Newest Alumni Class of 2010
Alumni Senior Award Winner, Mark Smedberg was so terrified of being onstage during his first play at Ursinus that his hands shook night after night. “I was bad at acting coming in to Ursinus, and I’m afraid it showed in that first play,” says Smedberg, who enrolled in a voice and speech class with Dr. Beverly Redman and was cast in The Sisters Rosensweig. “The class was a wonderful place to explore the art of acting, and improve myself as an actor,” he says. As a freshman, he wanted to double-major in a science and an art. “I knew I needed be flexible and open to the types of opportunities that would present themselves to me.”
Under bright skies, Ursinus held its 137th Commencement Ceremony this May. Among the 340 new graduates, we chat with a few about their Ursinus experience. Commencement Speaker was Andrew Delbanco, the Julian Clarence Levi Professor Chair in the Humanities and the Director of the American Studies Program at Columbia University. Professor Delbanco is the author of “Melville: His World and Work” (2005),won the Lionel Trilling Award and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award in biography. Julie DiPuppo bought a one-way airline ticket for London where she is now studying at the London School of Economics. “It will be quite an adventure, as my undergraduate background is in neuroscience and psychology and I have never officially been abroad,” says the native of Pleasant Valley, N.Y. At Ursinus, she felt “encouraged to make use of my broad interests, be speculative and to take risks in my writing.” DiPuppo says she was applauded for using creativity and for finding inspiration from nontraditional sources. “My ideas were deemed worthy. That kind of encouragement is invaluable. I also learned that I am strong, but that being strong does not mean that you feel ready for things before or as they are happening. Finally, I fully realized that no one ever achieves success by themselves without some form of support and guidance from others.”
Julie DiPuppo
For the first two years at Ursinus, she never handed in a paper without first having her professor read it and provide comments. “I feel that this was integral to the improvement that I saw in my writing and thinking,” she says. “My enthusiasm and efforts were recognized, and if I just asked, many people were willing to offer me guidance.”
Eric Faris starts his first job as an audit associate for KPMG in Philadelphia and is counting on the depth of his Ursinus experience. A United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Scholar All-American, Faris also was named to the USILA South All-Star team. But it was largely through his work as a senior Admission Fellow where he learned to connect with people.
Mark Smedberg Aakash Kaushik Shah is entering the Medical Doctor program at Harvard Medical School. A native of Cliffside Park, N.J., Shah was a Goldwater Scholar, Summer Fellow, Rhodes Scholar finalist, Zacharias Scholar, Bonner Scholar and member of Phi Beta Kappa. On his first visit to campus, he says, “it was clear that Ursinus delivered a unique education, one built around a community of learning.” While working at a rural medical clinic India, he was able to connect to the material he read in his Common Intellectual Experience coursework, and as a biology and neuroscience major, became interested in the applications of medicine and public health, part of the study he hopes to pursue at Harvard. Faculty support across disciplines, Shah says, defined his Ursinus experience. “As one of my mentors is fond of saying, ‘Learning comes from family.’ Of course, in that context, ‘family’ is figurative and represents a community of individuals dedicated to one another’s success,” says Shah.
“I met and interviewed students and their parents,” says Faris, a Business and Economics major. “I learned how to relate to a wide variety of people. As part of the lacrosse team, I learned that the power of a group moving in the same direction is far superior to the power of an individual.” Whether on the field or in the classroom, Faris discovered “that with hard work, great people around you and the right attitude, a lot can be accomplished.” He developed an interest in accounting during his junior year. Professor Cindy Harris, his advisor for his Summer Fellows and Honors projects, was a strong influence. “Having the ability to work so closely with Ursinus faculty, really enhanced my experience,” he says. Faris balanced his commitments to academics, lacrosse and his work with the admissions office, says Professor Harris. “He never missed a beat and I especially enjoyed his great sense of humor.”
Luckily, Smedberg says, both the practical opportunities of acting on stage and the class work focused on the performance side of theater are possible for Ursinus students. “With a larger school, I could not imagine landing a role in a faculty-directed production. But I did, and from there I improved myself as an actor and eventually moved into directing shows myself. Ursinus gives students the chance to jump into something challenging right off the bat. If they’re willing to try.”
Aakash Shah
“After four years at Ursinus, I can confidently say that the opportunity to do research at Ursinus will be one of the most memorable and rewarding experiences from my undergraduate years,” he says. “Faculty have taken me under their wing, just as other professors have done with countless other students here. Together they have helped me recognize my true potential and the possibilities that lay before me. Thanks to them and the greater Ursinus community, I now leave here tremendously more inspired, more committed, and more capable.”
Eric Faris
Shah graduated with distinguished honors research in sociology and honors research in biology and neuroscience. His degrees were in Biology, Neuroscience and Inequality Studies, with minors in Chemistry and Sociology. “Reflecting on my time at Ursinus, I find that some of my fondest memories were made when classroom discussions were extended beyond the walls of Olin and Bomberger Hall,” says Danielle Harris, who will pursue a career in higher education.
Abbie Cichowski is an intern in the College Advancement Office. She also works with the Montgomery Theater where she runs a Young Actor’s Workshop. “I attended a performing arts high school where I majored in Theatre, but thought I would just minor in it at Ursinus,” says Cichowski. “I would say most students don’t know what they want to study,” she says. “But I had the opposite dilemma. I wanted to study everything. I can remember attending every pre-med, pre-law, and major information session offered to incoming freshman.”
Harris received the Alumni Senior Award as well as The George Ditter Prize, awarded each year to the graduating senior whose work in history and political science most promises the perpetuation of democratic self government. “It is hard to decide what I’ll miss the most about college,” says Harris, who was a cheerleader, a member of the Ursinus College Dance Company and Escape Velocity dance troupe. “Without a doubt my Ursinus family and friends and the many lessons we’ve taught each other are at the top of my list.”
In her sophomore year, she declared a double major in Theatre and Media and Communication Studies. “It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to interact and work with engaging and personable faculty in both fields here that I decided to devote myself fully to those majors.”
Abbie Cichowski PAGE 38 URSINUS MAGAZINE
At Ursinus, Cichowski says, she learned “the value of education and the responsibility that comes with it. I have had the privilege to attend and graduate from a private, liberal arts college. The education I received from Ursinus opened my eyes to a good deal of inequality in the world, but it also gave me the confidence and tools to combat these injustices to ensure the quality of life for all humans – regardless of race, creed, sexual orientation, or class.”
Danielle Harris
Harris, who lives in Ocean, N.J., graduated with a degree in American Studies and Dance and a minor in African American & Africana Studies. She was a Summer Fellow and held the offices of president and secretary for the Ursinus Student Government Association. “My goal is to someday be a part of the reason why colleges like Ursinus are so meaningful to their students.” FALL 2010 PAGE 39