Jackie Ricca

Jackie Ricca is pursuing an Earth and Oceanographic Science and Environmental Studies major with a minor in Education. She is back at Bowdoin as a senior after a year abroad in New Zealand. She discuss how her education has given her a sense of responsibility and her study away provided some life-altering perspective.

Hannah Baggs

Hannah Baggs, from Columbus, OH, is graduating from Bowdoin with a coordinate major in Earth and Oceanographic Studies and Education. She reflects on how she came to see herself as a doer rather than a thinker. Hannah also discusses the significance of women as mentors in finding her way. In the fall, Hannah will work at the Keystone Science School in Colorado.

Roya Moussapour

Senior Roya Moussapour is a Physics major with an Education minor from Larchmont, NY. She reflects on the significance of family in her life, moments when her mother acted like a “helicopter parent” and why she’s called “Dad” in her a capella group. Having lived off-campus for two years, Roya weighs on the College’s decision to limit off-campus student housing. Roya has worked for NASA and will work for an economic consulting firm after graduation.

Jack leading a rafting trip in Maine.

Hailing from Oakland, CA, Jack Mitchell is a senior majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in Education. He discusses how his interaction with a man in a YMCA hot tub shaped the course of his learning for the past three years. Jack shares how he became a more confident and competent person by working as a rafting guide and trip leader.

David Wu

David Wu, from San Francisco, is double majoring in Economics and Government and minoring in Asian Studies. My conversation with David is first in a mini-series of episodes with students who were in my first-year seminar their first semester at Bowdoin and who have taken a course with me in their senior year. David discusses how he thinks fellow students waste time at Bowdoin and how he overcame his culture shock to be confident in the classroom. David started a financial services business while at Bowdoin and will continue this work after graduation.

Dylan Goodwill

Dylan Goodwill is a senior from Window Rock, Arizona majoring in Mathematics and Education and minoring in History. She is Diné, Lakota and Dakota; Dylan serves as Co-President of the Native American Student Association at Bowdoin and was elected to be the At-Large Representative for the Ivy Native Council. She offers advice for Native students considering elite colleges and talks about the challenges of being in the Northeast in the midst of the activism at Standing Rock.

Kate Berkley at the Women's March in Washington, DC

Kate Berkley is a junior from Kansas City, MO who is studying political theory and literature. She reflects on her decision not to study away from Bowdoin and why she limited her participation in extracurricular activities. Last summer, she knocked my socks off as my research assistant. This summer, she'll be in Wyoming leading wilderness trips with middle schoolers.

Kyle, far right, playing guitar with Duck Blind.

Kyle Losardo, from Harrison, RI, describes how he has found a way to listen to his inner self and be confident in his beliefs. As a white male conservative, he works through political tension by engaging in conversations rooted in trust. Kyle is an offensive lineman on Bowdoin’s football team and plays guitar in the student band Duck Blind. He has been accepted into the Bowdoin Teacher Scholars program and will be student teaching math in a Portland, ME middle school next semester.

Ty Johnson

Ty Johnson is a senior from Baltimore who is majoring in Government and minoring in dance. He discusses the challenges of being understood and valued as a 23-year-old black man in the U.S. and abroad. Ty reflects on how he has found meaning and purpose in the Bible, Plato, and other great works.

Emily Weyrauch

Emily Weyrauch, a senior from Connecticut, discusses her focus on developing more meaningful relationships. She explains how her class on bird songs led to her serving as artist-in-residence on a small island in the Bay of Fundy. Emily is an English major with a concentration in creative writing and an Education minor. She is the managing editor of The Bowdoin Orient.