What Centre people are up to this summer: Part 2

RELEASED: July 31, 2008

DANVILLE, KY—As fall edges ever nearer, Centre College students are spending the summer in a variety of places, engaging in innumerable activities--stretching their legs and minds, enhancing their experiences and their bank accounts. Here are just a few ways in which students are spending their summers. (Check out Part 1 here !)

Alice Seal, sophomore, Cincinnati:
I've been fortunate enough to spend my time at the Center for Courageous Kids in Scottsville, Ky. It's a camp that serves chronically and terminally ill children. There are about nine other Centre students and graduates working there with me. I've spent my time learning, teaching and engaging in children's lives. We get messy, and we make projects in woodshop and arts and crafts. The kids have shown off their talents at stage night. I've acted in skits, helped plan evening activities and cheered many cheers. It's been a very rewarding and enjoyable experience. On our days off, the staff enjoys weekend trips to Nashville, Bowling Green, Ky., and the greater Scottsville area.

Christopher Fleming, senior, Winterville, Ga.:
I've been participating in the summer undergraduate research program at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. On weekdays, you'll find me in the Hollings Cancer Center conducting state-of-the-art cancer research and looking into new ways of improving Adoptive Cell Therapy treatments for cancer.

The most exciting part is that I'm getting published for my research which utilizes a newly developed, double transgenic mouse model that produces human tryosinase specific T-cells on a human HLA-2 MHC class that I context. When I'm not in the lab being attacked by newly engineered cancer-killing machines, you'll either find me on the beach playing ultimate Frisbee, in a world-class seafood restaurant enjoying the best seafood of my life, at a nearby antebellum mansion checking out the sales price (ouch!), or hanging out at many of the Charleston rooftop bar scenes watching the sunset over the Charleston harbor.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: I'm also taking the Kaplan MCAT course and applying to medical school!

Kristen Robinson, senior, Loveland, Ohio:
I'm spending my summer in New York City working for Neil Patel , acclaimed Broadway and opera set designer. I'm a classic commuter living in Jersey and taking the train every morning into Manhattan where I work. It's been an exciting summer working on numerous projects from the model for Donizettis Opera's Maria Stuarda, Anna Bolena and Robert Devereux (which will be opening at the Minnesota Opera) to taking part in tech rehearsals for "[title of show]," which opened last week at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. Besides working for Neil, I've been spending my time hanging out in the city--going to plays, museums and enjoying picnics in Central Park. Being here has not only been fun but also has been a huge opportunity academically. I've been doing research for my fall set design for DramaCentre's "The Importance of Being Earnest," directed by Dr. Patrick Kagan-Moore , Charles T. Hazelrigg Professor of Dramatic Arts at Centre . I've been using the New York Public Library, and let me tell you, those lions are guarding quite the collection of books and visual images. Finally, the best part is, this whole summer wouldn't have been possible without a Career Services Internship Plus grant. With the cost of living so high in New York, I really would've had a hard time swinging it.

Lauren Young, senior, Louisville:
I'm interning for the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in Las Vegas. We spend most of our time out in the Mojave Desert collecting data for several research projects that are going on. Whether it be looking for the endangered niterwort plant in Ash Meadows, determining perennial seedling cover in the threatened desert tortoise habitat, or just working in the office weighing samples or entering data, one thing is for certain: I've never worked so hard in my life.

Each project is helping me to develop or learn a different skill that I hope to use in my future career as a wildlife biologist or herpetologist. I'm also pushing my physical limits, as well. Hiking several miles a day in extreme temperatures with an unforgiving sun is something that I'm gradually getting used to. I've already visited Red Rock Canyon and the Las Vegas Strip. Next weekend, I'll be traveling to the Hoover Dam, Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon.

Josh Blair, sophomore, Berea, Ky.:
I'm working in good ol' Danville this summer with Community Services at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center. It's my Bonner Program site for the summer where I have committed to 280 hours of service. I'm helping to coordinate health screenings for at-risk populations, providing "under the sun" needs (sunscreen, medicated lip balm, UV bracelets and water bottles) to the Boyle County community, running a summer program that helps kids to become more active (my grand finale party is August 1), and going to different summer programs for kids and playing games that they can do at home to become more active. It's been a busy summer, but I'm glad to be providing free services to the Boyle County community!

Sarah Lisk, sophomore, Berea, Ky.:
At the beginning of the summer, only three days after returning home from school, I went on a mission trip to southern Sudan and Kenya. We spent the majority of our two-week trip in Akot, Sudan, helping establish one of the few secondary schools (high schools), Hope and Resurrection, which was recently opened and founded by two native Richmonders (Virginia). The last three days of our trip were spent in the Masai Mara, Kenya, at the Fig Tree Camp where we were able to go on safari.

Jimmy Tatgenhorst, senior, Knoxville, Tenn.:
This summer I've moved to Louisville to work at a marketing firm called Finelight. I'm an intern, but my official title is account coordinator. Sure sounds important! Finelight starts and maintains strategic marketing campaigns for different companies. Most of our clients are in the healthcare industry (Humana being our largest), but we work with other types of businesses, as well. Lately I've been working a lot on a marketing campaign for a law firm that is trying to revolutionize the industry by becoming the first publicly traded law firm in the United States. Very cool!

I'm also swimming with the University of Louisville this summer to get ready for my senior swim season at Centre. The program is called Cardinal Aquatics because college teams aren't allowed to have official practice until September, but it's run by the UofL coaches and many UofL swimmers participate. Two guys I've been training with are actually going to the Olympics for their countries! One will be representing Romania and the other Hungary. Several others competed in the Olympic trials here in the United States or around the world in their respective countries. It's been a great experience training at this level, but waking up at 5:30 in the morning during the summer might be even worse than during the school year! I'll be working and training through August until school starts.

Kevin Everrett, sophomore, Roxbury, Mass.:
I'm not doing much except working, but my job is quite interesting. I work as a pharmacy technician for one of the best hospitals in the country (Mass General Hospital), and I basically fill prescriptions for patients in the hospital and other cool stuff! (Of course, my work is checked by a certified pharmacist!) I got this job through an internship that I applied for when I was still in high school!

Katie Hutchinson, senior, Rockport, Ind.:
I'm working as a summer research intern at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. During World War II, Y-12 was the site where the atomic bomb was first engineered and partially assembled--the "Manhattan Project." As a part of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Y-12 still works with the Department of Energy's Nuclear Weapons Complex, creating safer ways to manufacture, store and utilize nuclear weapons components. Similarly, Y-12 is involved in homeland security operations to protect the United States from threats by other WMD-capable countries. But nuclear safety and security isn't the only issue Y-12 deals with...

My assignment has been under the Technology Development Division. I work with various salt and ceramic components, looking at how they might be used for hydrogen storage in alternative fuel applications, which with rising gas prices is definitely of concern right now. Because I'm not a full-time employee at Y-12 and therefore do not have the necessary clearances and because Centre is obviously an entity outside of and unaffiliated with Y-12, I can't give out more information than that. I do hope to be presenting my unclassified research to Centre faculty and students in the coming year, perhaps at the Centre Symposium .

I've been able to work with top-of-the-line chemistry equipment that I wouldn't get to work with otherwise: instruments to study material surface features such as an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), optical profiler and stylus profiler; thermophysical analysis equipment such as a ThermoGravimetric Analyzer (TGA) and a ThermoMechanical   Analyzer (TMA) to study the effects of temperature and humidity on a sample; microscopy imaging equipment such as a digital microscope with video and still-image capture capabilities and a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM); and chemical composition analysis equipment such as Fourier-Transform Infrared and Diffuse Reflectance Infrared Fourier Transform Spectrometers.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

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