Class of 2014 Senior Profiles

1. Name: Alexis Washington

2. Degree: Psychology

3. Fun fact: Something a lot of people do not know about me is that I actually just recently received my license to preach and now serve on the ministerial staff at my church.

4. What memorable or important places have you been in the last 4 years? I definitely would say that a big highlight would be working as an organizing campaign fellow for the Obama 2012 campaign because I got to travel across the country with amazing leaders in our government.

5. What places will you go immediately after graduation? Right after graduation I will be going to West Chester University for an M.S. in Counseling with a focus in Higher Education/Student Affairs. I want to be able to effectively help college students grow and transform as I did and give back what I received from student development professionals. Plus, I love college so much that I do not want to leave and the best and most affordable way to do that is to work in college!

6. What are your future aspirations after graduation? Do you want to get your thesis published? Do you want to work for a non-profit? Do you just want to find a job to pay the bills? I have a 30 year goal that by the time I am 50 that I am a Dean of Students or even a VP of Student Affairs! To focus more on my 10 year plan is to have received my doctorate and to have begun settling at a small private university to begin my career in student affairs. I’d love to come back to EU if I could!

7. Any random, funny, and/or significant thoughts/advice/comments about being a senior, graduating and life after Eastern that you wish to share. If I could give advice to any student at EU, it would to be to explore all of your options and then do it! You have a limited amount of time here, so take advantage of every opportunity that you are given.  

1. Name: Max Holland

2. Degree: B.A. Economic Development with a minor in Political Science

3. Fun fact: One of my ex-girfriends uses anecdotes from our relationship as material in her stand-up comedy act.

4. What memorable or important places have you been in the last 4 years? In the past 4 years I’ve: (1) been to NYC for the first time ever, during Christmastime, (2) hiked Mt. Marcy in -10° F weather, (3) been to new cities like Sarasota, Boston, Kansas City and Detroit, (4) swam in the Gulf of Mexico for Spring Break, and (5) spent New Year’s Eve in New York City.

5. What places will you go immediately after graduation? I’m going to move to the East Passyunk Crossing (EPX) neighborhood of South Philadelphia immediately after graduation, where I will live and work for the next few years. I’ll be a part of a team which is starting a domestic version of an existing gap year program, KIVU Gap Year (kivugapyear.com), that will be located in South Philadelphia. The mission of this program is to teach high school graduates what it means to live and work with the poor and marginalized in the city, as the presence of God’s kingdom. I really believe that where you pitch your tent, how you spend your money, and who you spend your time with speaks volumes about who you are and what you believe. As far as goes my faith, I am seeking to put my money where my mouth is. I am a true believer in the power of evangelism: I want to go and hear the Good News of the Gospel from the poor.

6. What are your future aspirations after graduation? My primary aspiration in my lifetime is to manifest love to those around me. I suspect that this means I will go to grad school, perhaps in the UK, for a Master’s degree in Development studies, but we live our lives on a curve. I can only predict the future from my current vantage… and I’m not too proficient at that. I know I will always live amongst the marginalized (here or abroad), that I will always place my family and my community above pretensions to power and prestige, and that I will always struggle to be an iconoclast, to offer a fresh vantage on the way we do what we do.

7. Any random, funny, and/or significant thoughts/advice/comments about being a senior, graduating and life after Eastern that you wish to share. Graduation is called commencement because we are being commissioned to go and do what we have learned. It is (paradoxically) an end and a beginning. I think the biggest, baddest thing that we can go do is really live; not the way the world defines life, but in an attempt to incarnate life abundantly, as the sunrise casts its first light over the bay.

1. Name: Seth Miller

2. Degree: English Writing, and minoring in Literature and Communications

3. Fun fact: I’m that curly haired guy who works at the library. My goal in life is to become Twitter famous. Follow me: @not_SPAM_

4. What memorable or important places have you been in the last 4 years? One time I went to Ott Hall and got lost.

5. What places will you go immediately after graduation? This summer after graduation I will be working at Black Rock Retreat in Lancaster, PA as a program assistant. This will be my second summer there. I chose to go back because of the great people there and because we get to do really meaningful work with campers ranging from ages 7 to 17. After camp I’ll be moving in with friends in Lansdale, PA, and work as a famous tweeter. Follow me: @not_SPAM_

6. What are you future aspirations after graduation? I’d love to finish the novel I started in my senior thesis class. I’d also like to reach 1 trillion followers on Twitter. Follow me: @not_SPAM_

7. Any random, funny, and/or significant thoughts/advice/comments about being a senior, graduating and life after Eastern that you wish to share. (1) Get an OKCupid account. (2) Delete that OKCupid account. (3) Ask your librarians for help. About anything and everything. They are all non-magical Dumbledores. (4) Follow me on Twitter: @not_SPAM_ (5) Always go to Sunday brunch. (6) Never go to Sunday dinner. (7) The best study room is the Edison Room. (8) The worst study room is the one right next to the Edison Room. (9) Don’t get a ring by spring just because everyone else is doing it. (10) Breezy Freeman will you marry me?