Intellectual Inquirer - Virginia Wesleyan College

Volume 15, Issue 1
HONORS & SCHOLARS ASSOCATION
Fall 2015
Congratulations to
our August Scholar
Graduates and our
senior scholars
graduating in
December!
Welcome to our
Freshmen Scholars!
Inside this issue:
President’s Message
2
Faculty Spotlight:
Dr. Elizabeth Malcolm
4
Senior Spotlights:
Mindy Bertram
Sydney Covey
3
7
Student Spotlight
Isabella Blackney
3
Feature Articles:
Summer Ventrues
Leading through service
iCanBike Program
It’s an Internship
To love a moss
Let’s Go
NOAA Orientation
1-2
2
4
5
5
6
6
Intellectual Inquirer
Summer Ventures
Students always come back to school in
August with a summer’s worth of stories and
adventures to share.
From internships,
research, travel, charter boat fishing, to camp
counseling, the Scholars of VWC have had full
and rich summers spanning many miles and
experiences.
Sophomore Jessica Pittman spent her summer
working for her grandfather’s charter boat
fishing business in Eastern Maryland. This
meant early, 4 A.M. mornings, doing jobs
necessary for the boat to run smoothly, and
lots of clean-up after the fishing session.
Although it could be a smelly business with
bi-polar weather, she was able to spend quality
time with her grandfather and meet people
from all over the East Coast. Jessica was able
to spend her summer in the salt water under
the sun with family and friends, which sounds
like the perfect summer to me.
Gabrielle Freese
Maryland. Together they rode zip lines, tubed,
sailed, danced for hours, and sat in the club
room while the camp speaker talked about the
good news of a risen Savior. Not only did the
kids learn a lot and have fun, but as the trip
leader, Summer came away with new appreciations and skills gained from the trip. It was a
special and rewarding time with the kids that
she had been serving throughout the year.
Britton Hipple, a senior chemistry major,
spent the summer in Virginia Beach doing
research for Dr. Easter. He researched the
Yellow Ball Sponge and tried to extract the
organic molecules from the sponge to test for
possible antibacterial or antifungal capabilities.
Through multiple different extraction procedures, he found that there is a compound extract with organic molecules from the sponge
that has antibacterial capabilities. Britt plans to
further his research this semester, hopefully
isolating and identifying the compound.
In addition to Seth Antozzi’s experience with
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (see article on page 6), he and his
sister, Sarah, spent time camping, hiking, and
experiencing Colorado. They explored the
Rocky Mountain National Park and the United
Air Force Academy chapel. In addition to the
Academy being their father’s alma mater, it is
the number one tourist attraction in Colorado.
Seth and Sarah also spent time at Mt.
Princeton, which is near Aspen, a world-class
ski resort. The pictures of Colorado (above
and below) are sights and experiences that Seth
captured on their trip.
Senior Summer Moore, had the opportunity to
take middle school kids she had been mentoring all year to YoungLife camp in Northeast
Jennifer Parker, a junior biology major,
worked with Dr. Howard, Dr. Schaus, and a
few other students on a research project
(Continued on page 2)
Intellectual Inquirer
Page 2
(Continued from page 1)
studying different bodies of water on
campus. The purpose of the project was
to study how vegetated mats and plants
have an effect on the concentrations of
inorganic ions, mainly nitrate and phosphate. They sampled twice a week from
the 18 tanks containing different amounts
of vegetated mats placed in the 4 ponds
and 2 creeks on campus. From the ponds
they compared the input and output, and
ion concentration to see how each differs.
Her research will continue this fall as she
studies how the tanks with foam compare
to the tanks with foam and mineral
spikes in them, as well as observe how
the tanks with vegetated mats compare to
the tanks that have vegetated mats and
mineral spikes.
There are so many other Scholars with
fascinating summer stories, and I hope
that as you see one another in passing
you reconnect and share memories with
each other. With the busyness of a new
school year, do not forget to be thinking
about plans for next summer such as internships or travels! Good luck this semester, and continue making memories
and staying involved.
President’s Message
To all of the incoming freshman Honors and Scholars members, let me be
one of the first to welcome you to Virginia Wesleyan and into the Honors
and Scholars Program. For the returning members, welcome back to campus
and to another year full of opportunities. Not only will you have quality
academic experiences through H&S, but the H&S Program has exciting
events planned out for you to take advantage of and enjoy.
The H&S Program has so much to offer you. As H&S members, you will
take advanced classes that put you a step ahead in your education, serve others
in unique volunteer opportunities, experience special extracurricular
activities, and find people who have similar goals and provide a support
system. In addition, there will be guidance available if you have questions
regarding your academic career or future possibilities.
As a member of the H&S Program, you have received a
great honor. You are a distinguished student at VWC. I
hope that you take advantage of all H&S has to offer you,
and that you benefit from it this year and every other year
spent at VWC. Stay active and engaged in this
phenomenal program. Here’s to an incredible year!
~Gabrielle Freese, ‘17
Leading through Service
My name is Laurissa Senecal and I am a
junior honor student double majoring in
English and Psychology. Upon my
advisor’s recommendation, this summer I
worked at a summer camp. My goal in
this was to acquire experience in human
relations and leadership. I applied for a
position at Camp Hope Haven, a unique
camp, which offers children from
low–income homes a summer camp
experience for free. The staff at Hope
Haven all volunteer their time because
they have a passion to see children enjoy
life and have a good time. Although
Hope Haven is a Christian founded
Camp and does openly advertise as such,
it welcomes children from all religious
backgrounds and does not discriminate
based on faith.
This was my second summer working at
Hope Haven. I asked the camp director to
give me a position that would challenge
me and help me grow as a leader. He
asked me to apply to be the Kitchen Lead.
In short, my job was to orchestrate the
serving of food. Each week I had four to
five girls working for me. I worked
alongside the cook to serve food to an
average of 160 people three times a day.
We set tables, poured juice, made tea,
scooped out food, baked cookies, counted
servings, and above all strove to serve
everyone with a positive attitude.
Although some may say that my job was
unglamorous and lacking in importance,
I came to see that every job is vital. At a
place like Hope Haven, it is easy to see
the importance of unity and respect for
people in other positions. If I didn’t do
my job, food wouldn’t be served, no one
would eat and camp could not function.
If the maintenance team failed to clean up
spills, then people could slip and get
hurt. If the camp counselors didn’t watch
their children, then they would get hurt
and not be able to have fun. If the
Laurissa Senecal
program team didn’t
work hard to plan fun
activities, then the kids
would be disappointed
and unhappy. Everyone
has a part to play in life
and every part is vital
for smooth functioning.
My time at Hope Haven
taught me about true
leadership.
I learned
that in order to be a
good leader, I have to lead by example,
modeling the behavior that I expect of my
employees. I learned to value each and
every one of my workers and to effectively manage their time. I learned that times
of rest and reflection are important and
that good sleep is absolutely vital. I’m
excited to see where my leadership
experience will take me and ultimately so
thankful that I got to work at a place like
Camp Hope haven.
Volume 15, Issue 1
Page 3
Senior Spotlight: Mindy Bertram
Hometown:
Sioux Falls, SD and Richmond, VA
Education before VWC:
Hermitage High School
Majors:
Biology and International Studies
What attracted you to VWC:
I was attracted to VWC because it was
a small institution with outstanding
professors and amazing opportunities.
Best memory from VWC:
My best memory from VWC is tough to
narrow down so here are three: winning Battle of the Brains (GO Biology!) ;
traveling to Nicaragua with my classmates and Greg West ; being a Resident
Assistant to beautiful ladies in Rose
hall.
What you do for fun:
I love to ice skate, run,
and take geography quizzes.
Future plans:
I have applied to be a Peace Corps
Volunteer in Rwanda to work with
Maternal and Child Health. After, I
hope to continue my education to get a
masters in Public Health.
Favorite course:
My favorite course was Histology
because I found it to be a challenging
adventure and really beautiful. Histology is the study of microscopic anatomy
of cells and tissues. It was super rad
and very exciting to learn and understand the complex organization of
body systems. (look up histology of
Hyaline Cartilage, you'll understand)
Professor who has inspired you:
I could talk about every professor I've
had here but if I have to select one it
would be Dr. Westfall. Dr. Westfall has
inspired me professionally to work
endlessly to become a more articulate,
skilled and analytical student. Personally, Dr. Westfall has served as an outstanding example of thoughtful, dedicated and passionate humanitarian. In
class or out Dr. Westfall's encouragement and enthusiasm for life was light
for this campus and continues to be a
light in my life.
Student Spotlight: Bella Blackney
As involved on campus as Bella Blackney
is, you have more than likely seen her
roaming VWC. While at Wesleyan, she
has chosen to triple-major in Classics,
French, and International Studies. As of
now, her favorite class and one that she
would recommend is World War I History. Currently, she fills her time with academics, the Model United Nations, the
Marlin Chronicle, the Wesleyan Ambassador Program, and membership with
three honor societies. When asked which
activities were the most rewarding and
demanding, she had a different answer
for each. For Bella, the Wesleyan Ambassador Program is the most rewarding
because it allows her to help pave a path
to VWC for high school students searching for a university. On the other hand,
the Model United Nations is the most
demanding extra-curricular activity due
to all of the work that has to be done in
Bella’s free time instead of in class. One
of Bella’s recommendations for all
students is to get involved in a club or
organization that ties in with your major
and future career plans. When one is
actively pursuing a passion or goal, it
gives one’s self perspective into life postgraduation. As an example, Bella is
interning as a media assistant for the
Panzi Hospital and Foundations, and
plans to study abroad in London, Paris,
and Amsterdam after finals end in May.
After graduating with the Class of 2018,
she plans to attend a graduate school in
the United Kingdom to attain a doctoral
degree. Her career goal is to become a
museum curator at the British Museum,
which means she will be travelling the
world, discovering artifacts, and designing exhibits. Another one of her interests
is soccer, and one of her favorite Brazilian
footballers, Neymar da Silva Santos,
Junior, said, “Don't quit. It doesn't matter if
Favorite Quote:
“Have patience with everything that
remains unsolved in your heart. Try to
love the questions themselves, like
locked rooms, or books written in a
foreign language. Do not now look for
the answers. They cannot now be
given to you, because you would not
be able to live them. And the point is,
to live everything. Live the questions
now. Perhaps then, someday far in the
future, you will gradually, without
even noticing it, live your way into the
answer.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke
Advice to H&S underclassmen:
Your path is your
own. Don't do or
not do something
because
someone
else is or isn't.
Study abroad!
you have a barrier in front of you. If someone
pushes you down, saying, 'you're not good.'
It happens to everyone, it happened to me.
You have to believe in your dreams, what we
want. It's hard, but you must believe if you
have a dream." Bella has taken this quote
to heart. Not only is she chasing her
unique dream, but her dream will ensure
that the rich histories and cultures of the
world will not be lost for future generations. Not only does she care for the
treasures of antiquity, but she cares
about the current treasures, the dreams,
of other people who do not have a voice
of their own. A lot of her free time is
devoted to advocacy for those held
captive in human trafficking. She has
even organized and held an event to
raise funds and awareness to this
unfortunate issue that impacts more
people than we like to admit. As hard
and challenging as her goals are, she has
not given up on them, and she has
chosen Virginia Wesleyan College as a
stepping stone to her future.
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iCanBike Program hosted at VWC
Learning how to ride a bike is an
important and fun time in everyone’s life.
This can come with more challenges than
you would think for some. This is why
FACT, the Families of Autistic Children
in Tidewater, hosted the iCanBike program here at Virginia Wesleyan College.
During the week of July 20th, the
iCanBike program held five 65 minutes
sessions a day to help children and teens
with disabilities learn how to ride a bike.
The iCanBike program is one of the many
I Can Shine programs that happen all over
the country. This program has a unique
approach to getting riders accustomed to
riding a bicycle. Using custom rolling
pins as the back wheel, these bikes are
meant for learning how to balance and
maneuver a bicycle at a more modified
pace than a bicycle with training wheels.
As the rider improves, the rolling pins
decrease in size until the rider is ready to
ride on a traditional two-wheeled bicycle.
Volunteers had a crucial role in assisting
the riders improve. Each volunteer would
be teamed up with a rider and continue
to work with that rider throughout the
week. The goal behind this is to build up
a trust between the rider and volunteer to
assure the rider they are in good hands.
My personal goal as a volunteer was to
insure my riders’ safety, encourage my
rider, and communicate with my rider’s
family to let them know the progress that
was happening.
Cullen, the rider I had the privilege of
working with, is an elementary school
aged boy who made tremendous improvements in just one week. His favorite
thing to do while still on the rolling pins
would be to make a “squish” noise as he
rode over the papers with pictures of
bugs on them. He made this experience
very fun and entertaining for not only
himself, but me too!
By the third day, Cullen had moved from
rolling pins to two wheels! When this
happens, the riders typically go outside
to the area in front of the tennis courts so
Brooke Totzeck
that they can get the feeling of riding
outside on pavement versus the CMAC
floor. One struggle that Cullen had was
the first initial push off when on two
wheels. Balance was tricky; however the
iCanBike experts gave him a tip to push
off with his feet before pedaling and this
turned out to be a successful technique
for him. By Thursday I could hardly keep
up running next to him because he was
so efficient in riding by himself that he
enjoyed going at a faster pace! By Friday
afternoon he was riding by himself with
other riders around him. This progress
made everybody very proud and excited
for him.
I am so thankful to have volunteered
with this program. It is an incredible way
to give those with disabilities confidence
in themselves. It also provides a form of
transportation for those who are of age to
travel by themselves but may not be able
to operate a vehicle. Families often take
up bike riding as a group after this
program because it’s an activity that
everyone can be a part of. Knowing that
the skills learned this week will continue
with Cullen and the other riders for a
long time is something that is truly
remarkable!
Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Elizabeth Malcolm
Professor of Ocean and Atmospheric
Sciences, Dr. Elizabeth Malcolm joined
the VWC faculty in 2004 after a being a
post-doctoral research associate in the
Department of Geoscience at Princeton
University. Her experience at Earlham
College as an undergraduate impacted
her decision. She designed her own
major in Environmental Science, as they
did not have that major yet, which
included a semester abroad in Australia,
a winter session in the Galapagos Islands,
and independent research on chemistry
of atmospheric mercury. She enjoyed
being a part of a community of scholars
and she appreciated that the faculty cared
deeply about the learning and intellectual
development of their undergraduate
student.
While earning her PhD in
Atmospheric Science from the University
of Michigan, College of Engineering, she
decided that she wanted to teach at a
small liberal arts institution. Malcolm
was excited by the energy and enthusiasm of the VWC faculty, but also the
opportunity to develop and add to the
Earth
and Environmental Science
curriculum.
Malcolm uses her liberal arts education
and finds inspiration around her to teach
her students important lessons. She has
used this quote by John Muir, "When we
try to pick out anything by itself, we find
it hitched to everything else in the Universe." in a book chapter she wrote about
the environmental cycle of mercury. It
evokes the complexity of environmental
systems and the idea of scales. In her
research and courses she looks at environmental problems from the molecular
scale all the way to the global scale. To
explain how mercury emitted from a
power plant in the US or China ends up
in a fish in the Pacific Ocean, we need to
understand transformations of mercury
on a molecular scale.
Malcolm values students working on
honors projects as they can really take
ownership of a project and investigate
their topic or interest in-depth. Some of
her most successful classes have been the
result of the
H&S students
encouraging
each other to
be inquisitive
and excel.
Volume 15, Issue 1
Page 5
It’s an Internship, Big or Small, So Take It! Nicholas Hipple
Go big. Go small. Go home. Go away. Go
internship. Whatever your major, VWC
has connections that allow you to pursue
internships each summer in a variety of
fields. With these connections at your
fingertips, there really isn’t a reason not
to go find an internship in an area you
love.
In May, as I was looking for summer jobs
as a rising freshman, knowing that, many
of the large businesses were looking for
upperclassmen, I got a phone call from
my cousin, Monica. Monnie and her husband, Reed, are two of the four owners and my bosses this summer - of a nail
polish company based in southern New
Jersey called Revel Nail. Phon and Keeli
Malone, good friends of Monnie and
Reed, are the other two owners. This
team of four has taught me most of the
business knowledge I have gained so far,
all on the job.
Having never been to New Jersey nor
applied nail polish before, I began my
internship totally clueless. In the first four
days, not only did I learn the difference
between gel polish, dip powder, acrylic
systems, and more, but I also had the
opportunity to fly down to Orlando to
work the Premiere Orlando International
Beauty Show – talk about a quick start to
the internship. At this point, four days
into an internship with no prior experience, I was already interacting with major
figures in the beauty world – heads of
companies, distributors, and salon owners – all while gaining valuable sales experience.
Revel Nail is a small company, committed to manufacturing high quality products (http://www.revelnail.com). This is
not easy for such a small company. With
four part owners and myself, I was able
to really get a sense of what owning a
business is like – from the ground up. In
any given week, I had projects that
ranged from creating and editing documents and presentations in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to speaking with
customers over the phone, creating a social media marketing campaign (check
Revel Nail out on Facebook, Instagram,
and Twitter!), representing the company
How I Came to Love a Moss
This summer, I was given the incredible
opportunity to do ten weeks of research
on Physcomitrella patens (a species of moss
used as a model organism) with Dr. Eric
Johnson. The overall purpose of my
research was to determine if a certain
calcium-binding protein (a centrin) was
present in the sperm-producing tissue of
the moss we worked on. As such, I was
responsible mostly for harvesting tissue
from the plants Dr. Johnson had on hand
to make DNA, running PCR using that
DNA, and analyzing the results. Towards
the end of the summer, when we had the
results we needed, we even started working on cloning!
While today I know that research is an
absolute blast and an incredible
experience, I didn’t know that at the start.
Before I got into lab and started my ten
weeks, I didn’t really know what to
expect. I kept thinking to myself, “what’s
it going to be like? Will I be in lab from 9
to 5? Will I be all alone in lab from 9 to 5?
What if I hate lab work? What exactly am
I going to be doing?” The most important
question, however, was “will I get the
results I need?”
Looking back now, I can say it was a bit
silly to be so terrified. As it turns out, I
was not thrown into a lab all alone and
forced to work for 8 hours a day, every
day, for 10 weeks. Dr. Johnson was the
absolute best, and he helped guide me
through everything I needed to know. As
the weeks flew by and I started getting
comfortable with PCR and the ilk, I found
I was a lot more confident in myself and
didn’t need to rely as heavily on Dr.
Johnson to double-check me at every
step. But of course, the second I thought I
knew what I was doing, disaster would
always strike! Contamination reared its
ugly head multiple times during the
summer, and it was always a mad scramble to find the source of it so that we
could push onwards. But if it wasn’t con-
when speaking to
distributors,
shipping orders, creating
price estimates of
products/packaging,
and even helping to
categorize and create
new products and
colors for some of
the company’s various product lines.
This is the inherent beauty in working at
a small company: you have opportunity
to see each and every aspect of working
in and owning a small business today.
This is such an amazing opportunity: not
only can you learn and expand your
experience in one of the many avenues of
business, you can become a welldeveloped and experienced job applicant
to future businesses, or more knowledgeable business owner yourself. Whether
or not you go to a big or small business, a
business near by or far away, find an internship. Whether you use resources at
Career Services or find an internship on
your own, go do it!
Liz Quamme
tamination, it was funky results, or a
machine got cranky and stopped working properly. Luckily for me, Dr. Johnson
was always there to help me figure it out,
and to encourage me when I got frustrated. Thanks to him, we always managed
to get back on track and keep moving
forward. And at the end of it all, we got
the results we needed! I’m excited to see
what more comes out of Dr. Johnson’s
project, and I’m thrilled to give my
presentation on my small part of it this
spring!
Intellectual Inquirer
Page 6
चेल्लो Let’s Go
When people asked where I was going to
study abroad and heard India, they
would be rather shocked and surprised.
They would make this face that spoke of
utter confusion and question my sanity
(the are you crazy?! question). However,
truth be told when they listed their
reasons for not choosing such a place
(like sanitation, no drinking water, different language, etcetera), I didn’t refute
them because in reality I didn’t know
what India was like. I lived in the fourth
largest city in India called Hyderabad, in
the newly formed state of Telangana. My
school was one the oldest in India, 2nd
only to schools in Delhi, called University
of Hyderabad. The university itself is
actually a Graduate school only, however
through CIEE and the fact that Indian
Undergraduate schools are only three
years long, American students are permitted in entry level classes. The classes I
took were geared mostly through CIEE
hired professors or direct enrollment
within the humanities, though I did have
one biology class. Classes were taught in
English, and while some accents were
hard to pick out, the majority were fairly
well spoken and the information could be
articulated. Most Indians either speak
their local language to each other or in
English (English and Hindi are national
languages). The reason for this is that
there are over 250 languages spoken in
India, mostly separated by state or cul-
Billy Lawson
ture, and to talk to each other they only
have the English medium to communicate. Thus, it really wasn’t very hard to
get around.
If there’s one thing I want to say about
where I lived, it is the incredible people I
met and the most beautiful places I’ve
gotten to see. My best friend in the International Hostel, where my residence was,
was Iranian and we had such a diverse
group of people that we hung out with
and shared ideas with. I learned so much
listening to each of them tell how they
ended up in Hyderabad, where they were
going, their hopes and dreams. We had
far more in common than any one of us
realized before and the perspectives
gained were once in a lifetime. Once my
roommate, Sammy, and I got invited to
have a welcome dinner under a large tree
in the middle of campus. The two men
that had invited us were PhD students
from Palestine. Sammy is Jewish and I am
Christian, but we went (probably because
they said they were making humus). To
hear them talk in dialogue about Israel
and share their personal perspective
between us made me gawk at the
amazing quality of the moment. And
don’t think that these interactions didn’t
happen with Indians as well. Prem and I
had Sociology of Education together, and
we used to talk all the time about politics,
history, and of course food. Or even
Tanvi, the daughter of a Telugu professor
that is my sister’s age, where we used to
sit some afternoons and watch Hindi
cartoons like Chota Beem. Looking back,
these people are really what made me
love India. Sure the place was beautiful
and the country amazingly diverse in
culture, but it was the people that made
me really believe like this was a second
home. I could go on and on about some
of the amazing experience I had in this
country but I want to leave you with the
solace that perhaps you too will go
somewhere new and exciting, off the
beaten path to discover the extraordinary.
NOAA Hollings Scholars Orientation Week
My name is Seth Antozzi, a junior at
VWC. I spent the week after Memorial
Day in Silver Spring, MD, which is in the
D.C. area, attending an orientation week
for Hollings Scholars. Hollings Scholars
receive an internship and scholarship
funds from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Every day, starting Tuesday, along with
the other 150 Hollings scholars, I
attended presentations from NOAA staff
and researchers about NOAA’s different
areas of research and NOAA’s six line
offices. I got to hear from the second-
highest ranking official at NOAA, Vice
Admiral Mason Brown.
After the presentations were done, we
spent our evenings in D.C. We went to
the National History Museum and the
Air and Space Museum, at which we saw
the original Wright Flyer, the Apollo 11
capsule (see picture to right), which was
the mission that first landed humans on
the moon, and the Spirit of St. Louis, the
plane that Charles Lindbergh piloted in
the first air crossing of the Atlantic. But
my favorite part of the Air and Space
Museum might actually have been the
Seth Antozzi
WWII aircraft that I got to see, because I
was a WWII enthusiast as a kid.
Volume 15, Issue 1
Page 7
Senior Spotlight: Sydney Covey
Hometown:
and would like to play in a league in
the future. I also love to craft and do
DIY projects, especially anything to do
with up-cycling and re-purposing.
Mathews, VA
Majors:
Business & Environmental Studies
Education before VWC:
Mathews High School
Chesapeake Bay Governor's School for
Marine and Environmental Science
One thing that attracted you to VWC:
Small class sizes, as well as the close
knit community. Coming from a small
community and small high school of
about 400 students total, VWC made
me feel comfortable and safe.
Best memory from VWC:
My best memory at VWC was doing
my undergraduate research project.
My professor, Dr. Paul Ewell and I
conducted this research and developed
an empirical method for observing
(and recording) managerial behaviors
of captains from Discovery Channel’s
Deadliest Catch. This research took me
to Las Vegas, NV for the Society for
the Advancement of Management
(SAM) Conference, as well as Virginias
Collegiate Honors Council Spring
Conference and VWC Undergraduate
Research Symposium. This month our
research will be published in the SAM
Academic Journal, where only five
articles out of over 400 submissions
were asked to be published.
What you do for fun:
I enjoy anything and everything outdoors, especially taking my dog Koda
for walks on the beach, and spending
time with my husband. We have
picked up playing golf as our hobby
Future plans:
I am interning with Hourigan Construction as their first sustainability
intern, and I am writing my own job
description as the first Environmental
Services Coordinator for the firm. My
main responsibilities include understanding how the company impacts its
surrounding community, economy,
and environment, both positively and
negatively. I work with design teams,
project teams, and the corporate team
to ensure Hourigan is on the mark for
being a leader in corporate sustainability in the buildings we build, but also
internally within the company as well.
In the future I would love to get a
Master's Degree, specifically an MBA
in Sustainability Management.
Favorite course:
Professor who has inspired you:
Dr. Paul Ewell inspired me most out of
all the amazing faculty I have had here.
I had him three years straight and I am
sure I was in his office more than we
were in class. In ISP 101, he asked the
class, "what is your dream job?" and it
was at that moment that I realized I
was headed down the wrong path and
that I needed to re-evaluate my current
vision. It was in that moment that I
actually stopped and listened to my
heart and discovered my passion for
business and sustainability. And now I
have essentially written my own job
description doing what I love every
single day.
Favorite Quote:
We have not inherited this earth from
our parents to do with it what we will.
We have borrowed it from our children and we must be careful to use it in
their interests as well as our own.
~Moses Henry Cass, 1974
Art 250: Jewelry Making. I originally
took this class to fulfill my "A" credit,
but I was nervous as I am not very
creative or artistic. This class was my
favorite because it truly challenged me
to think and work outside of my comfort zone. I had to use a portion of my
mind that I never really used while
studying accounting or financial management and it was compelling to say
the least. Although not happy to be in
class at the beginning, by the third
week, I was first in the studio every
class working on my pieces. It truly
rounded out my education and my
outlook on life and I am so thankful I
was "forced" to take the class.
Advice to H&S underclassmen:
Experience as much as possible, and do
not be afraid to ask for help! I found
my dream job because I went out into
the community for a field internship
and then found an amazing internship
with my current employer. Do not let
your major define you. If you have a
dream job, go after it! There is nothing
holding you back, even if you do not
know the path, if you have the will the
faculty and staff will find you a way.
And most importantly, enjoy college
life as much as possible!
HONORS & SCHOLARS ASSOCATION
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but
a fire to be ignited ."
~ Plutarch
Virginia Wesleyan College
1584 Wesleyan Drive
Norfolk, VA 23502
www.vwc.edu/academics/honors-and-scholars/
Phone: 757-455-2126
Gabrielle Freese, President: gbfreese@vwc.edu
Dr. Easter, Director: jeaster@vwc.edu