Category Archives: Students

Grimm ’11 Wins Fulbright Grant to Teach in Russia

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University graduate Geoffrey Grimm ’11 has been awarded a Fulbright grant to teach in Russia. His announcement marks the third awarding of a coveted Fulbright grant to an IWU senior or graduate this year.

“Fulbright program participants possess strong academic merit, great leadership potential a passion for exploring and resolving international concerns,” said Fulbright advisor and Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Christina Isabelli. “It is wonderful to have three students from Illinois Wesleyan to be chosen for this prestigious program.”

Operating in 150 countries worldwide, the Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Envisioned by U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright in 1945, the program promotes a mutual understanding between people of the United States and other countries of the world. Since its inception, more than 100,000 Americans have studied, taught or researched abroad with the program.

Thompson ’12 Interns with NYC Media

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – While many students choose to remain on campus during their tenure at Illinois Wesleyan, some students opt to spend a semester outside of the traditional classroom. Kamaya Thompson, a junior theater arts and English double major, chose to do just that. This past semester Thompson traveled New York City and participated in the New York Media Experience Program. She is the second IWU student to take part in the program.

Thompson knew right away that she wanted an out-of state internship in media, but was uncertain how to proceed. She turned to the staff at the IWU Hart Career Center for help. There, Thompson read through one program description after another until she came upon the New York Media Experience Program through Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The program allows undergraduate students to gain work experience with a major media organization in New York City while completing online courses. “This program just leaped off the page screaming pick me,” said Thompson, “so I did.”

The New York Media Experience Program staff assisted Thompson in finding temporary residence in New York City and selecting her online courses, however, Thompson was responsible for securing her internship position. Now residing in the media capital of the world, Thompson had a variety of organizations to choose from, such as television shows and public relations firms. Interested mainly in broadcasting and television, she found her ideal internship at NYC Media, a television network produced through the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. “The sole purpose [of NYC Media] is to keep viewers updated with events going on in the city,” said Thompson, “we also produced shows like Eat Out Time Out and Free in NYC which let viewers know about restaurants in the city and free activities.”

Narita to Intern at United Nations

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University senior Mana Narita from Tokyo, Japan, recently accepted a summer internship at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations. Narita will live and work in New York from May until July, before she returns to Japan to finish her studies at Keio University in Tokyo.

The Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations (UN) has represented the Government of Japan since the country’s entry into the UN in 1956. According to the website, the Mission conducts diplomacy to achieve its foreign policy goals and remains committed to the UN’s efforts to ensure peace and stability throughout the world.

Narita, a political science major, will intern for the political and administrative section at the Permanent Mission. Some of her responsibilities will include attending meetings and negotiations with diplomats, taking notes and writing summaries.

“I have always dreamed of working for the United Nations,” Narita said. “This will be a great opportunity for me to find a specialty in the field of international politics since my interest is very broad right now.”

Narita hopes to utilize her knowledge from her politics classes at IWU in her internship. After graduation, she would like to study international politics at the graduate level and eventually pursue a career with the United Nations.

Students Finish First Year With New Sense of Self

The first year of college is a time of change, punctuated by triumphs and tribulations, surprises and self-discoveries.

First-year students gather in the fall, (back row, left to right) Arnold Asjes, Melissa Ramirez and Janette Abassi; (front row, left to right) Morgan Latiolais, Matt LaLonde.

The long journey students take over their first year of college is also a time for questions, said IWU Director of Counseling Services Annorah Moorman. “First-year students ask themselves what they want their path to be. It is a time to develop a new sense of identity,” she said. “It can be challenging, and it should be challenging, as all opportunities for personal growth are.”

To talk about overcoming the challenges of their first year at college, five Illinois Wesleyan first-year students agreed to gather several times during the 2010-2011 academic year. Getting together on the Quad, in the DugOut, in classrooms and theatres, the students spoke of their experiences with homesickness, classes, stress and the responsibilities that come with leaving home.

Roeschley Wins Fulbright Grant to Teach in Mexico

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University senior Jason Roeschley has been awarded a Fulbright grant to teach in Mexico. He is the second IWU senior to win one of the coveted Fulbright awards this year.

Roeschley, a Hispanic Studies major from Flanagan, Ill., will return to Mexico, for 10 months, where he will teach English. Roeschley spent the fall semester of his junior year studying abroad at the University of Guanajuato in Guanajuato, Mexico, where he also volunteered for English conversational workshops at the Self-Learning Language Center.

“With so many people in the United States, and all over the world, speaking Spanish, this is an important time to open the doors between English and Spanish speakers,” said Roeschley, who also tutored local Spanish-speaking residents in English as second language classes last summer.

Coles Awarded Fulbright Grant

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University senior Emily Coles has been awarded a Fulbright grant to teach in Bulgaria.

“Fulbright program participants possess strong academic merit, great leadership potential a passion for exploring and resolving international concerns,” said Fulbright advisor and Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Christina Isabelli-Garcia. “Fellowships are awarded competitively to candidates nationally who best and most clearly demonstrate how the Fulbright experience will enhance their future activities as well as impact the community where they are placed.”

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See related story: Coles Named Technos Award Winner

Jackson Wins Art Scholarship to Study in Florence

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan sophomore art major Leeya Jackson recently received the Studio Arts Center International (SACI) Consortium scholarship. Worth $11,800, the award will allow Jackson to study abroad at SACI in Florence, Italy for the Fall 2011 semester.

SACI is a U.S. not-for-profit university art and design program. The organization has awarded $79,000 in scholarships to students studying at SACI in the upcoming semester. Jackson was selected as the consortium scholar based on her submitted artwork, including Self-portrait in Acrylic (pictured).

Jackson is most excited for the SACI art conservation course, where she will learn to repair Renaissance art. She will also take an art history course, which makes frequent trips to Italy’s many museums. “I am also looking forward to being immersed in Florentine culture and exercising my Italian skills,” she said.

Students to Bike Across the Country for FACE AIDS

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – As the school year draws to a close, some Illinois Wesleyan University students are pondering what to do with their summer. Many will choose a summer job or internship, while others will elect to take summer classes. But junior biology majors Michael Henry and Vadim Kogan have chosen to bike over 4,000 miles across the United States to raise money and awareness for the FACE AIDS organization.

This is the fourth year of the FACE AIDS campaign, a not-for-profit student organization whose mission is to mobilize and inspire students to fight HIV/AIDS across the globe. The organization, which works in collaboration with Partner’s in Health, has raised over $2,000,000 since its inception. The money raised provides education, employment and comprehensive healthcare to those affected by HIV/AIDS in Rwanda.

Henry and Kogan were selected along with four other college and graduate students from across the country to complete the ride, which will begin on June 13, in Half Moon Bay, Ca. and end in Boston in August. By the end of the ride, Henry and Kogan have each pledged to raise $5,000 for FACE AIDS.

“I felt this ride would be the best way to make an impact in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” said Henry, the founder of the FACE AIDS organization at IWU. Kogan, who was introduced to the cross-country ride by Henry, felt this experience would combine three of his interests, cycling, seeing the country and talking to people about HIV/AIDS.

Pilot Program Promotes Student Leadership

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – A pilot program at Illinois Wesleyan University aims to help students develop leadership skills by exploring personal values, ideas and strengths.

The Titan Leadership Program, which is run through the Division of Student Affairs, is considered the next step in helping students hone leadership skills, according to Dean of Students Kathy Cavins-Tull. “Through students and alumni surveys, we were hearing that students get a lot of content and knowledge in the classroom, but not enough experiences putting that into action,” said Cavins-Tull, who taught classes on leadership through the business administration and sociology departments from 2006 to 2009.

The semester-long program, which enlists 15 sophomores and juniors from campus, combines group discussions, one-on-one meetings, speakers and networking – all with the goal of developing leadership abilities. The inaugural class of the Titan Leadership Program will celebrate graduation on Friday, April 15 at 6 p.m. in the Turfler Room of the Memorial Center (104 E. University St., Bloomington).

“Leadership has usually been a self-guided process for students,” explained Interim Director of Student Activities and Leadership Programs Sara Schaller, who oversees the program. “A student might become president of an organization and only be able to look at what the last president did for guidance. That can be a stressful process. Students let us know they wanted something more in depth.”

With the help of gifts from alumni, the division was able to create the program, which works to build an individual’s strengths and explores ways to bring those strengths to an organization.

Grace, Hosack Receive Summer Study Abroad Scholarships

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University seniors Kari Grace, a sociology and Hispanic studies double major from Winnetka, Ill., and Kristen Hosack, a history and Hispanic studies double major from Bloomington, Ill., were recently awarded the 2011 Sigma Delta Pi Undergraduate Summer Scholarship.

Sigma Delta Pi, a national collegiate Hispanic honor society, recognizes students with outstanding academic achievement in the field of Hispanic studies. The scholarship, given annually, covers the cost for students to study abroad in Ecuador, Mexico or Spain during the summer.

Grace will study at the Estudio Internacional Sampere in Madrid or Salamanca, Spain. Hosack has decided to travel to Alcalá de Henares, Spain to study at the Instituto Franklin-Universidad de Alcalá de Henares in July of 2011.

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