Here’s our collection “Voices from the Class of 2017,” a series of brief video portraits by Phyllis Graber Jensen and Josh Kuckens of nine seniors set to graduate on Sunday.
Alex Eaton
For biology major Alex Eaton ’17 of Lake Oswego, Ore., working with Bates Emergency Medical Services gives him the opportunity to further his knowledge of medicine and learn the ins and outs of emergency medicine.
As a teaching assistant for an EMS Short Term course that trains Bates students to become certified EMTs, he is able to share what he’s learned.
Denali Nalamalapu
An English major from Falmouth, Maine, and a recent recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Student award, Denali Nalamalapu ’17 is a Multifaith Fellow who has co-chaired {PAUSE}, a weekly reflective secular service of music, poetry, silence, dance, and art. After the final gathering, she reflects on her personal journey at Bates.
Alex Gogliettino
His Bates mentors taught neuroscience major Alex Gogliettino ’17 of Branford, Conn., how to think like a scientist.
Headed to a Ph.D. program at Stanford University, Gogliettino describes his biggest Bates discovery: You can make a career from being curious and asking questions.
Maddie McLean
Maddie McLean ’17 of Hood River, Ore., a double major in music and biochemistry, talks about her senior honors thesis, in which she explored how singers create different personae in love songs.
What is it, she asks, that makes these songs so powerful?
Zoë Seaman-Grant
Zoë Seaman-Grant ’17 of Charleston, S.C., one of the most accomplished debaters in the illustrious history of Bates debate, explains what she loves about the mind-challenging pursuit: “listening to intelligent people say things about topics that you might never have thought about before — and they’re your peers.”
Gideon Ikpekaogu
Gideon Ikpekaogu ’17 of Amsterdam, Netherlands, discusses exploring his multiple identities as Nigerian, as African, and as Dutch during his academic journey at Bates. “To be able to explore those identities has been very powerful for me.”
Kevin Tejada
Kevin Tejada ’17 of Mount Kisco, N.Y., is the perennial winning designer at the annual Trashion Show.
A popular annual event featuring student-created outfits made from throwaway stuff, the Trashion Show “encapsulates what Bates meant to me: discovery — an opportunity to get out of the academic bubble.”
Katie Van Patten
Katie Van Patten ’17 of Chico, Calif., talks about her senior thesis project last fall, directing a Sherlock Holmes play with an all-female cast. “I want to pursue directing,” she says, and the experience has shown her more about “what the job of directing entails, and that’s invaluable for my future.”
Matthew Baker
A Bates education, says rhetoric major Matthew Baker ’17 of Clinton, Md., has taught him how “to listen to my own intuition, listen to my gut, and listen to what feels right within myself.”
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