Kristen Agar, senior accounting major, has been on the Monitor for the past four years and served as Editor-in-Chief this year.

“The Monitor has taught me so much over the past four years,” Agar said. “I started out my freshman year wanting to be just a photographer. I thought my writing was awful. I owe so much to the staff members before me who encouraged me to push myself and helped cultivate my writing. They gave me the chance and helped me find my potential. I attribute all my success to them.”

For Agar, she will miss the people she has met at Jewell.  

“The thing I will miss the most about Jewell is absolutely the people,” Agar said. “The friends I’ve made are incredible. There truly is a special community of achievers at Jewell, and I will miss being challenged and inspired by these people.”

Agar will use her accounting major after graduation in a position at the KPMG office in Kansas City.

“I will be working as a tax associate in their [KPMG] Global Mobility Services department to provide tax services and consulting to companies who operate internationally,” Agar said.

Erin Melton, senior Oxbridge Literature and Theory major, served as the Monitor’s Chief Copy Editor for the past year.

Melton spoke about the inspiration the Monitor provided her over the years.

“The Monitor has always been a place for me that was really inspiring,” Melton said. “This has always been a place of a lot of really powerful, strong women in leadership positions. I’ve always felt a lot of camaraderie with the other ed staff members. It’s just always been a fun place to come together with people.”

Melton plans to work and then start a masters program in London.

“I will be moving to La Crosse, Wisconsin, to do a year with their Habitat for Humanity,” Melton said. “And then in September of 2019 I’ll start at a masters program at the London School of Economics and Political Science.”

Brianna Steiert, senior Oxbridge Molecular Biology major, spent the past year serving as the Monitor’s Features Editor and Managing Editor.

“If you had asked me in high school if I would join a newspaper staff in college, I would have said no,” Steiert said. “I joined Monitor with no newspaper experience, yet it became one of my favorite activities in college. I became more confident in my writing and learned to have a stronger appreciation for news both local and international.”

Steiert will miss the people at Jewell she gets to see every day when she graduates.

“It will be weird to not sit down at a table of ten people for dinner or to walk into a building and not see anyone I know,” Steiert said.

Steiert has no definite plans for after graduation, but has applied for jobs in her field and looks to pursue a masters or doctorate in either microbiology or immunology.   

Jesse Lundervold, senior chemistry and studio art major, served as Lifestyle (now Arts and Culture) Editor this year.

“I’ve been on the Monitor since first semester of freshman year,” Lundervold said. “It was a wild ride. It was the first year we had went digital and I just remember as a first year being incredibly intimidated by the ed [editorial] staff.”

Lundervold will miss the atmosphere of the Monitor, specifically, and Jewell, in general.

“Getting to know the ed staff more and having the Monitor being a very integral and incredibly positive part of my time on campus will be definitely something that I will miss,” Lundervold said. “I’ve met incredible peers and colleagues at Jewell and have such a great support system of current students, former students that I met and have since graduated, as well as outstanding and incredibly supportive faculty.”

Lundervold will attend a chemistry doctoral program at the University of California, Davis in the fall.  

Drew Novak, senior political science major, served as the Monitor’s Perspectives Editor this year.

“The Monitor has helped me refine my writing skills and has taught me the virtue of writing concisely. Beyond that academic influence it has had on me, I have also learned how to give Kristen a hard time,” Novak said.

Novak will miss the professors he has had at Jewell and the close friendships he has gained.

“I will miss the professors the most at Jewell,” said Novak. “I owe them a great deal of credit for molding me into the student and individual I am today. They have instilled within me a life-long passion for learning. Furthermore, I will also [miss] my dear friends Rylan, Trey and Conner and all the wonderful memories I have made and shared with them.”

Novak plans to travel after graduation and pursue graduate work next year.

“Following graduation, I will be traveling to Oxford, England, and the Amalfi Coast in Italy,” Novak said. “After returning to the United States, I intend to take a year off to substitute teach and then I intend pursue graduate work in security studies or international relations.”

Jake Marlay, senior biology major, served as Sports Editor this year.

Marlay said he learned that, “if you attack anything with a passion and a positive attitude you can motivate not only yourself but others to accomplish their goals.”

Similar to his fellow seniors, Marlay will miss the people he has met at Jewell the most.

“I’ve met so many great people in every nook and cranny of this little school on the hill that I will remember and forever cherish my time with them,” Marlay said. “I’ve met some of my best and lifelong friends, mentors, future leaders and innovators, and inspiring people right here on this campus.”

After graduation, Marly will begin coaching football at Fort Scott Community College.

“My plans after graduation are to begin coaching football at Fort Scott Community College in Fort Scott, Kansas,” Marlay said. “I start in the summer and will be special teams assistant coach there. From there I hope to just climb the coaching ladder and follow my dream, be the next Bill Snyder.”

Next year, 17 Oxbridge students will be studying at Oxford and one will be studying in Washington D.C. as part of The Fund for American Studies program. The University of Oxford is divided into 38 separate Colleges and six Permanent Private Halls spread throughout the city of Oxford. Students from Jewell will be spread among seven of these colleges including St. Catherine’s College, Hertford College, Lady Margaret Hall (LMH), Mansfield College, Regent’s Park College and St. Peter’s College, in addition to Keble College as a part of the Middlebury-CMRS Oxford Humanities Program. Students studying at Oxford will spend between from one to three terms there.

“I’m looking forward most to the experience of a different culture and meeting a bunch of new people. Also tutorials,” said Shaneann Fross, sophomore Oxbridge Molecular Biology and Applied Critical Thought and Inquiry major who will be studying at St. Catherine’s College.

While there, students will take numerous tutorials. The Oxbridge Program at Jewell uses the tutorial system, so students are prepared for this heavy writing and one-on-one teaching style of education. Many students use this year abroad to study subjects not offered at Jewell.

“In terms of tutorials, I’m really excited to take certain things I can’t take here like Latin American history,” said Emily Hemphill, sophomore Oxbridge History major studying at LMH.

In addition to weekly tutorials, students get to attend lectures and utilize the numerous resources Oxford has to offer in their over 100 libraries and extensive online databases.

“The thing I’m looking forward to most about tutorials is the chance to really dig in deep into subjects that interest me and utilize some of the awesome resources in Oxford,” said Kaityln O’Neal, sophomore Oxbridge Literature and Theory major who will be participating in the Middlebury-CMRS program at Keble College.

While the tutorial aspect of the year abroad at Oxford can be exciting, there is more to studying abroad than just the school work. Many students will use the vacation period between terms to travel around Europe.

“The thing I’m looking forward to most about being there is the chance to travel around England and hopefully Europe and see a bunch of cool, cultural sites,” said O’Neal.

Some students already have their eyes set on places to visit during the break.

“I’m going to go with my family to Italy and France during the winter break and hopefully at some point I make it up to Norway, Sweden, Finland – that’s what I really want to see,” said Jeremy Hofman, sophomore Oxbridge Institutions and Policy major who will be studying at Mansfield College.

For some Oxbridge students, this opportunity will give them a chance to visit places they have learned about in their classes.

“I want see a lot of my favorite historical sites in England, Ireland [and] France,” said Hemphill.

She’s excited to see specific places like Hastings, Stonehenge, Bath and Hadrian’s Wall.

When asked about what he was looking forward to most, Hofman mentioned the unexpected. While a different experience for everyone, this year abroad is sure to be full of the unexpected as students move to a new country and submerge themselves in a different culture and learning environment. 

“My answer is things that I don’t expect. It’s hard to say what I’m looking forward to because I feel like those tend to be the coolest things, what you don’t expect,” said Hofman.

Photo courtesy of University of Oxford 

Instead of this whole article being all about me and how traveling changed my life and made me a new person blah blah blah, I want to use my experiences to talk about a bigger message because no one wants to read about just me, and if they do, I have a blog for that. I want this to be about how I’ve learned that changing who you are can be a good thing, rather than something to fear.

Though these changes may not be noticeable to everyone, I have developed into a more independent person during my time both at the University of Oxford and while traveling abroad. The Oxford system works best for people who don’t need constant reminders of deadlines or guidance from professors. So by just being here I’ve become more intrinsically motivated.

I also had to become more self-reliant traveling, both alone and with others. Anytime you travel you have to be aware of your surroundings and be on top of your game to get to trains, planes and buses on time, or to remember where your hostel is located, especially if you don’t have a functioning phone. These things are even more crucial when by yourself.

I’m the kind of person who likes to talk about what I’m seeing in a museum or share what I am experiencing with someone else, so traveling alone seemed odd to me. I did not initially like the idea of being without someone to share these new places with, but in the end I learned so much about myself and had the chance to think hard about what I wanted out of the future. Who knew that I would decide on post-graduation plans while hiking the coast of Ireland?

Since I want you to walk away from reading this with something other than knowing that I am an independent person: what’s the moral of the story? Travel alone. I was very uncertain about it at first, but some of my favorite memories are from my solo trips. I grew a great deal as a person, and it wasn’t until after the fact that I realized how good of a thing it had been for me. Sometimes you don’t have to share every sunset or describe every scenic view to someone. I realized that it is just as possible to enjoy them by yourself and for yourself.

Oxford has taught me many things; I’ve learned more in one of my classes here than I could have imagined, but one of the most important lessons I’ve learned is not an academic one. That lesson is to live in the moment. Maybe it’s because my college is a 20-minute walk to anywhere or because life at Jewell kept me constantly busy with extracurricular activities, but I’m always rushing through everything I do. I often forget to stop and enjoy a moment as I’ve been afraid of missing out on something, so I’ve tried to do everything I could and rush through it all. During the past term in school and this past month traveling, I found myself stopping more to appreciate exactly where I was, either at Oxford, surrounded by fellow students all eager to learn or in a foreign country, surrounded by a new culture.

Aside from those of us who will attend graduate school, we are never going to be students with carefree lives again. We will have to graduate and become realadults with full time jobs and maybe even families to take care of. I know some of my fellow students are already doing this while attending school, but a lot of us are just students. This is our full time occupation. Years from now, we will wish we were where we are right now, being able to soak up all the knowledge the world has to offer. This may all sound a bit obvious, but I think we all need a reminder every once in a while when our motivation levels start to fall. The next time you get stressed about an essay or studying for an exam, remember that 20 years down the road, you will probably wish you were sitting in the PLC writing your third essay of the week or completing your seemingly endless problem sheet as you chug your nth cup of coffee.

The thought of changing while abroad scared me, but I’ve loved my time here and I know I’ve changed for the better. When I do come back, I will bring my newly independent self and the lessons I’ve learned here with me to be more appreciative of the moment, enjoying all the ups and downs that senior year has in store for me.

Graduation is less than a month away. Leaving William Jewell College, home for the last three or four years of students’ lives, can be a time of mixed emotions. “The Hilltop Monitor” asked William Jewell faculty and staff members to share advice for the graduating seniors.

Dr. Mark Walters, English department chair:

“Don’t waste much time brooding about the past or fretting about the future; be attentively, patiently, where you are. Cultivate habits of kindness, curiosity, reflection and gratitude.”

Dr. Kenneth Alpern, senior tutor of the Oxbridge Honors Program, provided a cartoon piece in place of written advice:

Dr. Elizabeth Sperry, philosophy department chair:

“Many graduating seniors think they need to plan out their entire post-college lives. This doesn’t work! And trying to make it work will leave you feeling stressed and anxious. What does work is to plan your next step while trusting that each step after that will become clear at the appropriate time.”

Dr. Lori Wetmore, professor of chemisty, shared this quote:

“‘I knew before that God gave life to men and desires that they should live; now I understood more than that. I understood that God does not wish men to live apart, and therefore he does not reveal to them what each one needs for himself, but he wishes them to live united, and therefore reveals to each of them what is necessary for all. I have now understood that though it seems to men that they live by care for themselves, in truth it is love alone by which they live. He who has love, is in God, and God is in him, for God is love.’  —from “What Men Live By,” Leo Tolstoy”

Dr. Paul Klawinski, biology department chair:

“Don’t think you know so much that you can stop learning. Always associate yourself with people smarter/better than you AND always associate yourself with people who are struggling with what you are involved with. You will be better for it because you will learn from them things you would not learn on your own.”

Dr. Michael Foster, French professor:

“Always be open to new experiences and never be afraid of trying anything new.”

Dr. Bradley Chance, religion department chair: 

“Congratulations to all graduating seniors. It’s quite a milestone. When you get old, like me, you get to offer words of wisdom, based on years of experience—so the common wisdom goes, anyway. Stay open. That’s my counsel. Stay open to what life in the moment offers. Plans, goals, objectives and such are all important. If you’ve ever seen one of my Moodle sites, I do plan. But don’t miss out on the present, the only moment that really exists because you are bogged down by the frustrations of a past that lives only in memory or a future that lives only in anticipation. Ecclesiastes may be the most honest book in the Bible. The short version: all the effort we expend is ‘vanity of vanities,’ or as the group Kansas, from my college days, put it: Dust in the Wind. So, ‘Go, eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has long ago approved what you do . . . Whatever your hand finds to do, do with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.’”

Dr. Pat Schoenrade, professor of psychology:

“In the words of Soren Kierkegaard, ‘Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.’ Keep living, then, and glancing back, and the pattern will form. Keep your heart open to the possibility that the God who created you is pursuing you with an adventure beyond what you imagine possible.”

Dr. Jennifer Colón, Spanish professor, offered advice for Commencement:

“Practice in the shoes you will wear for commencement beforehand. Falling down the Hill to the Mabee Center isn’t cute. Caps on your head should look like the flat part of a nail, no slant. You won’t know how to wear your hood properly. Faculty marshals will help you. Then you will help each other. That’s how it is in life. This whole day, commencement, is the celebration of your success on this Hill. Enjoy the day. We love to see our alumni. Come back. Talk to us. Talk to our current students. Visit us.”

Mr. Nathan Wyman, director of Jewell Theatre Company:

“A wise man once told me ‘Trust your journey.’ When you think the path is hard and difficult to get through, trust it. You’ll make it, and be stronger/wiser when you get there! Also, ‘Always choose adventure!’”

Dr. Gary Armstrong, associate dean of the Core Curriculum and political science professor: 

“Always remember: A ship is safest in harbor, but that’s not the purpose of a ship.”

Dr. Jane Woodruff, classics professor: 

“Follow your heart!”

Dr. Christopher Wilkins, history professor: 

“Write concisely.”

And lastly, Brad and Samantha Anderson, resident director of Ely Hall:

“Stay out of/get out of debt as quick as you can. . .even if you have to live in a college dorm for 8 years.”