The No. 1 cause …..

Leslie* and I were close friends growing up together in Harrisonburg. We shared school classes, neighborhood games, clubs and dreams. She was artistic and interesting. After high school, we enrolled in different colleges and drifted apart. The next time I saw her she was rail thin. Scary thin. I heard she’d had some problems in college, heard the words “anorexia nervosa” mentioned alongside her name, but until I saw her it didn’t sink in. Back then, anorexia was a relatively unknown condition, until singer Karen Carpenter died.

It was hard for me to understand my friend’s obsession with her weight and body image. After all, she was talented, beautiful and very smart. The problem,  I would gradually come to understand, was that everyone knew that – except Leslie.

Catherine Boyle (photo by Missy Bane)

Recently, I talked to a JMU alum who understands it well. As a senior in high school, Catherine Schuermann Boyle (’85) was on top of the world.  A high achiever at the head of her high school class, she had been accepted early decision to her No. 1 choice: James Madison University. Excited and hopeful, the future looked bright and promising for the 18-year-old. But Catherine was headed for rough waters. Despite stellar academic achievements while also holding down a job, Catherine learned to her dismay that her dream of entering JMU as a freshman was financially impossible. Instead, she enrolled at a local community college, swallowed her disappointment, and continued to work hard in school and at her job.

But something had been triggered deep in Catherine’s psyche.

By all outward appearances, Catherine was a success. She eventually made it to JMU, graduating from the College of Business in 1985 with a degree in accounting and four job offers. In time, she became a vice president at Crestar bank and married another banker before “retiring” when their second child was born.

But despite her success, Catherine struggled with a dark secret that few knew about — and that even fewer understood. “I was anorexic while I was at the community college and became bulimic while at JMU,” she says. “I struggled with it all through college.”

Catherine was not alone. Anorexia is the No. 1 cause of death in woman aged 15 to 24, according to Duke Medicine.**  Number one. The statistics are sobering:

• Among western women between 15 and 24 years old, approximately 1 out of every 200 suffers from anorexia nervosa, while about 1 in 50 is bulimic.
• Between 10 and 50 percent of American college women report having binge eaten and then vomited to control their weight.
• Approximately 40 percent of American girls ages 9 and 10 report being or having been on a diet to lose weight.
• Some 50 to 60 percent of teenage American girls believe they are overweight, yet only 15 to 20 percent of them actually are overweight.**

Catherine says that many factors contribute to eating disorders, ranging from physical, emotional or sexual abuse to genetic predisposition to difficult circumstances, but those who find themselves struggling with anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders all end up struggling with an eating disorder “mindset.” Reaching and changing that mindset is critical to successfully overcoming eating disorders.

Northfield’s Cumberland Home

Today Catherine is healthy and has turned her experience into a means of helping others. She has written and published about the disorder. In 2010, she was named chief operating officer of  Northfield Ministries, a residential treatment facility for women near Richmond, Va., that opened this spring. Here women can find the help they need to change that all important mindset.

The problem with most treatment plans, explains Gwen Seiler, the founder and director of Northfield, is that they treat the symptoms without addressing the root causes, which are deep and complicated. Many young women whose lives hang in the balance are admitted to hospitals for short term treatment. When their weight stabilizes, they are released, but their mindsets haven’t changed. The medical crisis  is over, but the problem is still very real.

“The rubber meets the road when you go back home,” Catherine says.

Changing that mindset, helping young women find freedom from the torment of anorexia and bulimia, is the focus of Northfield, the only non-profit, faith-based facility of its kind in Virginia and surrounding states. Northfield works with many families who have exhausted all of their resources. Treatment across the country is limited and expensive, up to $45,000 for a month’s stay.  By contrast, Northfield offers affordable options, in large part because of the tremendous support they have received.

“People have come from all over the country for working weekends,” Gwen says. Businesses donated goods and time, and often both. Over the past five years, with volunteer help, the residential Cumberland Home has had a slow and steady extreme makeover. “We want to be the place that so many people need,” she says.

Northfield has found much support in the in the JMU community around Richmond. Among the supporters are Wallace and Nita (’48) Chandler, Frank and Brenda (’80) Bell, Mike (’87) and Blair (’87) Grappone and Anna Daddio (’11)  who have all lent their support.

Another strong supporter is Kellyn Cunningham (’11) who graduated from the School of Communication Studies. “I was motivated to get involved by how much it touched my life.” Kellyn, like Catherine, struggled with an eating disorder while at JMU, but with Gwen’s help, she overcame it. “I was surprised to learn that so many more young women/students struggled with eating disorders than I realized. I wasn’t alone. I think isolation is one of the greatest weapons against recovery, and having a place with Gwen and the other girls gave me encouragement and hope,” she says. “Unless someone has experienced an addiction, it is hard to describe the sense of hopelessness and downward cycle eating disorders can create. Northfield offers freedom.”

Gwen Seiler has her own JMU connection. She spent two years at JMU before transferring to Virginia Commonwealth University to finish with a degree in nursing. It was in nursing school that she first encountered eating disorders. At the time, she felt burdened by one young woman’s problem. “How do you help?” she asked. Now she knows.

Gwen and Catherine understand how great the need is, and it spurs them both. The solution for many of these women is simple yet daunting. “If you can heal the thoughts,” Catherine says, “you can heal the body.”

Last year, my friend Leslie died unexpectedly. I don’t know for certain, but I suspect that anorexia eventually killed her. As in so many cases, the root cause of these deaths is hidden. If nothing else, an eating disorder wrecked her life. She was never able to reach, break free and hold on to the lifeline that Catherine and Kellyn  found.

Knowing Leslie, knowing the light that went out — the beauty, intelligence and talent that disappeared — convinces me of the importance of Northfield’s mission. Sometimes it’s critical to change a life in order to save it.

To learn much more Catherine’s work with Northfield  and how you can help, visit their website at http://www.northfieldministries.org/  and Catherine’s website at  http://www.catherineboyle.com/

*name has been changed.              ** http://health.usnews.com/health-conditions/mental-health/eating-disorders

Without missing a beat

The campus is muted this week. It’s raining and although Maymester classes started today, the campus is quiet. All over town, apartments are vacant, doors locked, shades and blinds are pulled down. Cars stuffed with boxes of clothes and memorabilia and books have driven out of town. Following the celebration of commencement, it feels a little like summer break or like the aftermath of a great party. Time to kick back, catch up and reflect on a successful year.

This year’s commencement marked more than the end of an academic year, but the end of an era. Very soon — only weeks away now — Dr. Linwood Rose will retire and Jonathan Alger, J.D., will become JMU’s sixth president. While the presidency will change hands, a whole lot will not change because JMU understands its mission and purpose — and has a strong and collective sense of self. Former Board of Visitors rector Joe Damico (’76, ’77M) probably said it best. “Lin Rose has led JMU in such a way that JMU will miss him and, frankly, proceed without missing a beat,” he is quoted as saying in the recent Madison magazine.

Without missing a beat indicates an effective and efficient way to accomplish change. Perhaps at JMU it’s because change is part of this university’s DNA. Change is our status quo. We don’t shy from it, fear it, challenge it (unless necessary). We embrace it.

(photo by Guillaume Cattiaux)

Thousands of brand new alumni also are embracing change right now. They are adjusting to new lives, some in new cities, many in new jobs or new schools. As a university we will too, but rather than dreading it, there’s a certain excitement about the future. And for a year and half now, we’ve been gearing up for it. While recent alumni look expectantly toward their futures, the university community looks forward to the next era for JMU.

Rain has a way of pausing our senses, letting us take a breath, clearing the air. Soon, though, the sun will come out, a new day will dawn and JMU will continue on its successful trajectory of changing the world.

He shuffles when he walks…..

He shuffles when he walks and tilts his head up so he can look at you through thick glasses. He’s not tall and is usually heavily laden with clothing, even in hot weather. His beard is scruffy. He is unwashed. And he is homeless.

Around Harrisonburg, he’s a fixture — well, a moving fixture. Sometimes he sleeps on the porch of local college students. Sometimes he comes to Carrier Library to do “research.” During Fridays on the Square, he is an eager volunteer. He often shows up at the Sunday evening service of a local church. “Hello, Phil*,” the congregants greet him.  Despite his disheveled appearance, Phil is part of the Harrisonburg community, every bit as much as the residents of the stately old Victorian homes up and down Franklin and Paul and Campbell Streets.

Phil doesn’t fit the mold. Still, as one Old Town resident told me, “his network of friends is incredible.”  They feed him, provide him a place to sleep. They look after him.

I don’t know Phil’s circumstances, why he is homeless, or his life’s back story. Neither do most of the students who live downtown nor do the residents of the stately old homes. But it doesn’t seem to matter. Phil is a neighbor, a homeless neighbor, but a neighbor nonetheless. He is a also reminder to them that homeless individuals have names, histories, needs. They are not statistics, even though they are often gathered together as such.

I’ve heard it said that Harrisonburg is the perfect size city. For Phil, it seems to be. He is not forced to live over a grate or under a cardboard box; neither is he mocked or preyed upon by those who might take advantage of one with so little worldly wealth and such an unfamiliar societal position. Here, at least in Harrisonburg, he is treated to the kindness of friends.

To the casual observer, especially one who looks at statistics instead of faces, Phil might be deemed a burden, a bother, an inconvenience. After all, in the traditional sense, he hasn’t produced much. He hasn’t cured a disease or rebuilt a community, piloted a successful business or inspired a classroom. To my knowledge, he has not built a bridge or a program or even a committee, as so many students will go on to do during their lifetimes. But he reminds us  that all humanity has worth. He brings a perspective like none other.

Last Saturday while hundreds of students celebrated their JMU commencement, their official launch into successful, conventional and productive lives, Phil was there.  The students called him by name, gave him hugs and high fives. He celebrated with the graduates, as welcomed as the students who sat next to them in classes on international relations, finance or chemistry. He was  part of the Madison Community that day.

Being the Change we want to see in the world doesn’t always mean accomplishing something that is newsworthy. In fact, the operative word is “be,” not change. Anyone can change the world, but few of us are as gifted as Phil at reminding us that life is of little value without each other. It is recognizing the wealth of humanity and seeing the needs of others — the children living in a garbage dump in the Phillipines,  the elderly neighbor no longer able to mow his own grass, the unwed teenage mother with no layette, the laid-off employee without prospects, the college student short on tuition, families caught in war-torn nations, communities recovering from natural disasters, the homeless in our cities.

Kindness is the first step in changing the world, and a whole lot of JMU students and community members who have befriended Phil know this already. Their kindness resonates, not only through Phil’s life, but long and loud in their own. This is how changing the world starts: with heart, with compassion, with the magnanimous acts of kindness that cost us so little.

You can’t get a degree in kindness, but then again, you don’t need one to enrich one homeless man’s life with friendship.

To learn more about another group of students dedicated to meeting the needs of individuals like Phil and many others — students majoring on social work — visit JMU’s website: http://www.jmu.edu/jmuweb/general/news/general11941.shtml

You might also be interested in learning about a JMU student, now an alum, who spearheaded a program to house Harrisonburg’s homeless during the winters. You’ll find it here: http://www.jmu.edu/bethechange/stories/patrickWiggins.shtml

*name has been changed

A final and affirming “A”

Four years ago, 45 freshmen gambled on a brand new engineering program at JMU. In a state with some of the best colleges and universities in the country, including some top engineering schools, their choice was not without risk. What if the program didn’t succeed the way the planners hoped? What if they got to commencement with degrees in hand and major regrets? What if the graduates couldn’t find jobs?

No one could guarantee their success or that of the new school. For these 37 men and eight women, it took courage as Keith Holland (’00), assistant professor of engineering, told the graduates on Saturday. Still, these pioneers staked their college educations on JMU’s bold, untraditional and untried engineering program that focused on sustainable systems.

Any new program has growing pains. But as I talked to members of the first engineering class this year, they repeatedly expressed one overarching sentiment. I heard it again this weekend as Interim Director Bob Kolvoord reviewed the years leading up to Saturday’s inaugural graduation.

For the past four years, students, faculty and administrators have worked together, each learning from the other in an extraordinary partnership. It has never been about a faculty so sure of their way that the input and opinions of the students didn’t carry weight. In fact, it was the opposite. It has been a collaboration like none other. Again and again, I heard from students that the faculty listened — really listened. But even more importantly, they heard students. In doing so, the faculty made these 45 students not only partakers of the new program but participants in creating JMU engineering.

The experience for these students, though, is far more than programmatic; the collegiality they found at JMU ran deep through the students’ educations. As Kolvoord addressed the graduates decked out in purple caps and gowns with orange stoles and tassels, it was clear that this class has a special camaraderie. The 13 faculty members, six staff members and 45 students each filled critical roles in JMU engineering — all bent on creating a successful program and successful students. As more than a few students said, “every one of the faculty knows our names.”

When I first heard about JMU engineering, I remembered the naysayers who said the new College of Integrated Science and Technology wouldn’t fly. Who would hire these graduates?  Back then there was plenty of skepticism. Two decades later, however, those questions have been answered with success. ISAT has proved its mettle.

Now the JMU School of Engineering is following the same pioneering path — and the first statistics are impressive. Of the 45 graduates who earned their degrees on Saturday, 24  have accepted full-time engineering jobs. Another 12 have been accepted into graduate schools, both master’s and Ph.D. programs, at universities including Cornell, Villanova, George Mason, South Florida, Arizona State, Delaware, Penn State, Carnegie-Mellon, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Another seven have received job offers or graduate school spots but are still deciding where they’ll go. That’s 43 out of 45 graduates.

On a grading scale, that’s a 95.5 — a final and affirming “A” for the Class of 2012, the students who gambled on JMU engineering and won.

Last Friday night, when the first class gathered one last time before commencement, the students presented the faculty with a plaque bearing all their names — the first class of graduates of James Madison University’s School of Engineering. It was a fitting gift because they are not only pioneers, these students and their professors are also founders.

To learn much more about JMU’s School of Engineering, visit the engineering site with an archive of stories about the 2012 graduates of JMU engineering. You’ll find it at http://www.jmu.edu/engineering/index.html

The Class of 2012, part 5

Kent Graham and Scott Dyer

Every day this week, we’re showcasing seniors we’ve met through the Be the Change blog.  As a group they represent the more than 4,000 students who will receive their degrees on Saturday. We asked them about their Madison Experience, how it has changed them and the best and worst parts of graduating from JMU.

“I feel like I have always received the support …”

Scott Dyer of Baltimore, Md., has a huge heart. During his four years at JMU, he’s worked with local Hispanic students as a leader for Young Life, providing friendship and mentoring. It’s not a passing fancy for the brand new Phi Beta Kappa inductee and Spanish major who also will earn minors in secondary education and teaching English as a second language. “My plans after graduation are to send out applications to teach English to adults and to run an after school program in Harrisonburg,” he writes. “Then I plan on applying for graduate school in order to get my master’s in teaching for Spanish and ESL. I also hope to be involved in community development in a big city within a Latino population.”

Scott, who has also worked at a local restaurant throughout college, writes: “JMU has helped me grow into a person who is comfortable starting a conversation with any type of person. This university has always encouraged learning through relationships: faculty to student, and student to student. I have developed a lot of confidence in the person I was made to be, and I feel like I have always received the support of faculty and staff and peers.”

“The best part of graduating is having the opportunity to enter with confidence into my next stage of life. The worst part is no longer being able to be consistently around the same community of people who have loved me so well over the last four years.”

And finally, one student who hasn’t been mentioned by name…

…. but who has been quoted and consulted. Kent Graham, my youngest son and third Duke, will graduate Saturday as part of the first engineering class. More than four years ago, as he was deciding which college to attend, Kent wrestled with his choices. Accepted into all the schools he applied to, he was captivated by the freedom and the excitement of learning at JMU. Here he could find out what he really wanted to do, rather than be forced into one discipline only to discover it was not what he wanted. In the end JMU won, and so did Kent. Recently, I asked him if his was a good decision so many years ago. “Oh, yes,” he said, without a moment’s hesitation. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in engineering, he’ll head to industry as an assistant project manager for a large mechanical contractor to begin his pursuit of a professional engineering license.

For Kent, like Scott, much of the Madison Experience has focused around work and friendships developed through Young Life. He’s spent four years driving back and forth to a local high school, mentoring students. And then, there’s the Toolbox, where he, Scott Dyer and more than a dozen other students have shared their JMU years. The Toolbox is one of the many named houses in Harrisonburg where students live. It is  a dilapidated old house with little heat, a sofa-laden front porch, an eclectic hodgepodge of furniture exceeded only by the variety of wall colors — and a home where lifelong friendships are forged.

I have long told my children that the best friends they’ll ever have, they’ll likely find in college. As you’ve read the thoughts of students this week, that sentiment is affirmed. It is in the relationships that we live and those relationships merged for greater purposes that will change the world.

The college experience should never be exclusively about academic pursuits, prestige or bragging rights. It should be about becoming the best one can become, of finding that place in the world  to make a difference, and of discovering a life pursuit that will challenge, interest and inspire for decades to come. Few universities, including my alma mater, accomplish that better than JMU. It is the right size, the right disposition, the right balance. These 10 students prove that, and as they move out into the “real” world, they’ll carry with them the best of JMU.

Congratulations and many thanks to Abby Burkhardt, Josh Smead, Ben Schulze, Scott Dovel, Matt Burton, Peter Epley, Dave Stevens, Jessie Taylor, Scott Dyer, Kent Graham and to the entire James Madison University Class of 2012.

We can’t wait to hear about all the thousands of ways you will change the world.

 

The Class of 2012, part 4

Dave Stevens

Every day this week, we’re showcasing seniors we’ve met through the Be the Change blog.  As a group they represent the more than 4,000 students who will receive their degrees on Saturday. We asked them about their Madison Experience, how it has changed them and the best and worst parts of graduating from JMU.

“….I often conceded to educational challenges….”

Dave Stevens of Harrisonburg will earn a bachelor’s degree in integrated science and technology with a concentration in energy. After earning his associates degree at a community college, Dave enrolled at JMU — and soared. During his time at JMU, he’s worked very hard, learning everything he could in his courses and “taking ownership of his capstone project” as his major professor told me. Dave traveled twice to Costa Rica for his ISAT capstone project, an energy assessment at Punta Leona resort. He’s also volunteered with Harrisonburg’s Big Brothers/Big Sisters, mentoring a young friend.

He writes: “JMU has provided me the opportunity to personally tailor my undergrad education. The opportunities on this campus are endless. Even when an opportunity didn’t exist here, JMU facilitated me in opening new doors.  Prior to attending this university I often conceded to educational challenges. JMU made me realize that if you put in the effort and accept help when needed, you will be successful.”

Like so many, Dave looks forward to graduation but with reservations. He writes: “The best part is having more free time to do things I couldn’t during the busy semesters. The worst part of graduating is leaving behind the incredible people I met here that helped me along the way. This summer I am working some odd summer jobs to save money in hopes of living out west for a year.  My passion is snowboarding, and I would like to experience the best mountains in this country before I get locked down from nine to five.”

“I guess it’s made me more well-rounded …”

Jessie Taylor

Jessie Taylor of Burke, Va., has breakfasted with monkeys and collected prom dresses, indicative of the rich and varied Madison Experience so typically found at JMU. This spring, she and JMU friends collected more than 600 evening gowns to give away to local high-school girls getting ready for proms. The fashion drive was fun, it was community-minded, and it was environmentally “green.” Jessie also traveled to Costa Rica as part of an international capstone project undertaken by ISAT students. She, Dave Stevens and Ben Schulze conducted an extensive energy assessment of the Punta Leona resort in Costa Rica.

Jessie will graduate Saturday with a bachelor’s degree in integrated science and technology with concentrations in energy and the environment.

Asked how JMU has changed her, she says, “So many ways! I guess it’s made me more well-rounded.” She looks forward to no more tests and homework, “but I’m leaving my college friends and the college lifestyle.”

Jessie’s post graduation goal is simple and succinct: “Hopefully to help change the world!”

And last but not least: Scott Dyer and a friend

(Photos compliments of Dave and Jessie)

The class of 2012, part 3

Every day this week, we’re showcasing seniors we’ve met through the Be the Change blog.  As a group they represent the more than 4,000 students who will receive their degrees on Saturday. We asked them about their Madison Experience, how it has changed them and the best and worst parts of graduating from JMU.

Peter Epley and Matt Burton

“When I came here I was slightly insecure…..” 

Matt Burton of Chesapeake, Va., is a physics major with a math minor and one of the three co-creators of the Lisanby iPad application. He writes: “In my time at JMU I have grown in maturity tremendously. When I came here I was slightly insecure and over the years I have transitioned into leading research projects for the physics department, making the art iPad app, and becoming a leader in my Christian organization on campus.”

As vice president of ministry for the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM), formerly Christian student union (CSU), Matt oversees all small groups and leads the men’s group, social events and intramurals for the organization.

 After graduation, Matt will enter a Ph.D. program in nuclear physics at the College of William and Mary. “The best part of graduating,” he writes, “is beginning my life out in the real world and starting to make my mark in my field, while the worst part is leaving all that has become a home to me and leaving my friends here who have become like a family to me.”

The robotics team (l to r) Joey Lang, McHarg, Peter Epley, Jed Caldwell

“More or less, sleep is what I don’t get …”

Peter Epley, an engineering major from Springfield, Va.,  helped develop the Lisanby iPad app with Matt Burton and Josh Smead.

Peter has also been one of my go-to guys this year as JMU communications has covered JMU’s first graduating class of student engineers. All year, I’ve relied on Peter and many of his fellow engineers to answer questions, pose for photos and answer engineering questions. For two years, Peter and his team have worked to develop and build a firefighting robot. Given that he’s an engineering student and he worked on the iPad app, I was amazed to learn that Peter has also been a member of the Marching Royal Dukes. How does he fit all this into 24 hours?

“I was a member of the MRDs and the JMU Pep Band for all four years here at JMU,” Peter writes. “I am an alto saxophone player and served as a drill instructor my junior and senior years. More or less, sleep is what I don’t get, but honestly, it’s what I do for fun to get away from classes and homework.”

Not surprisingly, the best part of graduating, says Peter, is “I feel like I can finally sleep more than eight hours and not regret it. I can finally take everything that I have learned and use it to make a lasting difference.” The worst part is “leaving a family of some of the most caring and innovative students, friends and faculty I have ever had,” he writes.

“JMU has helped me really see how I can make a difference and what I am capable of doing, even if it is simply on a small scale. Working through the  engineering program has been challenging, especially since we are the first class, but I think it is exciting that my class will serve a crucial role in defining what JMU engineers can do. Beyond engineering, JMU has allowed me to explore different opportunities (such as the iPad app) that I never could have thought up and executed alone. Music has also been an important aspect in my life and JMU was one of the few schools that really gave me the opportunity to still pursue a technical major without having to sacrifice my love of saxophone. For that I am truly thankful, as I have truly met some of the best people I have ever met and am glad to call many of them my friends for the rest of my life.”

During Saturday’s graduation, Peter  will receive a bachelor’s of science in engineering with minors in math and computer information systems. He will join KPMG as an IT attestation associate doing information systems consulting for federal government clients.

Coming tomorrow: Dave Stevens and Jessie Taylor….

(photo of Matt and Peter by Mike Miriello)

The Class of 2012, part 2

Ben Schulze

Every day this week, we’re showcasing seniors we’ve met through the Be the Change blog.  As a group they represent the more than 4,000 students who will receive their degrees on Saturday. We asked them about their Madison Experience, how it has changed them and the best and worst parts of graduating from JMU.

“I have been shaped…..”

Ben Schulze of Catharpin, Va., is an integrated science and technology major and part of a team of ISAT students who traveled to Costa Rica to conduct an extensive energy assessment at Punta Leona resort. He will graduate Saturday with a bachelor’s degree in integrated science and technology and a minor in computer science. Following graduation, Ben hopes to continue his education.

He writes: “JMU has deeply changed my life.  I have been shaped into an open-minded, confident and resilient individual by all of the experiences I have had and the people I have met a JMU.  JMU has presented me with many challenges and many opportunities, and I have used both to my advantage to develop into a strong individual. The best part about graduating is the opportunity to seek new adventures and start the journey of my career. I love to learn, so the worst part about leaving JMU is that I will not be able to have any more classes.”

Scott Dovel

“JMU has awakened me…..”

Scott Dovel of Keezletown, Va., began his JMU career under difficult circumstances that required a brand of strength and determination that few of us are ever called on to muster. But he persevered and looks forward to graduation.

Scott writes: “JMU has awakened me from my small town roots into seeing a greater potential for myself that I would have never conceived otherwise had I not gone to college. Choosing to go to college four years, instead of transferring from a community college, allowed me to experience more. I met a lot of people from different areas in the United States and world with different beliefs and opinions. I gained priceless knowledge throughout college that has helped me begin to shape myself. I am beginning to understand that I know nothing about anything, but I am always learning.”

After graduation Scott says he won’t miss tests. He adds, “I also think getting paid to work rather than paying to do work is great. The worst part of graduating is leaving knowing that there is still so much that I would like to learn.”

Scott will graduate with a degree in kinesiology with a concentration in sport and recreation management and a minor in business. He plans to pursue his interest in recreation management at the Outdoor Learning Center at Horizons, Nelson Rocks Outdoor Center, Camp Horizons, and by supporting Job Corp Adventure Programs, a U.S. Department of Labor program, through Horizons Youth Services

On deck tomorrow…..Matt Burton and Peter Epley

(Photos provided by Ben and Scott)

The Class of 2012, part 1

Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of getting to know a number of current students through the Be the Change blog. Some are now seniors, ready to launch into the next phase of life. Every one of them is interesting, perceptive and enthusiastic about life.

As a run up graduation on Saturday, I asked them to reflect on their Madison Experience, about the best and worst parts of graduating from JMU and about their plans after commencement. Nine responded to my email query. Beginning today, I’ll feature two a day this week. You’ll remember some of their names from prior posts, and you’ll learn some things about them that will surprise you. (Their names are linked to the original post in which they appeared.) All together these seniors represent the best of the Madison Experience, the Class of 2012, and very bright futures.  One senior wrote that her future goals include changing the world.  Given what these students have accomplished  and how they look at the future, they — and their fellow members of the Class of 2012 — probably will. 

Abby Burkhardt and friends in China

“JMU opened my eyes to the world…”

Abby Burkhardt of Branford, Ct., first came to our attention when her hometown newspaper interviewed her after she participated in an Alternative Spring Break. She’s majoring in international affairs, with minors in Chinese business and Asian studies. Not  surprisingly, Abby plans to teach English in China for a year.

For Abby, JMU has been transformative. She writes: “JMU has changed me in numerous way. I had always been a homebody (I didn’t realize it then), but then I came to JMU not knowing anyone. I really loved where I grew up and didn’t realize how much I would miss being away from home. I cried pretty much the entire first semester even though the people here were some of the nicest bunch of people I had met my entire life. I was so far away from home, so I really had to rely on myself and my friends here to help me get through the year.”

“JMU really helped me find my own two feet and enabled me to make my own life decisions and become a more independent person. I joined a sorority, studied abroad in China, did the Washington semester, attended an Alternative Spring Break, and I am volunteering at the refugee resettlement center’s life skills class. JMU opened my eyes to the world,and now I am sad but also prepared and excited to get out into the real world.”

“The best part about graduation is knowing that I have completed all four years here and actually have accomplishments and lifelong friendships to show for it. The worst part by far is leaving the comfort of the JMU bubble and my best friends who, after graduation, are dispersing all over the world. I’m also going to miss the easy-going lifestyle and the mountain views.”

“The best part of graduation is knowing……”

Josh Smead

Josh Smead of Harrisonburg will receive a degree in art and art history with a minor in studio art on Saturday. Josh and  two other students, Matt Burton and Peter Epley, developed an iPad app for JMU’s newest museum. The app, introduced to the world in January, garnered 136 downloads from 15 different countries in the first 36 hours after hitting the Apple app store. It has also stirred up interest from other organizations.

But the iPad app is only one dimension of Josh’s rich Madison Experience. He, like so many other students, found opportunities here that are unheard of at other institutions of higher learning. The biggest opportunity for Josh — which he seized and ran with — was the chance to curate a new and interesting art collection for the university.

As curator of the new Charles Lisanby Collection, he says: “The best part of graduation is knowing I’ll be in the position to immediately apply the skills I’ve developed at JMU in the real world, yet the worst part is knowing I am finishing the most influential and life-changing undertaking of my life. JMU has given me a sense of real-world issues and has granted me the ability to productively apply my experience in a professional field. I plan on continuing my research and work with technology and the arts in the hopes that I will help drive innovation, engagement, and enthusiasm for the museum field.”

Eventually, Josh wants to continue his education. This next year, he’ll be exploring opportunities that the iPad app has created.

Next up: Ben Schulze and Scott Dovel…………

(Photo of Josh Smead by Mike Miriello; Abby Burkhardt, compliments of Abby)

Sweden: The Malmo Summit

Malmo University

JMU’s Jim Heffernan (’96) is in Sweden this week participating in a training session with educators and professionals from all over the world. The symposium is sponsored by the International Network of Universities. As guest blogger this week, Jim gives us a glimpse of the issues and concerns shared by those in higher education all over the world.

The Malmö summit

by Jim Heffernan (’96)

We are all different. We are all the same.

We are communication officers, librarians, career counselors and international study coordinators. We come from the United States, England, Scotland, Finland, Germany, Spain, Lithuania, Japan and the Czech Republic. From institutions both large and small, old and new, traditional and progressive, urban and rural.

Jim Heffernan (r) and colleagues at the Malmo Summit

For the past four days, my colleagues in higher education and I have been meeting in Malmö, Sweden, to share best practices and engage in collaborative learning. It’s an impressive group, and I’ve been encouraged by the depth and breadth of our discussions. For all our cultural differences, we have many common concerns, among them continuing to recruit the best and brightest, working within our budgets, securing available resources, increasing funds for research and avoiding the pitfalls of social media. As support staff, our offices exist where the rubber hits the road on these bumpy issues. Yet we can’t afford to put our foot on the brake. The world is shrinking and the pace of change ever accelerating. We all want our students, and ultimately our institutions, to succeed.

JMU has the privilege of leading the 10-member International Network of Universities — some of whom are represented here this week — for the 2012-15 term. Higher education consortia like the INU have the ability not only to provide unique study-abroad and professional exchange opportunities, but also to foster collaborative research and service projects regarding global issues like the environment, health care and conflict resolution. JMU has much to contribute in these important areas, including exceptional, socially-minded students; professors who are experts in their respective fields of study and passionate about teaching; and, yes, some pretty darned good staff members, too. But JMU can’t do it alone. We need our international partners to help make the world a better place for our children and grandchildren – in essence to “Be the Change” we at Madison talk so much about.

As the end of our time together in Malmö draws to a close, and we return home to our families and coworkers, let us keep in mind that learning and change also happens outside our hallowed halls. We are all different. We are all the same.

You can learn more about INU and see more pictures from the Malmo Summit visiting the group’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/INUnetwork