Our Student Curators
While the cut and dried language of academia conveys information from a practical standpoint, we feel that to truly get to know a place, you must first get to know its people. That's where we come in. As student curators, our job is to write and compile educational content about Colorado College from the perspective of its student body. We consider it a privilege to represent CC online, and we hope you enjoy!
Laurie Laker '12
Ocracoke, NC(originally Plymouth, UK)
Hi everyone! My name is Laurie, and I am a senior at here Colorado College. It seems surreal just typing that, I can assure you. Time flies here, it really does.
So, I'm supposed to take this space to tell you all about me and what my CC experience means to me. Where to begin?
Well, I'm from England but now live and work here in America. I'm an English major here at CC, also doing a self-designed minor combining political science and history. To be honest with you, I found adjusting to the Block Plan easy. I'm a focused learner, but that focus has limitations, and so the intense application that the Block Plan allows me works incredibly well for me, as it is the style of learning I benefit most from. After CC, I'm hoping to attend graduate school and study within the field of political or international communications - eventually working within the field itself. The show goes on, it seems.
Outside of academics, I'm hugely passionate about writing poetry and reading, as well as following politics and current events pertaining to the role of the media and the development of journalism. Also, I adore traveling of any kind, and I've been fortunate enough to have done a considerable amount thus far, both personally and academically through CC. I'm also a massive (borderline obsessive) soccer (it's football, really) fan, specifically for Arsenal Football Club. Those who know me will testify that I am rather, well, vocal about this supporting – passionate, I prefer to call it
That's what CC is all about for me - finding your passion. We all have them, and many, but we need to be in the right environment for them to truly come to the fore and define who we are. CC is, for me at least, the best place for that. I've grown into myself here, and I'm tested every day in new and challenging ways by the people around me and by the very nature of this wonderful college. Come and see what I'm talking about.
Katie Rogers '12
Appleton, WI
My name is Katie Rogers, and I'm a senior at Colorado College (yikes, that's the first time I've seen "senior" written). I plan to graduate in May 2012 with a B.A. in sociology and a minor in English. I love to travel – during my junior year, I spent a semester abroad in Pune, India (if you're interested, feel free to check out my travel blog). My other interests include words, people, and playing outside.
When I'm not exercising my rights as a nerd, I'm making time for friends and extracurricular activities, like the vibrant on-campus theatre scene. Drama at CC is perfect for me because even though I'm not a drama major, I can still audition for faculty-directed drama department shows. What's more – through Theatre Workshop, CC's student-run theatre group, I have the opportunity and resources to serve on the board of directors, act in student-directed works, and direct original productions of my own.
In the past, I've worked as a communications intern and a residential advisor, and this fall I'm an FYE mentor and a Priddy Trip leader. After CC, the [current] plan is to pursue a PhD in sociology. My long-term career goal is to write and teach within the discipline.
The autonomous nature of academia at CC has cultivated my interests – new and old – and allowed them to flourish into full-blown passions. Throughout my college career, my professors have maintained consistently lofty expectations. Coupled with a faith in independence and the power of hands-on learning, these expectations give students the freedom to succeed and rise to the occasion.
CC has given me many gifts (more, perhaps, than I am presently able to comprehend). Among the most valuable are confidence, perspective, the capacity to envision a future doing what I love, and the tools to transform that vision into a reality.
Arielle Mari '12
Charlotte, NC
Once upon a time in a land not too far from here but far enough to be radically different from this land of Colorado (colloquially known as THE SOUTH, specifically CAROLINA of the NORTHERN variety), a girl named Arielle Gross was born. She was the second of later to be five children for her Ivy-League-graduates-with-hippy-tendencies parents. These parents weren't special in any particularly earth-shattering way, but they did have enough Ideas about Life to certainly place them outside the norm. They taught their children many things, but in particular three Ideas were central to their education. They were as follows:
- God loves you.
- Your parents love you (even if they don't always like you).
- It's always worth it to try.
They instilled these ideas in their children at birth, and reminded them frequently. So Arielle grew up trying things. She tried a lot of things. And she failed. A lot. But she got back up and tried again. Then tried something else. Ballet? No so much. Pottery? Yeah, okay. Math? Oh, heavens, no. Writing? Ooh. Standardized tests? Meh. Still, she tried. Sometimes she succeeded, and sometimes she didn't. But she learned. She grew to know herself, and the world around her. The depth of everything fascinated her, and because of the Ideas planted in her at childhood, she wasn't afraid to reach for the moon, and at least land amongst the stars.
It was this education that led Arielle to the doors of Colorado College at the youthful age of eighteen years. Eager, terrified, and seriously lacking in hardcore winter gear, she embarked on this "Unique Intellectual Adventure." She discovered new passions, and overcommited herself horrendously. She learned the delicate balance of work and play. She declared a major (English, film track), and let the school and all the people therein transform her.
Now having reached her senior year in college, Arielle's life looks little like a fairytale. She has met no handsome prince. She has no fairy godmother. No evil queens are out to get her (scratch that—Katie Rogers, watch yo'self). But she has something that no princess in a fairytale ever had (except maybe Mulan. And hella fierce Belle). The ability to explore anything. The ability to learn everywhere. And the ability to make life worth it.
The Unique Intellectual Adventure started long before CC, and it'll continue long after.
Arielle Mari '12
English, film track major
President of the Colorado College Film Union
Board member emeritus of Theatre Workshop
Student leader of Cru @ CC