Senior Oration by WGS Minor Andy Lobashevsky ('06): Excerpt from “The Bubble Experience” This senior oration by Andy Lobashevsky ('06) was one of three winners selected at the 2006 Senior Colloquium and presented at the Honors and Awards Ceremony on May 14. […] Many people call Wake Forest a "bubble." And for a long time I didn't know what that meant, but it seemed popular to say it often. So, I did for a while, until I realized that I was subscribing to the same mentality I sought to critique. Apparently it is a common belief that while from the academic standpoint Wake encourages a worldly perspective, the student body is actually quite immune to the reality beyond the "magic" mouthwash of Student Health and the nonexistence of late fees in the library. But let's be honest, we naturally tend to create "bubbles" wherever we go. Outside of college if I'm at home, I'll be surrounded by the people I can most identify with…you know, the skaters, the kids in black T-shirts with tattoos up and down their arms. But here at Wake Forest, I'll walk into a classroom and there are freaks and weirdos everywhere, wearing their peachcolored polos…collars sticking straight up in an ominous fashion, and sunglasses dangling around their necks the whole day…even if it's overcast or 8 p.m. This is just one of the many ways that Wake has allowed me to experience a new world in college. So, don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for everyone here around me. I am fortunate that I have been given the freedom to burst my personal bubble. The point I really want to make is that the last four years were especially priceless because it seems so rare that we are given the invaluable opportunity to experience what's beyond our comfortable bubbles without risking something: whether it's our reputation, our material possessions, or our serenity with being who we are. […] I jumped head-first into the college scene and I tried to make my own experiences. I majored in chemistry, and I minored in women's and gender studies, where I was the only guy in a class of twenty-six for the introductory course. […] So, at twenty-one years of age, I have no earthshattering revelation about humanity to share with you, nor have I uncovered any universal truth. If anything, I am less certain about everything now than I was before I came here. But, I do realize that every one of the classes, the parties, and the projects that I got myself into were absolutely essential to bring me to this point in my life. So whether I was throwing dozens of Christmas trees into a bonfire on the county border or standing in line to take the MCAT with possibly the most nervous group of people on the planet, or singing Christmas carols with inner-city elementary school kids, my limits and horizons as a developing human were challenged, and I have grown. And so have you, for you see, even though we are all inherently different, we are all students returning from a four-year long vacation from the "real" life, and we hold our unique experiences as precious souvenirs to carry with us wherever we may go from here.
WGS Minor Liz Lundeen (’07) Named Truman Scholar Liz Lundeen of Grand Rapids, MI, who is majoring in Political Science and History with a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies, has been named 2006 Truman Scholar by the Washington-based Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. As president of the foundation Secretary Madeleine K. Albright announced, 75 undergraduate students were carefully selected nationwide on the basis of leadership potential, intellectual ability, and likelihood of “making a difference.” The students were selected from among 598 candidates nominated by 311 colleges and universities. The selection panels interviewed finalists from a 3 - 4 state region and generally elected one student from each state and one or two at large from the region. Each panel typically included a university president, a federal judge, a distinguished public servant, and a past scholarship winner. The Truman scholarship provides $30,000 for graduate study. Established by Congress in 1975, the Foundation awards merit-based scholarships to college students who plan to attend graduate school in preparation for careers in government or elsewhere in public service. After serving as a Field Organizer for the League of Conservation Voters’ 2004 Environmental Victory Project in Wisconsin, Liz developed an interest in environmental public policy, one that she plans to pursue in a joint Law and Master’s in Public Policy degree. When asked about her plans, however, she said: “Before practicing environmental law, I plan to work for a few years in the public sphere, either for the government or for a non-profit agency.” Liz competes on Wake Forest’s varsity debate team and she is President of the College Democrats. This summer she is going to be the student leader for an annual service trip to a Russian orphanage with a program organized through Wake Forest’s Volunteer Service Corps. With the other recipients of the 2006 Truman Scholarships, on May 14 Liz went to William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri for a week-long leadership development program. She received her award in a special ceremony at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, on May 21, 2006. Congratulations, Liz!
WGS Minor Shannon Philmon (’07) Elected President of Student Government Born and reared in Raleigh, NC, Shannon Philmon is a junior majoring in Political Science with a double minor in Women’s and Gender Studies and Sociology. She serves as the chair of the Academic Committee, a position she has held for the past two years. She also serves as the student member on the University Committee on Academic Affairs, as the Domestic Affairs Chair of Amnesty International, and is an active member of WISE and College Democrats. Over the course of her time at Wake Forest, Shannon has devoted herself to serving the student body with passion. Passion, people and progress were in fact the keynotes of her campaign in the highly contested race for Student Government President, which she won in April. Soon after the favorable outcome of the elections was known, Shannon said that her main concern was to follow through on her campaign promises: “I made my platform so that I wouldn’t make promises that I can’t keep,” she said. “As president, I want to listen to the views of the students.” Among her priorities are the desire to close the troubling gap between Student Government and the student body and to establish a stronger bond between SG and the rest of the campus community; to preserve and start Wake Forest traditions that bring diverse students together; to fight for women’s issues and to increase awareness of issues as troubling as sexual assault; to improve the multicultural make-up at Wake Forest by working with neighboring universities such as WSSU and Salem College, thus creating a more integrated collegiate community throughout the Winston-Salem area. Her first program as elected president will be a series of roundtable discussions called Voice. It will give the students a chance to emphasize the issues that are most important to them. As she starts her term next academic year, we wish her the best.
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