The Hilltop Monitor spoke to Kellsie Herrmann, senior political science, international relations and French major, about her experiences at William Jewell College and the opportunities she’s taken advantage of while at the institution.

Herrmann spoke about the  time she spent abroad during the spring semester of her junior year, at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.

“It was amazing. I think everyone should do some stint abroad — the longer the better. Because it really, I know a lot of people say this, but it really does open up your eyes to things that you never really think about and just put things into perspective of what’s important and what isn’t, and how to enjoy life and how to not just have things on a check marked list and just go down the list,” Herrmann said. “I think I really learned how to live life to the fullest there, which I know is really cliché and I’m a little embarrassed but ‘tis true.”

Immediately after coming home from France, Herrmann found it difficult to re-adjust to her life in the United States.

“Coming back was pretty tough, initially, because Missouri is not Paris, France, and also just not having the opportunity of doing something new and fun and exciting each and every day is just really heartbreaking. Because this day could be the most boring and monotonous day ever, but in the end I’m in Paris, France. The signs are in a different language, and the people are speaking different languages and I’m in a city — which is different from Liberty, Missouri,” she said. “So just recognizing that every day here, while it’s different because you have friends and family and culture that you know and feel comfortable with it’s still kind of boring — for lack of a better word — and coming back to that is a little hard sometimes.”

However, Herrmann was quick to note that people don’t have to be abroad to seek out adventures. Above all, she believes it is important to put one’s self outside of their comfort-zone and everyday life.

“I view the college experience, at least in the academic way, as you have this set amount of time to get as much out of it as possible. You’re already paying for the classes, you’re already paying for the books and everything, so you might as well put all your being into getting as much as possible,” she said. “So, forcing myself to take classes that are difficult, that are not going to be easy and I’m not going to have a great time doing them, but then looking back on that experience and being like ‘now I know these things and that’ll help me just a little more in life and in my own personal goals of how I want to live that life.’”

Herrmann was quick to point out that growth while in college does not only come from academic experiences.

“You have the typical things like taking on leadership experiences, joining a sorority, doing that crazy bar hopping at Power and Light which is over-expensive and weird but you do it anyway because you’ve never bar hopped before. Just doing things that are kind of weird and ‘why not’ because you’ve never done it before and who’s to say what you do and don’t like,” said Herrmann.

Herrmann plans to continue to step outside of her comfort zone after she graduates — primarily by joining the Peace Corps. She also spoke about how her time at Jewell has impacted her post-college plans.

“That [joining the Peace Corps] honestly wasn’t affected by Jewell just because I’ve wanted to do that since high school. Jewell does have this fun way of mixing things up in a way you don’t really expect. In the path I’ve chosen at Jewell I’ve experienced a lot and put myself in different atmospheres and zones of comfort, which I think is really important in college,” Herrmann said. “I came into school thinking I wanted to be in a foreign service officer in the state department but now I’m like ‘Hmm, maybe I’ll join the military or maybe I’ll do United Nations work or maybe I’ll just teach high school history for the rest of my life, I don’t know.’ But before coming to school I was definitely structured — like five, 10, 15, 20 year plans — and just recognizing that it’s okay to be kind of in the unknown and that has its own glamour in a way.”

The crux of Herrmann’s value system can be summarized by her closing thoughts.

“Putting yourself in uncomfortable positions is super important to grow as a person.”

Photos by Hannah Koehler 

Lane is one of the many student-athletes at William Jewell College, and she has to juggle practice, classes and clinicals at Children’s Mercy Hospital. The reason she chose nursing is a mixture of family advice and curiosity for the science of the human body.

“My dad was like ‘you should be a nurse’ and I was like ‘why?’ and he said ‘cause you’ll always have a job’ and I was like ‘that’s true.” And I don’t know, I just really wanted to help people, and learn about the human body and how it works, i think it’s super cool,” she said.

Lane is known for her love for sports. She loves every sport and what it represents to people and to her family. She shared a few memories of how sports would help her family through fights and hard times,  as well as childhood memories of going to games with her father.

“I like how excited people get and how happy people get for something that doesn’t even matter, it’s just great. And people come together – like I was in the Charlotte airport the other day, cause I was flying back from New York on fall break, and there was a guy wearing a UT T-shirt and I was wearing a UT T-shirt and he was like ‘Hey! Texas!’ and I was like ‘no way!,’ like ‘Texas!’ […] I don’t know, I just really like how it brings people together,” Lane said.

Lane is one of the players on the Jewell tennis team and she pointed out that she’s worried about not playing for a team after graduation.

“I’m really going to miss being on a team, like the tennis team. I’ve been a part of a team my whole life. I’ve always played sports and sports are something that I love. […] Not being a part of a team I think will be really hard,” said Lane.

Lane is also really passionate about Texas, her home state. She shared how she misses family, friends, people cheering for the same teams as she does and family traditions.

“The [Texas] Cowboys play on every Thanksgiving – This is so redneck, but every Thanksgiving my grandparents come in town and we sit around my driveway in chairs in our Cowboy’s jerseys. We get this turkey and lower it down onto this pot of oil and we fry it. And it’s delicious. And we all sit there and watch the turkey sit on the pot of oil,” she said.

This is Lane’s last year at Jewell and she told the Monitor she will miss the red brick buildings the most because they remind her of her childhood home. She will also miss how the campus is so pretty, the tennis team, Cindy the coffee lady, the leaves changing colors, Alpha Gamma Delta and her sisterhood friends and Kansas City.

“I will probably get back to Texas and be like ‘aw, I miss this [about Jewell].’ But what I’ll miss the most is tennis and Gam […] Tennis, Gam and red bricks,” Lane said.

As for her plans for the future, after Lane graduates she plans to go back to Texas, take her NCLEX – National Council Licenciature Exam, work as a pediatric oncology nurse and then get her scuba diving certification. Her only wishes for her legacy here at Jewell is for people to call the Pryor Learning Center “The Pulc,” KA “kah” and to say “sports!” more often.  

Photos by MacKenzie Roth

The Dual-Degree Engineering program allows students to receive a Bachelor of Arts from Jewell and then spend two years at a partner school to obtain a Bachelor of Science in engineering. In addition to Columbia, Jewell partners with Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Vanderbilt University and the University of Kansas.

“When I first considered dual-degree I saw Columbia and said ‘No way, Ivy League, how am I going to pay for that.’ But after a push from my parents and my professors, I realized not only did I want to go there, but I am capable,” said Storvick.

She looked into financial aid options and talked to Daniela Marin, current Class of ’19 dual-degree student at Columbia, and began to set her goals.

“While realizing it is going to be difficult, I am so excited to submerge myself in a different culture by being at a large school and being in the heart of New York City,” said Storvick.

Storvick is looking forward to the opportunities that Columbia and the city will bring her, such as potential internships and research opportunities. She hopes to continue her education at Columbia in their master’s program after her two years in the undergraduate engineering program. Their masters program is one year, and students can enter it directly if they show success in the bachelor’s program.

Storvick’s interest in engineering has its roots in her family. Her dad works in civil engineering, and her grandpa worked in nuclear and chemical engineering. They both encouraged her to pursue engineering, but she didn’t know what area of the field she wanted to study.

“When I had to decide which path to take, I decided to go with mechanical because it seemed to encompass almost every other field of engineering in some way. I would say it is one of the most multifaceted disciplines of engineering and with that comes a lot of opportunities for future work,” said Storvick.

While her family originally sparked her interest in engineering, she attributes her success in the field to her individualized liberal arts education.

“If I were to attend a larger university as a freshman, I think I would have been more likely to switch majors because of a minor setback such as a bad test grade or because of the hundreds of people surrounding me with no guidance. At Jewell, it is easy to have personable relationships with professors, and it is easy to get help as long as [you’re] ambitious enough to seek it,” she said.

She sees the value in not only personal relationships and support received from her professors but also her personal growth while at Jewell. A liberal arts education taught her skills beyond engineering.

“Jewell has made me the well-rounded individual I am by giving me the chance to be a student, an athlete, a leader and a critical thinker all at once,” said Storvick.

In her time at Jewell, she has been a member of the women’s soccer team and University Innovation Fellows as well as president of the Society of Physics Students and Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. She has also participated in various physics projects, like teaching children in Guatemala to make their own solar powered lanterns and an experiment that tested how temperature and composition affect the flow of fluid in weightlessness.

“I have been presented with many inspiring opportunities,” said Storvick. “The fluid dynamics experiment I worked on last year introduced me to the endless opportunities that the field I am in has. Being a member of University Innovation Fellows has also inspired me to find a way to mix my creative and innovative style with my engineering background.”

Storvick isn’t sure what her plans are for after Columbia.

“I believe this is what drives me to keep learning,” she said. “I know that I will find my passion, and just because I am unsure of my career path at this moment, doesn’t mean I won’t find it…Hopefully my time in engineering school will guide me to finding my passion.”

Photo by Talia Zook.

*A previous version of this article was published incorrectly identifying Daniela Marin as William Jewell Class of ’17.

The unexpectedness of these statements emphasizes concern the two have for both the Republican Party and the implications of Trump’s presidency for the nation. The Bushes fear Trump may bring about the dismantlement of the Republican Party because of his disregard for and departure from the Republican institution. Considering the substantial amount of time both Bushes spent in the White House cultivating a specific Republican legacy, they have a vested interest in defending what they worked to build.

Disapproval began in May 2016 when the elder Bush dismissed Trump as a “blowhard” who is led by ego rather than genuine interest in the nation’s well-being. Neither believed his outlandish and offensive approach as a Republican presidential candidate would get him far in the race.

To their dismay, Trump clinched the Republican nomination, and when election time came in November 2016, neither Bush voted for Trump. The elder voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton while the younger did not vote for either major party candidate.

George W. Bush gave a speech Oct. 19 in New York City in which he implicitly attacked Trump. Without naming the president, Bush professed his distaste for the recent emboldening of bigotry and expressed his fear that “politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication.”

The widespread disapproval of Trump within the Republican party is indicative of a transformation or perhaps a split within the party. In his Oct. 19 speech, the younger Bush attributed this to a departure from traditional Republican values and a shift to “casual cruelty” in policymaking.

This public disavowal of the Republican leader is not distinct to the Bushes. Several other notable Republican politicians, including Mitt Romney and Condoleezza Rice, chose not to support Trump in the presidential race and continue to speak out against some of his unfavorable actions as president.

Trump’s nontraditional and allegedly misdirected approach to Republican politics has pushed many Republican politicians to reject some of his policy proposals outright. For example, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has consistently voted against Trump’s attempts to repeal ObamaCare due to his belief that the proposed alternatives are inadequate. Republican dissent on major issues like health care is significant because it is often enough to halt the advancement of legislation and call for revised or entirely new proposals. With so many key figures within the Republican Party turning their backs on Trump, the efficacy of his administration is being critically tested.

Photo Courtesy of Fox News.