Alumni

click here to see profiles about other past HF members!

click here to read about the HF Alums at the 2016 "Living the Liberal Arts" for Honors Forum!

Leah Elliot, Class of 2006

The Honors Forum was never just a set of requirements for me; rather it was a community, and it was a conversation. 我在火博体育的这些年都住在荣誉宿舍， 从开始到结束我在论坛的日子. From the first day moving in, 我们共同的会员资格给了我们一种其他楼层所缺乏的纽带. The events specific to our floor, like the annual haunted house, helped us to really know each other and strengthen our community. 在荣誉宿舍里，我周围都是爱我的人 learning as much as I did. 这不仅仅是期中考试和期末考试前的安静时光; it was an atmosphere that encouraged us to discuss our thoughts on lecture topics after class, to keep up with and debate current events, and to share our academic and intellectual discoveries with each other. Whether I researched the intricacies of Japanese gift wrapping or gene transcription, I was but a few steps from others who would share my wonder. 朋友对唐馆最新展览的热情 led me to wander through the galleries. 在走廊上的偶遇导致了广泛的 discussions of political philosophies, our favorite short stories, or even impromptu lessons on Romanian geography. 通过课程的附加荣誉部分，我 与我深入交谈的话题远远超出了我的生物学专业. I gained the confidence to join in discussions about topics I was not expert on and not to be afraid to ask for the information I lacked. Co-curricular events like the Shades of Gray or Ramsey Lecture series engaged me in conversations with the larger Skidmore community on all kinds of topics. 荣誉论坛真正成为了我讨论的论坛， question, and explore any topic I came across. By being a part of the Honors Forum, I developed a habit of discussion, which fed my curiosity across a wide array of disciplines.

This is a habit that I have kept in the years since I graduated from Skidmore College.  The year after graduation, I found my intellectual curiosity to be invaluable during 那一年我在日本的一个小城市生活和工作. Starting conversations about Japanese culture, about the thoughts and experiences of those I met, opened doors into that community. 是什么让原本孤立的经历变得自由 and life-changing. 当我在康奈尔大学攻读生物学博士学位时，我学到了 研究能有多集中，我能对一个主题有多深入. As I have delved into the unknown regions of scientific knowledge, I am aware of how important it is to explore everything and how conversations and discussions can unveil unexpected but 看似不相关的话题之间的重要联系. Getting another perspective can provide the solutions that elude me or suggest new and exciting questions to study. I believe that I developed the drive to share my curiosities and to engage with others in the Honors Forum, and this drive will carry me throughout my life, no matter what I do.

Adam Epstein, Class of 2008

我在火博体育学院的那段时间(那是多么美好的一段时光啊!!), I was the primary author of the Service Requirement requirement for the Honors Forum and served as the HF's first Service Requirement Coordinator for the last two years of my college career. 大四期间，我还担任HF副总裁. Throughout the course of my first two years as an HF student at Skidmore, I grew to believe that HF students (if not all students) had a duty to use their academic gifts to promote the welfare of local and/or global communities. 我过去相信——现在仍然相信——这是一种荣誉 appended to one's name, resume, or degree only has value insofar as it represents a skill, proclivity, or talent that can be put into practice to contribute to society in a positive way. 因此，在同学和老师的支持下，我创建了 the Service Requirement requirement in order to encourage HF students to find creative 如何将他们的学术工作转化为积极的社区服务. In so doing, I was simultaneously attempting to echo Lucy Scribner's concept of "mind and hand"--that is, the balance of thoughtful, private study of theory/philosophy (mind) with the practical applications of such work (hand). The former means nothing without the latter. I believe that the Citizenship requirement successfully promoted a number of excellent projects during my college career that students may have never undertaken otherwise: a children's creative writing workshop, a film showing and panel discussion on the future of electric cars, local (and free) musical performances, social justice efforts, voluntarism at medical and nursing facilities, the creation of useful databases for HF students, the creation of a nutritional information system for dining services, etc. 我在网站上看到新的项目继续形成，我很自豪 that this legacy live on in the HF.

Having graduated over four years ago, I still try to live the value of "mind and hand." After finishing my BA in Religious Studies and South Asian Studies at Skidmore, 我在波士顿音乐学院获得了音乐硕士学位. Now, I am a licensed, professional public school music educator in the Somerville, MA Public School district. In my job, I constantly have to stay in tune with the latest research in my field 深入思考课程和教育理念. At the same time, I need to be able to put those big ideas into direct practice by designing and implementing quality lessons for my students at every level.  My Skidmore and HF education acted as great practice for this kind of thinking. Creative thought DOES matter, it turns out. In addition, while an HF member at Skidmore, I felt encouraged to pursue my interests 还有目标，不管它们看起来有多困难. The independent studies I did and co-curricular events I designed with HF support were particularly useful in this regard. 当我带着一个想法来到HF时，得到的回答总是:“很好， how can we support you?“这种积极的态度，想办法使我的兴趣 and motivations a reality has been a great model for me to continue to do this in my professional life and also to find work settings where that kind of attitude is the norm. 我很荣幸能在火博体育学院期间成为HF的一员.

Jessada Mahatthananchai, Class of 2009

For me, HF experience has been an enriching one. I was a chemistry major/english minor 所以我对科学的人文方面很感兴趣. Luckily through HF 独立学习和公民项目，在教授的支持下. Giguere at the chemistry department, I helped in assembling a museum exhibition “Molecules That Matter,” which showcased the top ten molecules of the 20th century that changed the course of humanity. 在唐朝博物馆和后来的化学遗产的展览 Foundation recounted the amazing stories of molecules such as aspirin, DDT, progestin, and DNA. 在这里，我学会了把我对科学的热情传递给公众 a “tour guide” at the exhibition and creating a preliminary website prior to the opening of the exhibition. 我还修了几门化学和数学的高频课程 是否要求更高，更具挑战性，但能满足我学习更多知识的愿望. In addition to that, I had a great time with Prof. Catherine Golden during a travel seminar (an 在英国巴斯的简·奥斯汀的主题. These opportunities truly 使我在火博体育的经历与众不同，真正做到了跨学科. And this is exactly what I had expected when I joined the HF! HF really did "add more to my Skidmore," as I once heard. 就我现在的职业道路而言，HF灌输给我的是 desire to challenge myself. 这就是促使我攻读化学研究生学位的原因， 这是我在宾夕法尼亚大学开始的研究. What I didn't foresee was that I would be moving to Europe to continue my doctoral degree, which I was very uncertain in the beginning. 但最后我还是做了现在的博士生 in Switzerland in large part due to the HF experience that taught me not to fear new 生活中的环境，并在任何新的环境中脱颖而出.

Annie Potish, Class of 2011

At Skidmore, there’s so much emphasis on learning as a rewarding process in itself, 而不是作为获得学位或满足要求的手段. I was encouraged to take classes that challenged me and opened my mind, and I try to keep that sense of inquiry with me today. 我一直喜欢阅读和写作，而且我的工作也允许 我每天都要和年轻人分享我的激情. There’s something amazing about seeing my students grapple with a text’s meaning, express themselves powerfully through 写作，或者只是了解自己和周围的世界.

The English department at Skidmore is absolutely incredible, and my positive experiences in those classes definitely contributed to my desire to teach English; I am currently a middle school English Teacher at a charter school in the South Bronx in New York City. 在火博体育写作中心担任班主任进一步巩固了我的热情 for education, where dedication, inquisitiveness, and enthusiasm go a long way. Problem-solving and willingness to try new things are also important, as well as communication and organization skills.

My advice is that while you’re at Skidmore, take classes that interest and excite you throughout your four years—not just when you’re fulfilling your liberal arts requirements. This may sound straightforward, but I think it can be easy to get caught up in requirements or classes you feel you “should” take. I love English and history, but while I was 在火博体育，我意外地发现自己对心理学课程很感兴趣. These classes didn’t count towards my major or minor, but they inspired me to think in new ways and enhanced my overall college experience.

在我的职业生涯中，创造性思维每天都很重要. Whether I’m planning out an entire unit or a short-term project, it’s so important for me to be as creative and purposeful as possible. Creativity leads to student engagement. When students are engaged, they put in the most effort and show the most academic growth. As an educator, it’s my responsibility to foster creativity in my students, which 意味着看看我有多有创造力. 

Phoebe Pundyk, Class of 2012

Phoebe Pundyk is a Skidmore graduate. She is currently an Assistant of Advertising and Promotions at the New York City Ballet. At Skidmore, she was a Studio Art Major, Business and Honors Forum minor. Here are a few words from Phoebe herself.

I work in the Marketing Department at the New York City Ballet, whose summer home is the Saratoga Springs Performing Arts Center, a stage I proudly walked across not too long ago. 我的工作需要创新的批判性思维、团队合作和创造力. Skidmore and participation in the Honors Forum were key to building a strong work 在这个充满智力挑战的环境中，我每天都保持着这种道德. Similar to the creative environment at Skidmore, I feel fortunate to be able to spend my days 在林肯中心，一个充满创造力和艺术性的地方.

The highlights of my coursework at Skidmore were most certainly the Honors Forum classes that I took. 通过加一学分的课程，我完成了很多HF课程的要求 to an existing course. 而不是选择一门我不太感兴趣的课程 in, I was able to work with the professor and often a smaller group of like-minded students to learn about a specific topic. This customizable curriculum allowed me to dive deeper into subjects of interest. This encouraged me to follow my curiosity. At Lincoln Center I follow a similar path, one that is familiar to me and manageable as a result of my time at Skidmore.

Melissa Rampelli, Class of 2006.  博士研究员兼文学副教授 at St. John’s University

The Honors Forum would not have made its indelible mark had it just been about getting a 3.4 GPA and having one’s name printed on a list. For me, HF came to be about a sense of community, engagement in an intellectual life outside of the classroom, and new challenges.  住在威辛大厅的荣誉楼参加 HF events—Shades of Gray, Fridays @ 4, field trips—I found friends within a community of likeminded learners. 以及大量的学术讲座和讨论 organized by the HF—often outside my own discipline—encouraged me to have a life of the mind outside of my English Literature novels and gave me the opportunities to 在那个年纪独自塑造自己是一项艰巨的任务吗!).  

But what most characterizes the Honors Forum as having left an “indelible” mark were the new challenges it allowed me to tackle. 两次严谨的研讨会和实习经历. Boshoff’s ENG303H “Peer Tutoring Project” and Dr. Golden’s HF201 “Junior Great Books”—confirmed my desire to teach secondary English and earn an MAT at Brown University; writing my Senior Thesis and presenting this work at the Academic Festival offered a graduate-level experience in a supportive undergraduate setting and shaped the doctoral research I would come to do six years later.

We often learn to swim in the winter and ski in the summer; and so it goes, through reflection, I have come to see that the qualities the HF initially set out to foster—self-initiative and a willingness to be in dialogue—are those I’ve come to value in myself and my students. 

David Steinberger, Class of 2009

When I arrived at Skidmore College, I knew that I wanted to be challenged intellectually, 但我也知道我想和我的社区建立联系.  As a native of the Saratoga region, I had a strong connection with the surrounding area and had engaged in numerous 初中和高中社区项目.  I wanted to continue this service in college, and the Honors Forum provided me with the perfect outlet for my ambitions.  With its core focus on connecting highly rigorous academics with community-based outreach 和领导力，荣誉论坛是一个自然的出口，我的激情.

Within my first year in the Honors Forum, I began my community service by embarking on my Service Requirement.  作为一名狂热的观鸟者，我研究生物学和鸟类学 Skidmore, I wanted to share my knowledge and passion of birds with others, and contribute to science through the process.  我可以通过组织“大后院”来做到这一点 Bird Count, a citizen science-based initiative founded by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology aimed at engaging everyday people with bird counting, while simultaneously helping conservation scientists.  参与者在他们的后院和社区数鸟， and submit their results to the Lab of Ornithology for analysis, where ornithologists 跟踪各种越冬鸟类的迁徙和数量变化.  As the leader of this event at Skidmore, I was able to get several of my peers and community members interested in bird watching and conservation, and I continued to conduct this count and numerous other community-based bird walks and lectures throughout the rest of my undergraduate career.

In addition to providing me with a community-minded outlet for my undergraduate endeavors, the Honors Forum challenged me intellectually at a level that I would not have received otherwise in my undergraduate studies.  My honors-level classes demanded the highest level of dedication in my studies, challenged my viewpoints, and demanded that I think critically and innovatively.  激烈的讨论和辩论是每天的主要内容 in these classes, as well as highly structured and insightful presentations and literary compositions.  今天我的学术和专业能力功不可没 to the time spent in my honors classes.  And my serve as Trip Coordinator and Vice President on the Honors Forum Committee taught me the invaluable skills of teamwork, compromise, planning, and organization.  All of these skills have proven invaluable in my post-Skidmore life, including the numerous collaborative projects required of me in graduate school, and the daily management, teamwork, documentation, and organizational skills needed in my current occupation as an assistant at an environmental consultant and management firm.