June 2008

Members of the Austin College Class of 2008, with “brains in their heads and feet in their shoes” have been to some great places (seven of 10 students have had at least one international experience at Austin College) and many are now heading toward spectacular destinations. The final weeks of the academic term and Commencement ceremonies were abundant with forward-looking philosophy and thoughts of young people being sent “out into the world.”

A few of the graduates’ contemplations led them to identify with the young boy in the Dr. Seuss book, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, a popular graduation gift. While a gift of a children’s book to those reaching a milestone of adulthood like college graduation might seem ironic, perhaps Dr. Seuss intended all along for his final book to take his young readers full circle, with an encouraging but realistic story about stepping out into life. Many Austin College students have already experienced more of the world than many individuals see in a lifetime. Oh, the places they have gone! Now, those students, like their classmates among the Class of 2008, have new adventures ahead, some known, some yet to be discovered.

Oh, the places they’ll go! 

Major: Biology, summa cum laude
Hometown: Greenville, Texas
Places She’s Going: Johns Hopkins Medical School (Baltimore, Maryland)

Laura Ellington was attracted to Austin College by its reputation for excellent pre-medical preparation and her desire to play college volleyball. She was not disappointed by the decision to attend and found success in both arenas. Now bound for Johns Hopkins Medical School, Laura played volleyball for the Kangaroos, advancing with her teammates in fall 2007 to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament in Atlanta, Georgia.

Laura also put her volleyball skills into service by offering a free volleyball clinic for Sherman-area fifth- and sixth-graders during Austin College’s Great Day of Service. She taught swimming lessons and served as a weekly sixth grade volunteer teacher at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Sherman. Between athletics and service work, Laura was active in her scholarly pursuits. She was awarded the Kaplan Junior Award amongst all third-year Texas pre-medical students and was selected as the ExxonMobil Summer Intern for the Retina Foundation of the Southwest, where she conducted clinical research in pediatrics.

Like many Austin College graduates, Laura spent significant time exploring the world, including six weeks of summer 2007 in San Jose, Costa Rica, volunteering at the Coopesalud Hospital. “My time at Austin College gave me a much broader worldview from traveling on JanTerms and summers to Mexico, Rome, Costa Rica, and Australia,” Laura said.
 

Will Radke

Major: International Economics and Finance and Asian Studies, summa cum laude
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
Places He’s Going: Singapore

Will Radke’s story is a rich example of what drive and determination can reap when coupled with the education and opportunities provided at Austin College. “Austin College has equipped me to understand much more of what I want from life and how to achieve this,” Will said. “I have tools for all kinds of tasks — from analyzing literature to making investment decisions. That’s the beauty of a liberal arts education. Graduates are no one-trick ponies.” Will’s drive, those tools, and meaningful relationships with professors and alumni have resulted in summer internships for Goldman Sachs in Dallas and for Deloitte Touche in Guangzhou, China, as well as completion of a Mellon Research Fellowship in China and an honors thesis on counterfeit goods.

Austin College benefited from Will’s talents on campus, too. He served as president of Austin College Rotary International, co-chaired the Todd A. Williams Student Investment Fund, assisted with Africa Symposium, and serves on the steering committee for the Global Outreach “GO” Fellowship. In 2007, Will founded GO Change, a micro-credit program that encourages Austin College students to donate their spare change to fund micro-loans for small businesses in West Africa. In the program’s first term, students raised over $1,700 for the program.  

Following graduation, Will’s education, experiences, and language skills in Japanese and Mandarin Chinese will be used in his new position as an analyst for Archon Group, a developing market real estate fund at a Goldman Sachs Reality Asia Pacific subsidiary in Singapore. “This is truly an opportunity of a lifetime,” he said. “I am very humbled by all the help I have received and would be nowhere without it."
 

Emileigh Stewart

Major:  Political Science and Psychology, magna cum laude
Hometown:  Midlothian, Texas
Places She’s Going: St. Mary’s University School of Law (San Antonio, Texas)

By attending Austin College, Emileigh Stewart continued a family legacy.  Nine members of her family have attended or graduated from Austin College and her grandmother worked at the College for more than 20 years. “One of my favorite memories was my parents and I walking around campus together,” Emileigh said. “When we got to the Honors Court and fountain, we looked for their names and picked out the spot where my name would be engraved on the wall. It made me proud to be a graduate and achieve what my parents hoped.”

Selected as Austin College’s 2008 Outstanding Senior Woman on the basis of academic achievements and campus involvement, Emileigh’s long list of accomplishments include service as president of the Austin College Pre-Law Society and Greek Council; director of the Austin College Rotaract, responsible for maintaining the College’s ties to area Rotary Clubs; 2006 Homecoming Queen; and the Posey Leadership Institute. She spent a JanTerm abroad studying culture and cuisine in Madrid, Spain, and studied fair trade, violence, and social unrest in Guatemala during her 2008 spring break.

This fall, Emileigh will attend St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas.  While in leadership roles for various Austin College activities, she discovered a penchant for “organizing, remodeling, and fixing groups and programs.” She hopes to some day work for the CIA. “Austin College has encouraged me to learn and explore like no other school would have done,” Emileigh said. “I don’t know that I would have been able to accomplish all that I accomplished without attending Austin College.”
 

Major:  International Economics and Finance, and Political Science
Hometown: Groesback, Texas
Places He’s Going: Vienna, Austria

It took multiple internships in the legal field for Michael Martin to figure out law wasn’t the career he wanted. It took fall term 2007, studying abroad term in Vienna, Austria, and interning with environmental consultancy firm Denkstatt GmbH to find not only his career, but a job after graduation.

Michael desired a career path that implemented both his majors in political science and economics and, after overcoming reservations about “the unwanted stigma of becoming a hippy or tree hugger,” discovered environmental studies offered that opportunity.

“Austin College was the turning point in my life where I found the world to be my home and a place where I as an individual can make a difference through hard work and dedication,” said Michael, who also traveled to Istanbul, Turkey; Budapest, Hungary; and Rome and Venice, Italy. “I am most proud of not losing my small-town Texan roots, while becoming a global citizen that can communicate within different cultures and ideologies.”
 

Major: History
Hometown: Anna, Texas
Places He’s Going: Texas A & M Health Science Center (College Station, Texas)

When Drew Kelly came to Austin College as a Lattimore Presidential Scholar, he could have been a perfect character for Friday Night Lights. He was captain of his high school varsity football, power lifting, and track teams; class valedictorian; an Eagle Scout; and had grown up ranching and farming on land that had been passed down through six generations, all in “a town that celebrated football as true religion,” Drew said. At the time, he was convinced he wanted to get an education in political theory and enter national politics, motivated by “dreams of public glory to satisfy naked ambition as much as making a positive difference in the world around me,” he said.

A few weeks in Washington, D.C., during a JanTerm left Drew jaded by the political scene and motivated by a desire to “have a direct, immediate, and tangible impact in the lives of individuals,” he said. He went on to participate in a Lilly internship, shadowing surgeons in Allen and McKinney, Texas, and recognized the positive impact doctors could make in individuals’ lives. In addition to the JanTerm in D.C., Drew spent another JanTerm in Scotland and participated in a short-term summer medical mission trip in Brazil.

“I leave Austin College a veritable scholar, having outgrown varsity athletics during my first term of exposure to real intellectual pursuits,” said Drew, who this fall will attend medical school at Texas A&M Health Science Center to employ his talents “in the service of something greater than myself on a daily basis.” Some things, like the fact that Drew still works on the ranch as often as he can, never change, but his life pursuits seem no longer dominated by “naked ambition” or “public glory,” but an interest to serve others through medicine.
 

Major: Political Science and History
Hometown: Royse City, Texas
Places She’s Going: Harvard Law School (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

As a junior high school student in Royse City, Texas (population approximately 9,300), Rebecca Lake was asked by her pre-calculus teacher, Mrs. Irby, to share a dream with the class. Thinking her dream a little too big, Rebecca remembers saying she wanted to attend Harvard Law School, but qualified it as silly. “With as much seriousness as anyone has ever spoken to me, Mrs. Irby looked me straight in the eyes and told me that my dream was absolutely not silly,” Rebecca said. “During my JanTerm in Guatemala, Harvard Law School accepted me into its class of 2011.”

Rebecca’s impressive résumé contains all the things you’d expect from a future Harvard Law School student: Austin College Pre-Law Society co-president, Peer Judicial Board co-chair, Phi Beta Kappa inductee, Posey Leadership Institute Scholar, Hatton W. Sumners Scholar in Political Science, Stephen F. Austin Scholar in History, and “Outstanding Delegate” at the 2007 National Model United Nations Conference in New York City. Her résumé also contains service-oriented work and projects like training lesson horses for Hannah’s Horseshoes for Hope, a therapeutic riding center for the physically and mentally disabled, and tutoring high school students at the College’s Math Achievement Center.

“I never pictured myself zip-lining over the top of a rainforest, climbing a volcano, standing on top of an ancient Mayan pyramid, or watching Wicked from the front row in New York City, but I have done all of these things because of Austin College,” Rebecca said.
 

Major: Mathematics and Spanish, magna cum laude
Hometown: Fort Worth, Texas
Places She’s Going: Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas)

Cicily Smith participated in home school education from early elementary school through high school while growing up in Fort Worth, Texas. At Austin College, Cicily discovered the world. “I feel I have grown and matured tremendously over the past four years,” she said. “In high school, I was comfortable associating with people who thought, looked, and behaved like me. Austin College is a microcosmic, real world experience that exposed me to life outside my comfort zone.”

Life outside her comfort zone included a term at the Universidad de Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain; a summer assisting in graduate-level research at Universidad de Puerto Rico in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico; a JanTerm in Egypt studying pharaohs, pyramids, and mosques; and an internship at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Grand Prairie, Texas. Cicily has parlayed her experience, service efforts for Habitat for Humanity and as English as a Second Language volunteer, and her honors into a full scholarship with stipend at Texas A&M University to pursue graduate studies in industrial and systems engineering.

“Study abroad, summer research, and internships are just a few of the wide array of opportunities at the fingertips of Austin College students,” Cicily said. “Austin College has the resources to take its students in just about any direction they want to go.”
 

Major: Spanish
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
Places She’s Going: Americorps, Heifer International

Beth Shaw-Meadow’s academic career at Austin College illustrates perfectly the advantages of a liberal arts education. She majored in Spanish, took science courses to prepare for veterinary school, and pursued her passion as an artist. In fact, it was only after completing a Lilly internship at a veterinary clinic the summer after her freshman year that Beth decided her vocational calling was to be a veterinarian and not an artist.

Beth spent a term abroad at the Universidad de Granada in Granada, Spain, developing her language skills; a JanTerm traveling in Europe, visiting England, Ireland, France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, Morocco, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Turkey; and completed an internship at the Dallas Museum of Art, all important steps in a journey to explore purpose for life after college. “I credit my Austin College education 100 percent for developing an educational plan into a vocational plan for my life,” Beth said. “What I have done would not have been possible had I not attended a liberal arts college like Austin College.”

Logging about 300 hours of service during her time at the College, it’s no surprise that after graduation Beth will spend a portion of the summer with a volunteer veterinary medical team in Honduras. Then, through AmeriCorps, she begins a year-long internship with Heifer Project International, a non-profit organization that sponsors small-scale livestock development projects around the world. Those projects complete, she will turn her attention to veterinary school.
 

Major:  International Relations and Spanish, magna cum laude
Hometown: Uricani, Romania, and Buenos Aires, Argentina
Places She’s Going: Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A & M University (College Station, Texas)

Szende Szabo developed an appreciation for diverse people and places at a young age. Born in Romania and of Hungarian ethnicity, she considers both languages her mother tongues, but at age 10, Szende moved with her family to Argentina. At 17, Szende came to the United States to continue her education, which included four years at Austin College. Szende departs Austin College fluent in Romanian, Hungarian, English, and Spanish; proficient in German; and having studied both French and Chinese.

“I don’t feel attached to a particular place, and I appreciate all cultures,” Szende said. “Many times I feel to be the citizen of a wide global community.” Szende continued her globetrotting at Austin College. Being an international student in the United States didn’t stop her from becoming an international student studying the European Union at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg in Freiburg, Germany, during fall 2006. She spent her 2006 summer as a statistical marketing intern for TenarisSilcotub in Romania through an Austin College Lilly internship. She also is a member of the Posey Leadership Institute and Phi Beta Kappa honor society. 

This fall, Szende will attend the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University to pursue a master’s degree in public service and administration. “The Austin College environment has made my desire to pursue my goals even stronger because I was able to get first-hand experiences doing what I most love: helping and serving others,” Szende said. “It showed me that the career I have chosen in the non-profit and human rights realm is the best decision I could make.”   
 

Major:  Religion and Asian Studies, magna cum laude 
Hometown:  Lakeway, Texas
Places He’s Going: Goucher College (Baltimore, Maryland)

Since coming to Austin College, Eric Richter has been from Timbuktu to Kathmandu, and a few places in between. Eric got his first taste of academic pursuits abroad during a JanTerm to Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia his freshman year. That trip and a year or two of “taking any class that I found interesting” sparked a passion for Asian philosophy and developed his double major in religion and Asian studies, he said.

A 2006 JanTerm took Eric to Senegal, Mali, and Timbuktu, where he learned about global responsibility and cultural richness. He spent the 2006-2007 academic year in a study abroad program at the Kathmandu University of Buddhist Studies and Himalayan Language in Kathmandu, Nepal.

During that year, he took classes in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and trekked through the Himalayan Mountains. “It was humbling to live a life absent of many of the day-to-day comforts I had always taken for granted in the U.S.A., such as warm showers, washing machines, air conditioning, and clean water,” Eric said.

While at Austin College, Eric has been president of the College’s Amnesty International chapter and the Environmentally Concerned Organization of Students (ECOS). Eric also spent two summers doing conservation projects as a crew member of the Continental Divide Trail Alliance and Rocky Mountain Youth Corps.

The study abroad experience also inspired Eric to pursue a career in medicine. Immediately after graduation, Eric will attend Goucher College for a year-long, post-baccalaureate pre-medical program. “I want to become a doctor and serve my community and other communities around the world in promoting health,” Eric said.
 

Major: Biology and Spanish
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Places She’s Going: The Peace Corps (The Caribbean)

Can success be found in a person’s DNA? Kristin Shapiro might investigate that question one day. Kristin entered Austin College to take advantage of its pre-medical preparation, and she will someday employ that education and skills as a genetic counselor. However, Kristin is hitting the pause button on graduate school to spend two years in the Caribbean.

No, she is not taking an extended vacation. Kristin has committed to spend two years with the Peace Corps, employing her Spanish language skills in service to the Caribbean people. Her motivation can be traced back to her sophomore JanTerm in India. “That was an eye-opening experience,” Kristin said. “I learned to value the opportunities that I had been given by my family and my school. It also inspired me to learn about other cultures and experience them firsthand.”

Kristin later studied at Universidad de Granada in Granada, Spain, during her junior year. She interned at the Kelly O’Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and spent hundreds of hours volunteering at local crisis centers, at health clinics, and through her sorority. “My time at Austin College was well worth it,” Kristin said. “I gained a huge amount of experience in a variety of settings that will prepare me for the Peace Corps, graduate school, my job, and life in general.”
 

Major: German
Hometown: The World
Places She’s Going: University of North Texas

Many students begin traveling while attending Austin College, but Afua Kwarteng grew up in various countries throughout the Middle East. She came to the College with high expectations about finding purpose for her life and said, “Austin College did not let me down.” At Austin College, Afua studied in Germany and Jamaica where she compared her life to the people she met and “got a firmer grasp on where I stood in the world, what the impact of my life is, and what it could be,” she said. Afua also spent time volunteering with ECOS and at the Hagerman Wildlife Refuge.

Afua did not spend all her time deep in philosophical and scholarly pursuits. She fondly remembers “the night police busted a party where only root beer floats were being served.”

Afua plans to earn a graduate degree in public administration from the University of North Texas, where she will attend on a Hatton Summers graduate scholarship. “Plain and simple, Austin College has opened doors for me that I did not know existed,” she said.
 

June 2008

Feedback?

	Nicole Moore Hometown:  Houston, Texas Major: Business Administration and Music,            Honors in Music, summa cum laude Where She’s Going: Teach for America – Memphis, Tennessee
	Tamir Dean Anver Hometown: Bedford, Texas Major: Biochemistry/minor in Religion, summa cum laude Where He’s Going: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Dental Branch
	Austin Trantham Hometown: Argyle, Texas Major: Political Science,           Honors in Political Science/minor in History, magna cum laude Where He’s Going: American University , Washington, D.C. Austin will pursue his master’s in political science from the American University School of Public Affairs.
	Jesse Travis Hometown:  Plainview, Texas Major: Religion and Psychology, summa cum laude Where She’s Going: Teach for America -- New Orleans, Louisiana
	Emma Wilking Hometown: Houston, Texas Major:  Psychology/minor in Art History, cum laude Where She’s Going: University of Massachusetts (Boston, Massachusetts) Emma will work as a vocational instructor at Merrimack Education Center for high school-aged students with special needs (autism spectrum, cognitive disabilities, and physical disabilities) while working toward her master’s degree in special education.
	Thomas Rhodes Hometown: Odessa, Texas Major:  German and Music, Honors in Music Where He’s Going: Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Thomas, who spent fall 2007 studying in Vienna, Austria, with an internship at the Vienna State Opera. He has received a scholarship to pursue the Master of Arts Management program through the College of Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University.
	Axel Nze Akoue Hometown: Libreville, Gabon Major: International Relations/minor in Communication Arts NEXT Where He’s Going: UN Foundation (Washington, D.C.) Axel has begun an internship with the United Nations Foundation’s Nothing But Nets campaign to provide mosquito nets to families throughout Africa to prevent malaria. After completing a master’s degree in international relations and possibly a law degree, he hopes to return to Gabon to have an impact on need in his country.

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