a coronavirus drive-in testing site in Detroit.

Odom expanded her passion for public health when she took a public health course at K led by Director of Careers in Health and Medicine Karika Parker. Separately, Odom has pursued emergency medicine as a wilderness first responder, a summer camp nurse and an EMT for an ambulance company. Since, she has decided to seek a career as a physician’s assistant.

Now, Odom relies on faculty members such as Visiting Professor of Biology Sara Tanis and students such as her K women’s lacrosse teammates for support. Together, they collect goody bags that contain items such as hand sanitizer and treats for health care, sanitation and shelter workers in the Detroit area to supplement Odom’s efforts.

“For me, one of the very best part of teaching is watching my students evolve into strong and vibrant members of their communities,” Tanis said. “Maddie has taught me so much over the last year about perseverance. Even when she’s in a situation where most people would give up, she just keeps pushing forward. Here’s to you, Maddie. I’ve never been more proud.”

K Senior Receives Venture for America Fellowship

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Venture for America Fellow 1
Rosella LoChirco ’20 walks through El Retiro Park in Madrid, Spain, where she studied abroad. LoChirco has earned a Venture for America Fellowship.

In a few short months, K senior Rosella LoChirco will begin a two-year commitment as a Venture for America Fellow. The prestigious fellowship prepares recent college graduates for careers as entrepreneurs, and fellows are placed in ambitious start-up businesses across the U.S. In April, Rosella will be matched with companies that are a good fit for her interdisciplinary skills, and she’s excited to begin the process of picking her fellowship site.

Rosella began her K experience like many other students: excited and more than a little nervous for what the future might bring. As the first student in her family to attend college, Rosella said, “It was so terrifying to sit in my first class — I didn’t know if I would fit in.”

Rosella found her way. Participation on the women’s soccer team benefited her with teammates and a coach, Bryan Goyings, who she said “really believed in me, and really supported me no matter what.” Early in her first year, Rosella developed a mentorship with Professor Chris Latiolais, who supported her philosophy major without reservation. “Every day that I come to class, he tells me about a new career that I could do,” Rosella said.

Venture for America Fellow 2
Rosella LoChirco ’20 (center) poses with mentors Allyson McLean ’05 (right) and Brennan Smith during LoChirco’s Quicken Loans internship.

When it was time to select a research subject for her Senior Individualized Project, Rosella was cautious once more, yet she let her instincts guide her. “I loved this one anthropology and sociology professor, Professor Katerina Stefatos. I knew I wanted to work with her. We had so many meetings and calls to figure out my topic!” Rosella said.

Simultaneously, Rosella was completing a summer internship at Quicken Loans and the FIFA Women’s World Cup was making headlines. To the student-athlete, it seemed like fate: “I put together a pitch for Quicken Loans about why they should invest in the women’s soccer team,” Rosella said. “I started digging into the question of why women’s sports are not societally valued as much as men’s sports. That became a perfect jumping-off point for my SIP, and all the theories involved from my philosophy background helped.”

The Quicken Loans team saw Rosella’s potential; several colleagues, including a K alum, were well-connected to Venture for America. “They said, ‘if you’re up for learning things and a team environment, you should make this two-year commitment,’” Rosella remembered. “They really encouraged me to do it, because I had never heard anything about it.”

Once she learned more, Rosella knew she had to apply. “I’m a liberal arts student who didn’t study anything too technical, so I loved the idea that an organization was really valuing someone like me to make an impact in a start-up from day one.” Now, when Rosella looks to the future and her two-year fellowship, she is confident. “I see a lot of connections between K and Venture for America,” she explained. “I’m going to a small team, working closely together, and that’s very close to the K experience. I found my way at K, and I’ll bring my same energy to this commitment. I know that I have the skills and tenacity to figure it out.”