Maddie Wingert, senior non-profit leadership and communication major, will attend the  Washington University School of Law in St. Louis this fall. Alongside an acceptance rate of just 14%, Washington University is ranked 16th in U.S. News’ 2022 list of best law schools. 

Wingert did not decide to go to law school until her junior year at William Jewell College. 

“I’ve always wanted to work with a non-profit and a lot of my internships I had I really liked, but I realized that’s not really the kind of work I want to do with a non-profit,” Wingert said. “I talked with my professors and my parents and I realized that law school was the right path.”  

After law school, Wingert said she plans on going into human rights or public interest law. 

At Jewell, Wingert was a member of the volleyball team, a Pryor fellow and a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. She said these activities helped her become more confident. 

“I’m still shy, but I was really shy in high school and Jewell forced me out of my shell,” Wingert said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities that I didn’t expect and I think that’s part of the reason that I am going to law school.” 

She said the most difficult part about Jewell has been the Critical Thought and Inquiry courses, which have made her think differently about complex topics. Her favorite course was CTI 240: “Reading the Bible: Then and Now” with Bradley Chance, professor of Core Curriculum. 

While Wingert missed out on experiences due to restrictions from the pandemic, she said the extra free time helped her make the fateful decision to go to law school. Despite the restrictions, however, she said she is satisfied with how Jewell adapted. 

“It’s definitely been different, and it stinks that we missed out on things, but it’s cool to see how Jewell has adapted,” Wingert said. “I still had a lot of in-person classes and we get [to bring] guests for graduation.” 

Wingert said she will miss the people at Jewell, yet she is ultimately looking forward to the change. 

“I am excited to move to St. Louis because I’m from the Kansas City area so I’ve always been around here,” Wingert said. “I’m so excited to see something new and be on my own.”

Hannah Keeney, senior psychological science major and president of the student body, discusses the loss felt by seniors as classes are moved online in their final semester as William Jewell College students.  

A Jewell staff member that I’ve spoken to recently implied that the emotional side of the impact that the student body is facing as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak warrants the grieving process. The stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. For whatever reason, this always angered me in previous encounters with the grieving process. I despised having my feelings reduced to what seemed like menial stages. In my experience you feel all of them at once – except for the last one of course. 

Most of us are familiar with this process – some more intimately than others. Because of my personal encounters with grief, I’ve questioned whether this circumstance was even worth grieving. It seems like everyone has a sadder story right now; aren’t I one of the lucky ones? How childish, I’ve thought to myself, to grieve for something that’s not even tangible. I’ve been hard on myself. I’ve even been critical of other articles and social media posts I’ve seen written. 

The reality of it, though, is that the impacts of this pandemic do warrant a grieving process, and all responses, from doom-and-gloom to the optimist, are valid. Grief, to me, is a series of contradictions: highs and lows, laughing out of fear, crying hysterically, seeing this time as an opportunity for growth, realizing the abundance of loss, the list goes on. There is no wrong way to grieve, and allowing yourself to do so typically leads to some sort of emotional freedom.

However, the class of 2020 is in a particularly odd predicament.

What a peculiar time of life we’re in. We’re grieving our premature end to our Jewell journey yet ready to launch into the rest of our lives. After all, it feels as though we’re done with Jewell. We’re ready to move into the beginning of our careers, graduate school, medical school, law school, physical therapy school or what else our next steps may entail. 

By all accounts this would be an opportune time to be looking at apartments, perfecting our interview skills or getting a head start to our further education. However, our nation – and the world – is put on hold. Those looking at potential first real jobs have the phrase “hiring freeze” laced in their minds as newfound insecurity – as if finding that initial job wasn’t enough pressure. 

We’re still expected to complete our classes and are only hoping that professors show us grace during this trying time. We’re doing all the work without the usual stress-relievers. Those de-stressors are what kept many of us invested in Jewell. They gave us energy and challenged us to have more than a transactional relationship with our education. We didn’t get to say goodbye to those, and now we’re still just going through the motions to get our work done. 

As students of a school that lives and dies by the value of authentic engagement, this feels incommensurate. It’s difficult to even begin to quantify all that we’ve lost. No senior days, no last recitals, no known last meetings in our Greek organizations, no senior lunches with our professors, or proper farewell or truly just soaking in the little things and being able to appreciate them one last time. From sitting outside on a sunny day at Jewell to the final traditions, we’ve been deprived of the simple luxury of closure.

Choosing to acknowledge these issues and address them does not make you weak, it does not make you selfish, and it’s not taking away from other struggles felt by those with sad stories. 

There’s no denying the additional stressors placed on us, in addition to the already pertinent struggles we’ve faced this year. Embracing the struggle, acknowledging it and not trying to avoid the undeniable inconvenience allows you to move forward. This season of life – this strange purgatory – is an indefinite amount of time. This is a large component of the given challenge. 

However, moving forward does not always mean moving onto your next chapter. For the first time in, well, probably four years, we have no expectations. Everything is on hold. We’re free to do what we want. Someone once told me that you can really tell what someone’s made of when they’re under an extreme amount of pressure. Like a water bottle, they said, if it wasn’t a clear bottle, and you couldn’t see what was inside, you’d have to squeeze it to make the contents come out. Once you do, it’s evident what’s inside. 

For the first time in a long time, friends, we have no pressure. The world has halted. We need not advance. We truly can heal ourselves, so when the world starts again, and squeezes us once more, we speak with words of wisdom and acts of kindness.

Although this is not an ideal closing to my favorite chapter of life, I am grateful for what Jewell has brought me. I appreciate everything each of you, class of 2020, has given me. To be amidst such genuine kindness and closeness in one place is something I intend to never take for granted again. My hope for my class is that we take advantage of time. Time to grieve, time to reflect on our last few years, time to thank those who have impacted our lives, time to pray, time to establish staying in touch, time to strengthen relationships and time to heal. 

This is my hope because one day, sooner rather than later, the world will be thrust out of a halt. Once it is, there will be new pressures, and the world will test us once more. We are strong, and what is inside of us is far stronger than the adversity facing us now. For these moments, however, take time. Rest, play and give yourself some grace. We’ve earned it.

“The Faculty Award is given to the student who best represents the ideals of a liberal arts education at Jewell. The award is the highest honor that the College can bestow on a student. It is kind of like being valedictorian of a high school class, but the award is given based on criteria that are broader than just GPA [grade point average],” said Dr. David McCune, professor of mathematics and chair of the Faculty Award Committee.

Senior students are eligible to apply for the award if they have spent at least six semesters at Jewell and have a GPA of 3.75 or above. After eligible students apply, the committee identifies between seven and nine semi-finalists – who interview with the faculty committee and submit letters of recommendation for further review. The five finalists are determined based on their written applications, interviews and letters of recommendation.

“As part of the written application, an applicant writes an essay in which they tell the committee what the criteria should be. We are interested to hear from the students what it means to ‘represent the ideals of a liberal arts education.’ Finalists are selected partly on their ability to articulate an answer. Other factors, such as academic achievement [which is defined broadly] and a student’s ability to answer questions in the interview, are also considered,” McCune said.

While not commenting specifically on this year’s finalists alone, McCune expressed pride at the exceptional nature of applicants for the award.

“Some of the applicants have published papers, some have presented research at conferences, some wrote extremely compelling essays in their applications, some have done extremely impressive work outside of the College – such as internships or work for community organizations, they provided some incredibly thoughtful and insightful answers to interview questions, etc. The work of these students makes me proud to be a professor at this institution, although the quality of our applicants makes the committee’s work difficult,” said McCune.

Anderson describes Jewell as a school that nurtured her interdisciplinary interests and pushed her toward applying her learning. Her study of physics and philosophy, both at Jewell and the University of Oxford, represent this interdisciplinary scholarship. Anderson has had extensive involvement with the Jewell community through University Innovation Fellows (UIF), Cardinal Hosts and with the Society of Physics Students, among other activities.

“The Faculty Award provides seniors with a reason to pause and reflect on their time at Jewell. I really enjoyed having this excuse to look back on the last few years and identify the good that has come from them,” said Anderson.

Anderson will be interning with the Society of Rheology at the American Institute of Physics in Washington, D.C. this summer – an experience coordinated by the Society of Physics Students. After this internship, she will represent the Society of Physics Students at the International Conference for Physics Students in Cologne, Germany. Anderson plans on then working for a year before pursuing graduate education.

Borgert has been involved in several academic societies including Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society; Sigma Tau Delta, the English honor society; Alpha Lambda Delta; Mortar Board; and, Sigma Alpha Iota, a women’s music fraternity.  She also served as an officer for the Alpha Delta Pi sorority and aided their philanthropic efforts. Bogert sought to maintain high academic standards and high ideals of service throughout college.

“I have had a very trying and turbulent four years both at this institution and in my private life. My selection as a finalist reminded me that I chose this college because I believed that its intellectual community was going to be the very best that I could hope to find. It also reminded me once again that I made the right choice. No matter what else I experienced, I have no regrets about the personal and professional relationships that I was able to cultivate, and no regrets about the top-quality instruction I received from my truly excellent professors,” said Borgert.

Borgert plans to pursue a museum studies graduate degree at the University of Central Oklahoma before eventually pursuing advanced degrees in archaeology and anthropology.

Daniel is a Yates Scholar, Choral Scholar, Emerging Leader, as well as a member of Alpha Lambda Delta, Mortar Board, and Phi Epsilon. He has been involved in cabinets and administrative positions in a wide array of clubs and activities – including Inscape, Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, QUILTBAG and philosophy club – and is the founding vice president for the newly formed Students for Mental Health group. Daniel has worked in the professional classical music field as a singer and composer – he is proud to have participated in Jewell’s critical thinking and service learning community.

“[The process] has made me think a lot about external validation, perfectionism, and hyper-achievement… Jewell – and Oxford, during my Oxbridge junior year abroad – have humbled me and helped me understand priorities in a more healthy way, that I can’t always be 200 percent productive and that I need to take care of myself and learn to say ‘no’ or ask for help or leniency, without feeling excessive guilt or experiencing an identity crisis. Something about which I’ve been dialoguing with people a lot this year is vulnerability… Being authentic and being willing to fail and to evolve – that’s something like ‘vulnerability,’ and it’s so important,” Daniel said.

After graduation, Daniel plans to work in digital marketing and music administration, and continue to work as a freelance singer and composer while applying to graduate programs in music composition – to start in fall 2020 or 2021. He hopes to continue building his career in contemporary-classical music, collaborate with other artists and thinkers, and combine his artistry with his activism in any way he can.

Dice has had widespread involvement in the Jewell community – including with Student Senate, DECA, UIF and Cardinal Hosts. His academic curriculum, research and service projects contributed to his decision to apply for the Faculty Award.

“The faculty award process has required me to pause and reflect on my experience as a Cardinal. This semester has been particularly hectic, balancing senior coursework, my honors project, extracurriculars and work. However, the application process required me to reflect on each facet of the campus I have contributed to. This reflection process made me sentimental, requiring me to summarize how each incremental activity impacted my resultant educational experience… It is always a great day to be a Cardinal, and I am excited to continue contributing to William Jewell College as an Alumni,” said Dice.

After graduation, Dice will work as a research assistant at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The analytical role will require use of Python to clean and analyze datasets for research of banking regulation economists. He will also pursue a dual degree masters in business administration and business intelligence and analytics at Rockhurst University.

Quiroga, a native of Bolivia, founded and is current president of Mi Gente – Jewell’s Latinx community, is president of philosophy club, is a resident assistant and is involved in Jewell’s discussions about diversity and inclusion. She spent summers volunteering, interning with Save the Children International, using a Hall Grant to spend time in Germany and working with Outreach International.

“I’m humbled to be among this amazing group of fellow seniors who are finalists! This process has not made me reflect on my own time as much as it made me feel in awe and proud of everyone else’s journey… and I get to call these people friends. Jewell has been a unique place for growth with others and going through the application process for the Faculty Award put the whole journey in perspective,” said Quiroga.

After graduation Quiroga plans on returning to Bolivia before pursuing a master’s degree in international development at the Graduate Institute of Geneva, Switzerland.

The Faculty Award Winner will be announced during Honors’ Convocation April 26 at 7 p.m.