Table of Contents
A
Day in the Life of a High-Tech Liberal Arts Student
Learning Communities - A New Approach to Residential Life
Proposed Wellness Center To Address the Whole Person
Student Center Plans Continue to Evolve
Comings & Goings, Revisited
By Sarah Kiff '02In last spring's St. Lawrence we interviewed several graduating seniors and incoming first-year students, promising to check back with them in a year. Are they still on the same paths? The lines in italics under their names summarize what our subjects said they intended to do, whether in their first year at St. Lawrence or in their first year after. We've kept our promise….
Andrew Dana '04
Track, English and the sciences
Andrew Dana, of Gouverneur, N.Y., found his courses, such as American literature, more demanding than he had expected, but otherwise he feels he has adjusted well. With so many options available to him, he is taking his time considering his major. Last fall, he was honored as the top first-year student on the cross country team.Rachel Jones '04
Pre-med, track, biology
Originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Rachel Jones avoids getting homesick by staying busy and relying on the close friendships she has established. In the fall semester, she played intramural soccer and broomball while learning to keep up with her studies. She says she enjoys the First-Year Program as well as the courses she has taken as she works toward medical school after St. Lawrence.
Brian Lind '04
Outdoor studies, community service, varied academic interests
Brian, a Delmar, N.Y., resident, joined the Outing Club immediately upon arriving on campus, and was an Outdoor Program guide in the spring. He also became involved with Habitat for Humanity, working with the group in Alabama during Spring Break [confirm this after Break]. He has developed a strong interest in psychology and has decided to pursue it further as a possible major.Jim McManus '04
Soccer, history, pre-law, campus diversity issues
Although St. Lawrence is markedly different from his native Brooklyn, Jim McManus reports that he adjusted well to life on campus. The epitome of the liberal arts student, he is leaning toward a major in biology to support his pre-med interests and will add a minor in history in case he opts to pursue pre-law. Wanting to establish himself academically, Jim kept a low profile last fall. He did, however, identify many future interests, such as track, soccer, and campus political organizations.Peter Wilson '04
Golf, pre-law
Peter Wilson started on the "A" squad for the golf team and worked in the new indoor golf training center (see "Construction Update," St. Lawrence, winter 2001) and for Calling All Saints. A Canton native, he continues playing drums in local bands, which keeps him busy every weekend performing and recording a CD. He retains pre-law as his focus, and has developed an interest in psychology.Krystina Gotsch '04
Softball, sports management or psychology
In adjusting to college, a major change that Krystina Gotsch has noticed is the need for time management. Playing on the softball team took up most of her free time in the spring, so she found she must plan carefully to complete her ever-growing workload. She was excited about taking so many different classes, planning to pursue all of her many interests until "the right one to focus on jumps out" at her. She found the residential aspect of the First-Year Program to be an ideal way to make friends.
Jacky Gillis '04
Soccer, ice hockey, softball, community service, pre-med, psychology
Jacky Gillis's roommate has become "my best friend on campus," she says. This relationship, and the friendliness of the University that it represents, is one reason she loves St. Lawrence and actively promotes it in her hometown, Greenwich, Conn. Gillis took courses in biology, politics and psychology in her first semester, and was pleased at how much she enjoyed them. She also played intramural broomball and flag football, and hopes to get involved with Habitat for Humanity eventually.Joseph Frankel '04
Mountain climbing, Outdoor Program, government, history
Joseph Frankel did not spend one single weekend on campus last fall; instead, he went climbing in the Adirondacks. With such an avid interest in the outdoors, he planned to participate in the guide training course offered by the Outdoor Program in the spring. He is leaning toward a government major, and in his first year took courses in politics, the U.S. government and mathematical modeling of the environment.
Johnna Nigh '04
Spanish, math, tennis
Johnna nigh traveled extensively on her winter break from St. Lawrence, venturing to places like Tennessee, North Carolina, Massachusetts and Canada. Still, she says she loves St. Lawrence and could not imagine herself anywhere else. She enjoyed each of her courses, including Spanish, calculus, and environmental studies in addition to her First-Year Program. She thinks about heading into a science field, but says, "the door is still wide open." Nigh stayed busy in the spring as a member of the First-Year Council, and as the top player on the women's tennis team.
Vaughn Oliver '04
Psychology, computer science, baseball, diversity organizations
Vaughn Oliver admits to suffering mild culture shock coming to St. Lawrence from New York City, but says he has made the adjustment well. Although colder weatherwise than he expected, he says St. Lawrence has offered him exactly what he was looking for, especially academically. Oliver took psychology, computer science and sociology in addition to the FYP, citing sociology as the field he may pursue further. He joined the baseball team and hopes to become more involved with clubs and organizations on campus as he settles in.
Steelie Jenkins '04
Writing, math, tennis, volleyball, skiing
After taking a year off to attend a private ski school in Utah, Elizabeth "Steelie" Jenkins had a difficult time readjusting to a more rigorous academic lifestyle, but says she was "amazed" at all the help available at St. Lawrence. A self-described go-getter, Steelie took a course load including economics and public speaking, successfully enlisting the aid of peer tutors and the staff of the academic skills office. She also played on the women's tennis team, earning the Most Improved Player award.Sara Constantine '00
Veterinary medicine, medical illustration
It took a high level of confidence for Sara Constantine to change her career focus last May. Constantine put on hold her plans to attend Cornell Veterinary School in order to pursue her interest in medical illustration. She says she was thrilled to discover the opportunity to combine her love of art with her passion for science. She has applied to Johns Hopkins University and the Medical University of Georgia to pursue her newfound interest, while working in her hometown of Syracuse, N.Y.
Kris Margherio '00
Law school, public policy
Kris Margherio, class valedictorian and member of the men's hockey team, is a corporate paralegal for a law firm in Palo Alto, Cal. He believes that St. Lawrence prepared him well for his life, "not only with the requisite tools in the classroom, but also by fostering the ability to work well in the group settings of the business world." St. Lawrence brought out his appreciation for analytical thinking and using collaboration to solve problems, as well as teaching him to appreciate new settings and challenges, he says.Josh Stearns '00
Graduate school, environmental education and writing, volunteering
Josh Stearns has a strong sense of community, which he says St. Lawrence nurtured through encouraging him to live with a close-knit group of people who came together for a common purpose. He lives in Long Lake, in the central Adirondacks, while volunteering with the Student Conservation Association and teaching conservation at Tupper Lake Elementary School. He also published a book of poetry, entitled Under the Bark, online.Andrew Wadoski '00
Graduate studies in English literature
Andrew Wadoski decided to take a year off from school after graduation, but has since realized how much he loves the academic environment. He lives in Burlington, Vt., and spent the snowy winter on the trail crew at Still Mountain Ski Resort. He has applied to the English literature graduate programs at Boston College, Cornell, McGill University, Harvard, the University of Rochester, the University of Utah and Colorado State University at Boulder; he plans to complete his Ph.D. and become an English professor.Patrick Olwana '00
Financial management at General Electric
Patrick Olwana is working for GE Transportation Systems as a financial analyst. The opportunities he took advantage of at St. Lawrence unquestionably prepared him for his career, he says, crediting his economics and accounting professors for shaping him academically and leadership positions for preparing him for the issues he faces every day. Although the transition from college life to a full-time career was challenging, it was a challenge he anticipated and was ready for, he says.Diana Walden '00
Environmental studies, biology
Diana Walden did not have a solid direction upon graduation, but is happy as an environmental scientist at the BSC Group office in Worcester, Mass. Living in Grafton, Mass., Walden confesses to nostalgia for St. Lawrence. She says the University prepared her well for her position academically by developing her field research and writing skills. Walden says she plans to continue her education in environmental studies after gaining a few years of job experience.Sascha Werner '00
Psychology, biology
Sascha Werner is taking a leave of absence from Virginia Commonwealth University's counseling psychology Ph.D. program and working for Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., as an assistant to the director of admissions, and on weekends as an academic consultant at George Wythe High School. Werner plans to work in an applied setting in mental health. She has found that she cannot duplicate the environment she loved at St. Lawrence, where her commitment to health and nutrition and fondness for creative writing were established.Booth Platt '00
Barkeater Woodworks (Adirondack furniture business), geology
Booth Platt spent his summer on a canoeing trip to Canada escaping forest fires, and on an educational cruise to Alaska. After these excursions, he headed out to Lake Tahoe, Cal., with a few friends to pursue his lifelong dream of being a ski instructor there. Platt is right where he wants to be as he figures out what to do next, he says. Although his furniture company, which made some of the Adirondack chairs that can be seen on campus, is still running, it is taking a back seat to his geologic interests. After he attended a Geological Society of America conference in Reno, Platt's interest in fossil mites was re-ignited at a meeting with St. Lawrence professors and alumni, who helped him set up a presentation of his thesis next winter in Buffalo.Alison Cleary '00
Law school, leadership positions
Alison Cleary is attending the University of Buffalo Law School with a few fellow alumni, her roommate being one. She says school is going well and she is involved with a few clubs and organizations. From her experience at St. Lawrence, she has decided that "I want to voice my opinion and be a leader in my field."Wiley Jones '00
Public relations, law school
Wiley Jones is working for WashingtonPost.com as a consultant, inputting events into the entertainment section of the newspaper's Web page. After a stint in public relations, he decided it was not for him. He also dropped thoughts of law school, but with his new experience, Jones is thinking of pursuing a graduate degree in video streaming. He lives in Greenbelt, Md., and enjoys its close proximity to the nation's capital.Monique Nichols '00
Biology, economics, sport & leisure studies, physical therapy, health administration
When it came time to decide on a graduate school, Monique Nichols considered Duke for physical therapy and Johns Hopkins for health administration. She chose the latter, and is immersed in the two-year program, preparing for her residency to begin in July in either Florida or Massachusetts. The latter is with the same hospital at which she worked over the summer after she graduated, Massachusetts General, where she assisted in quality management for radiology and with the Radiology Consulting Group.Sarah Kiff, of Elmira, N.Y., conducted these interviews during her Alumni Council-supported internship in St. Lawrence's University communications office during January 2001.