Grad Tab 2022

&

Old Gold Black W A K E

F O R E S T

U N I V E R S I T Y

THE

GRADUATION EDITION

NEWSPAPER NEWSMay 16, 2022 PAPER NEWSPA-

Page 2 | Thursday, April 28, 2022

Old Gold & Black | Graduation

Dear Class of 2022, Congratulations! The Old Gold & Black is excited to see you take on the new challenges of post-undergraduate life as your final spring in the forest comes to an end.

Although your eight semesters have likely been some of the most challenging in Wake Forest’s history, you will be a class that is uniquely prepared for a world that is in dire need of what is consistently replicated year in and year out on our beloved campus: community.

In this special graduation issue, we have compiled the experiences of 41 senior students. Each story offers a window into the unusual life that is lived here at Wake Forest, through records of exceptional academic triumphs, professional accomplishments, personal victories and funny memories. Everyone in this issue is quite different from the average American college student, and so is every member of our student body.

This truth is what makes our Wake Forest community invaluable. Anyone can find a friend. From Deacon Place to the Reynolda Trail, there is a person for everybody; an irreplaceable friendship, full of life-enduring memories waiting to be experienced.

For years to come, you will look back on your college years and wish to return to this place and these people. You will wish you could go to one more football game, date function, president’s ball or frat basement.

You will want to come back, throw your cares to the wind for a couple of hours and lay out on the quad with your friends, watching the busyness of Work Forest from your green oasis. You might even miss some of your favorite classes, and wish that you could relearn your passion for your major like once before.

No matter what reason will make you come back to Wake Forest, remember that above all else, you’ll want to return because of the people who were around you. They made your years in college some of the most important times of your life.

You and your classmates are the ones who drove change, who inspired your professors with your intellectual curiosity, who dared classes of students above and below you with your remarkable achievements.

When you reminisce about all the times you reached your greatest successes or felt the

joy of pursuing whatever you loved most on Wake Forest’s campus, remember how your classmates helped you get to that moment.

In these pages, you will find a chronicle of all of these moments that helped to make Wake Forest such a special place. Every feature in this edition was written with a deep admiration and gratitude for the profound effect you have had on our time at Wake Forest. This is our thank you.

I would also like to offer a special thanks to my predecessor, Alexandra Karlinchak, who will be graduating this spring. Without her excellent leadership of the Old Gold & Black, our newspaper would not be close to the remarkable beacon of independent student journalism that it is today. We will remember the many lessons and happy memories she helped to give us during her time as editor.

Now, as you venture out into the world that exists beyond Winston-Salem, take your classmates with you. No, you don’t have to literally travel with one of your classmates, although that might be a fun thing to do. Instead, take with you what these people are to you.

Take the late-night, reckless college memories with you as you begin work in the real world. They will help you to remember that life is supposed to be lived, not worked at.

Take the moments in which you felt like you couldn’t overcome the hard work and responsibilities that were being thrown at you, and then did with the help of others.

These memories will strengthen your belief in yourself as you face new obstacles. Take those quiet moments, where you and your classmates experienced that rare feeling of peace and tranquility while going through the motions of life on campus. You’ll need them to help you remember to find that perfect balance of work and life.

All of us here at the Old Gold & Black are excited to see you take on the world.

With the important bonds you have made with people in the Wake Forest community, we know that you will be well prepared for anything that might come your way. We hope that you won’t forget to come back and visit. You will be dearly missed.

Best Wishes, Connor McNeely Editor-in-Chief

Old Gold&Black T he G raduaTion e diTion CONNOR McNEELY Editor-in-Chief

SELINNA TRAN Print Managing Editor

AINE PIERRE

COOPER SULLIVAN

Online Managing Editor

Multimedia Managing Editor

Production Staff: ESSEX THAYER, CHRISTINA DENOVIO, CHRISTA DUTTON, EMILY TORO, MEREDITH PRINCE, CHASE BAGNALL-KOGER, UNA WILSON, ADAM COIL, JOSIE SCRATCHARD, SOPHIE GUYMON, MARYAM KHANUM

Cover photo by: KATIE FOX Back cover photo by: KATIE FOX Layout by: SELINNA TRAN The Graduation Tabloid is a special publication of the Old Gold & Black student newspaper, published by Triangle Printing of Durham. We have regular issues printed every Thursday of the regular semester and maintain our website at wfuogb.com. If you have any questions or comments, or would like more information about purchasing advertisements, please email wfuogb@ gmail.com. © 2022 WFU Media Board. All rights reserved.

Andy Woehr/Old Gold & Black

Old Gold & Black

Friday, April 28, 2022 | Page 3

Katie Fox / Old Gold & Black

WHAT’S INSIDE: Letter from the Editor 2 The Year In Review 4 The Year In Review (cont.)

5 Letter from the SG President 6 Accountancy | African American Studies 7 Anthropology | Applied Mathematics 8 Art History | Biochemistry & Molecular Biology 9 Biology | Biophysics 10 Business & Enterprise Management | Chemistry 11 Chinese Lang. & Culture | Classical Languages12 Classical Studies | Computer Science 13 Economics | Elementary Education 14 Engineering | English 15

Environment & Sustainability | Finance French Studies | German Health & Exercise Studies | History Japanese Language & Culture | Latin Math Business | Math Economics Math Statistics | Mathematics Music in Liberal Arts | Music Performance Philosophy | Physics Politics & Int’l Affairs | Psychology Religious Studies | Sociology Spanish | Studio Art Theatre | WGSS

16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

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Old Gold & Black | Graduation

The year

FEATURES

in review.

Showcasing and highlighting remarkable stories and coverage across the six sections of the Old Gold & Black during the 20212022 school year — a tumultous year full of tenacious people and memories

The Features Section: Meredith Prince, Chase Bagnall-Koger & Una Wilson

Photo courtesy of the Office of Sustainability

Katie Fox/ Old Gold & Black

NEWS The News Section: Christa Dutton & Emily Toro

Katie Fox/ Old Gold & Black

This semester, the news staff covered several significant events on campus — some expected, some not. Not only have we thoroughly enjoyed working with each other as co-editors, we’ve cherished getting to work with such a dedicated team of writers, many of which also worked as production assistants. We saw many new writers quickly become staff writers and produce incredible work for our section.

This has been a remarkable year of news writing, to say the least.

News continued to rigorously cover COVID-19 policy updates, with the pinnacle of the coverage being the lifting of the indoor mask mandate.

Perhaps the craziest event to occur this semester was the wildly unexpected Weaver Fertilizer Plant fire that disrupted much of Winston-Salem and our entire campus community.

Alongside our executive team, we had the opportunity to practice real-life reporting, providing students with timely and necessary updates.

The university also saw a few changes in its leadership this semester. President Susan Wente who arrived at Wake Forest last fall was formally inaugurated, Provost Rogan Kersh stepped down to assume full-time teaching and Dean of the College Michelle Gillespie succeeded and Vice Provost Kami Chavis announced she would be leaving Wake Forest to take a position at the College of William & Mary.

The Wake Forest Student Government also elected a new set of leaders, and our news team followed the election through coverage of the presidential debate and the election’s aftermath.

To end the semester, members of our editorial board and a contributing writer extensively covered the innocence hearing of the “Winston-Salem Five”, the group of men who were convicted of murdering a WinstonSalem man named Nathaniel Jones, the grandfather of former Wake Forest basketball star Chris Paul.

Like the Weaver Fire Fertilizer fire, this event was a chance for our section to engage in professional reporting and to write a story that is deeply important to the city of Winston-Salem and members of the Wake Forest community.

We’re looking forward to another successful semester ahead and have many bright visions for the potential of the news section.

This year, the “Features” section joined the OGB. In short, the features section features human interest stories, achievements, club profiles, and an environmental science beat. The features section has seen significant growth, and we’ve highlighted many important people and organizations.

Wake Forest University has shaped the lives of some fascinating people; entrepreneurs, scientists, social media icons, and social justice activists are all united by the influence of this university and its pro humanitate spirit.

Deacon Profiles, which spotlight one of these individuals each week, have been a joy to write. In their own words, we have heard from students, faculty, and alumni about their passions and projects — the highlights as well as the difficulties — and had the opportunity to share their stories publicly. In particular, the Deacon Profiles featuring Will Wahl, Corey D.B. Walker, Ashlyn Sanders, and Caroline Phillips were personal favorites of ours and highlight the diversity of areas in which Wake students thrive.

This semester, the features section also included a page-long spotlight on environmental and sustainability stories. We had the pleasure of highlighting many different interdisciplinary environmental clubs and organizations on campus, such as Environmental Educators, the Campus Garden, and Wayward Fashion. Our coverage of environmental news spanned from the Weaver fertilizer plant fire to Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s leadership through environmentally- themed poetry, art, and song. As climate change threatens our future, environmental education is more paramount than ever. We are honored to have had the opportunity to inform and inspire the rest of campus about an all-encompassing topic that will impact all of our lives, and all of our futures.

Over the course of this semester, we have also featured many intriguing and special groups and organizations.

Some of our favorite profiles included that of the Black Student Alliance, Athena’s Lifting Club, Dating Deacons, and the ‘Living in Color’ first year seminar. Other exciting spotlights include that of the DESK community service event, Bridging the Gap, and the club equestrian team. We’ve also dived into the Winston-Salem community by highlighting the A/Perture Cinema, the restaurant ‘Six Hundred Degrees,’ and the North Star LGBTQ+ community center. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning more about all of these interesting groups on campus and in our community, and can’t wait to dive into more next semester.

Graduation | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, February 28, 2022 | Page 5

SPORTS

LIFE

The Sports Section: Essex Thayer & Christina DeNovio

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics

The Opinion Section: Maryam Khanum & Sophie Guymon

Photo courtesy of NBC News

Over the course of this semester, we achieved many of the goals we had been working towards for the Opinion section of the Old Gold & Black.

While the news section diligently covered the numerous notable and chaotic events occurring in Wake Forest’s periphery, we at the Opinion section made it our job to

Looking back on this past year, one can’t help but wonder if this is in fact the greatest year of athletic success in this school’s history. And if it has been, it’s worth reflecting on how amazing those events were, and how grateful we are to have been able to cover them for you.

Football had one of their best statistical seasons since 2006, a year the Demon Deacons won the ACC Championship. Along with winning the Atlantic Division and taking part in the ACC Championship, Wake Forest reached their highest ranking in program history — No. 10 — while also winning a high-profile bowl game and amassing its highest student attendance ever at 90%.

Men’s basketball electrified the city of WinstonSalem under the leadership of second-year head coach Steve Forbes, turning a 6-16 team from last year into a 25-10 squad that came one win away from the NCAA Tournament. We all remember dancing on the court after an exhilarating 22-point win over North Carolina, a team that made the NCAA Championship.

More recently, men’s and women’s golf both secured an ACC title in the past two weeks, only the fourth time this has happened in conference history, and the first time it was done by a school not named Duke.

Along with that, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s basketball, cross country, field hockey and volleyball all had spectacular runs of play during their individual seasons.

OPINION communicate the perspectives of Wake Forest students, ensuring that their voices and concerns could be heard. When we took issue with the actions of the administration and the campus climate, we expressed that, whether it was through articles on the Weaver Fertilizer Fire, our ‘No Humanitate’ article, staffer Aaron Nataline’s article on the planned construction of a road through Davis Field and Conor Metzger’s article on YikYak culture on campus or criticisms of university response to shooting threats. We also gave our staffers the opportunity to engage in conversation with each other through our newly created “Deacs Debate” column, where students debated everything from the benefits of nuclear power to the existence of God. While we reserved space for creative freedom in the Opinion section, we also made sure to cover important political and social matters through our other columns, “The F-Word” and “Oval Offense”, which spotlit relevant feminist and political issues respectively.

Our articles covering ongoing events won three “Best of Student News (SNO)” recognitions over the semester, including an article from staff writer Natasha Heisenberg on the suicide of Wake Forest Law alum and public figure Cheslie Kryst. One of our priorities this semester has been stimulating conversation and awareness around issues such as

And Wake Forest is not done yet. Men’s and women’s tennis, baseball and track and field all have the remainder of their seasons ahead of them, with hopes of success and a championship in mind.

The sports section of the Old Gold and Black has been so fortunate to cover each and every single team on this campus in their successes. Stories such as “Field hockey’s one goal: a final Sunday,” “Women’s golf claims ACC Crown,” “At 8-1, Sam Hartman won’t stop working” and “MBB celebrates signature win over UNC” were incredibly fun to report because our teams this year were truly exceptional.

We were also incredibly proud to report on the successes of Dave Clawson and Steve Forbes in a long-form special insert that highlighted the success of football and men’s basketball, along with the impact these individual coaches had on their programs. It took a lot of hard work from a lot of people to make the story happen, and we were happy to bring it to the readers.

The Old Gold and Black has taken us to some special places this year: football’s bowl game in Jacksonville, the ACC Basketball Tournaments in Brooklyn and Greensboro, Cameron Indoor at Duke, Kenan Stadium at North Carolina and many other venues. It’s been special, and we won’t forget those experiences. We hope our reporting did these amazing teams justice and we appreciate your continued support.

mental health that are often stigmatized.

We gave our writers the opportunity to talk about relevant issues in pop culture, especially ones that took social media by storm. These articles included content about the Will Smith vs. Chris Rock Oscars fiasco by staff writers Conor Metzger and Robert Yount, and an analysis of the previous YouTube Rewinds by Life editor Adam Coil.

To finish the semester off, we dedicated an issue to women in public forums and the struggles they have faced. This edition called attention to a number of prominent women relevant in politics, including Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, journalist Assia Djebar and others.

However, the expression of opinions through a public avenue such as journalism can come with criticism, a possibility that any opinion writer should be prepared for. An article by Opinion Editor Sophie Guymon on a controversial incident that occurred at the Wake Forest Medical School was picked up by The Daily Mail and Fox News, generating negativity towards both the Opinion section and the Old Gold & Black as a whole.

One thing we have learned through our time as Opinion Editors is that criticism should not serve as a deterrent to making one’s voice heard — if anything, it should encourage it. Expressing an opinion that others may not agree with is an admirable thing, and no one person can take that away from you.

The Life Section: Josie Scratchard & Adam Coil It has truly been a wonderful year for the Life section. The changes that the section has gone through are incredible and so worthy of praise. This past year has seen the growth and development of Selinna Tran’s conception, “Life Through The Lens”, as well as other new, exciting sections. “Life on The Street” made its first appearance in the fall semester and a comeback in the spring, covering the hidden gems of the Winston-Salem shops.

Not only that, but “Adam’s Culture Column” appeared with a briefing of some of pop culture’s modern treasures and a new perspective on cultural explorations.

This year was truly a year of experimentation. We added new features like crosswords, completely redesigned the section’s layout and had writers take part in writing the “Hot List”, but what made each edition so special was the wonderful writing done by our talented writers.

We would like to recognize one writer in particular, Yushuo Wang, who wrote six spectacular articles this year — taking home a “Best of SNO” in the process. Her writing has provided a much-needed window into the lives of international students at Wake Forest, exposing us American-born students to struggles and complications that we would otherwise have no idea about. While her articles approach most subjects from the standpoint of her international identity, there is also a universal element to the feelings of academic inadequacy or uncertainty surrounding identity that her writing has explored. With a fresh, quirky writing style and a dedication to helping out the Old Gold & Black, Yushuo has been an invaluable component to both the writing and production aspects of the Life section.

Alyssa Soltren was our first “Best of SNO” award winner this year with her article titled “Finding meaning in the unthinkable”, which dove deeply and honestly into the reality of mental illness in this country. She touched on the importance of being there for others and staying connected with those we love through her personal experience. The Life section lends itself to a wide variety of topics, and this year was no different. We covered existentialism, “The Emoji Movie”, niche music, reality TV, WinstonSalem and just about everything in between. We are always blown away by the creativity and variety in the Life section. Writers consistently provide us with articles that aren’t the standard movie review, but something more. From analyses of celebrities to actors’ performances to pop culture critiques, the Life writers have stayed transformative in presenting standard ideas in a fresh light.

Abby Komiske and Sofia Bazant lead the way in articles written with Komiske writing eight and Bazant writing seven. There were so many fantastic writers this year, and we want to simply say thank you for all of your effort and dedication as well as congratulate all of our new staff writers! The enthusiasm that we’ve encountered is so encouraging and wonderful to see. If next year’s Life section is anything like this past year’s, then the future is bright, imaginative and inspiring.

Page 6 | Thursday, April 28, 2022

Old Gold & Black | Graduation

LETTER TO THE STUDENT BODY:

ALLY SWARTZBERG Dear Wake Forest student body, Thank you for entrusting me with our collective college experience. My term has been wonderful, exhausting, exciting and trying all at once. Through it all, I have had the pleasure of working alongside talented student leaders to advocate for the needs of our student body.

This goodbye is the most confusing thing I’ve written in a long time because it is filled with conflicting feelings of joy, sadness and gratitude. For the last year, through a pandemic, a fertilizer plant fire, rabid raccoons, protests, about one million surveys that are all the most important you’ll ever take (but actually the Campus Climate survey was the most important, so thanks for taking it), a global conflict, and whatever other crazy thing from which I’ve willfully dissociated, I have had the great pleasure of serving the Wake Forest community.

Though it has been a challenging year of leadership, it has also been deeply rewarding, not least of all because I have seen campus come alive again after a 2-year-long hiatus from “normal” life.

As I approach graduation and the end of my term, I know I am leaving behind a team of strong, compassionate, and driven student leaders who will accomplish extraordinary things.

After we leave campus on May 16th, I don’t know what the next chapter of Wake Forest will bring, but I am sure

that the next year will be different from the four that I have lived here. Yet, I am confident that when I return for a reunion five or 10 or 20 years from now, this place that has been my home will have blossomed under the next generation of student leadership. I think that’s the beauty of our Mother So Dear — she grows and changes with each new class yet she maintains the character that drew us to her in the first place.

I want to be clear: not one single thing that happened this year, happened because of me, at least not me alone. If you are one of the amazing students I have worked alongside in my four years at Wake, know that I appreciate your tireless efforts to support other students, to advocate with me when students rallied together, and to tell me I was wrong when I needed to hear it. My voice has not been my own this year; it has been ours, representative of 5,500 students who came together to call for a Wake Forest that serves her students first.

College is a time for growth and change. I love Wake Forest for giving me a chance to grow with so many inspiring and passionate role models and friends. Thank you for some of the best four years of my life. It has been an honor to serve as your President.

Catch you at homecoming and Go Deacs!

Ally Swartzberg Photo courtesy of Ally Swartzberg

Year In Review Continued

Multimedia Managing Editor: Cooper Sullivan It’s no secret that the way people receive news and information has drastically changed over the last few years. More people turn to quick blurbs from digital sources, most notably social media, rather than taking the time to read an entire article.

We at the Old Gold & Black have recognized this and tried to adapt the way we publish news.

Admittedly, we are still behind the curve and have ways to improve, but our first year as a section has laid the groundwork for a strong future.

Most importantly we have strengthened and revitalized our current social media presence, providing both higher quantity and higher quality content across three platforms. Since establishing a consistent posting schedule at the beginning of the spring semester, engagement with Old Gold & Black associated accounts has increased 45% on Instagram, 250% on Facebook and over 300% on Twitter.

I would like to thank Abby Furman, Aran Silva, Avery Houck, Elisabeth Rollins, Essex Thayer, Grace Valley, Katie Fox, Kiara Kamlani, Maggie Onsager, Selinna Tran and Sofia Bazant for their help with making these improvements possible.

In addition to revitalizing our social media

MULTIMEDIA presence, the Old Gold & Black expanded onto the airwaves, producing three original podcasts, creating the Old Gold & In Your Ears podcast family. The first of which premiered in September 2021 and was hosted by Evan Daane and Cooper Sullivan and edited by Sean Jones.

While the name seemed to change from week to week — I think we would call it “The Weekly Roundup” and “The News Dispatch” in the same episode numerous times — the passion and devotion the three gave never wavered. The 15-20 minute long episodes would recap the biggest headlines of the week, feature appearances from the writers and exclusive interviews with members of the Wake Forest community like two-time guest Dr. Corey D.B. Walker, student Yushuo Wang and Wakerspace coordinator Paul Whitener.

Later that semester two sophomores pitched a sports show and the “OGB Weekly Sports Podcast” was started. Jake Stuart and Jack McKenney were able to speak with athletes from nearly every Demon Deacon team during one of the greatest years of athletic achievement in school history. Football player Donald Stewart, golfer Rachel Keuhn, basketball player Dallas Walton and thrower Thomas Kitchell are just some of the talented players that you can listen to now on Spotify.

When one of the “Weekly Roundup” hosts went abroad for the spring semester, a hole was left in our programming. But thankfully, Sophie Yass and Stephanie Lu’s localization podcast called “The Outside In” went above and beyond all expectations. Centered around important national and global issues, the two spoke with experts around Wake Forest to get a better understanding and an answer to “why should college students care?” Yass and Lu tackled the mental health crisis, the vaccine debate, sexual assualt, the war in Ukraine, and to be released next week, abortion. A special thanks to Will Zimmerman for getting the ball rolling on this project.

Thiis next semester will be an exciting one for the multimedia section as we spend the summer workshopping and creating new ideas, especially in terms of video content. But we can’t grow the section as much as we want unless we have your help.

As we continue to revamp our multimedia presence, the need for quality images, fresh graphic design ideas, captivating voices and innovative video content grows. If you are interested in helping out, whether that is with graphic design, photography, videography, audio editing, podcast hosting, transcribing, or anything else multimedia-related, please reach out to Cooper Sullivan at sullcg20@wfu.edu

Graduation | Old Gold & Black

April 28, 2022 | Page 7

ACCOUNTANCY

DAVID HOOKER CONNOR MCNEELY Editor-in-Chief Growing up, David Hooker wanted to be one of two things: a racecar driver or an astronaut.

He wasn’t sure how well he’d do those jobs, but as long as he had a good time doing them, he’d be just fine.

Now, Hooker is on his way to work as a tax accountant — and will probably have a good time doing it.

Hooker didn’t always know he would be an accountant. He would find his way during his time at Wake Forest, but until then, he only had the advice of his brother to go on.

“Back in high school, my brother, who was a finance major, took accounting and hated it with a passion,” Hooker said. “He got back one year and looked at me and said: ‘You’re going to love this.’”

And he did. Hooker landed in an accounting class and realized that he was actually “kind of good at this stuff”. From there, he continued to bounce around until he found a happy medium between banking and consulting: tax in mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

This role makes Hooker a kind of business oracle for companies. With his team, he analyzes tax issues with the companies acquiring or being acquired, and then advises their leadership based on potential tax exposures and helps structure insurance deals – typically reps and warranties insurance policies – which are an increasingly crucial component of the M&A sector.

Hooker also has worked on structuring M&A deals in tax-efficient methods. In this kind of planning, accountants analyze revenue codes in order to save money for their clients.

“That was the part I found most interesting because it’s like a puzzle to me,” Hooker said.

Shortly after taking a liking to his accounting courses, Hooker was accepted into the Wake Forest School of Business , where he found plenty

of opportunities to connect and get recruited by top accounting firms.

“It was an interesting experience because the classes [at the business school] are so difficult,” Hooker said. “And also, when I was going through recruiting, the position that I will graduate into didn’t exist back then. I’d have to network my way into the role, to keep meeting them and badgering them and saying, ‘hey, still interested? Don’t forget about me’. It was exhausting at times.”

Hooker’s persistence paid off. Although he started off in an internship fixing laptops, Hooker found himself working as a property taxes consultant, which gave him good experience in a field that he could fall back on. His most recent internship was with Houlihan Lokey, in the lowerto-middle M&A market.

“I showed up on the first day and they were like, ‘we’ve never had an intern before. So we’re going to go through our project, and you do your absolute best,’” Hooker said. “I learned a ton really quickly because it’s either sink or swim. I loved it. Loved the team.”

With these valuable experiences and a year of business school accounting courses ahead, Hooker says he will “really be in the thick of it” next year.

Until then, he’s working to the finish line and enjoying the last bit of time he has at Wake Forest.

Hooker has been involved with a number of extracurricular organizations on campus, including Alpha Phi Omega (Wake Forest’s service fraternity) and Catholic Community. He also enjoys Wake Forest’s small but tight-knit community of aspiring accountants.

“There’s not like a gazillion kids in it,” Hooker said. “Accountants are very similar people, you could say. There’s really not a lot of variation.”

Size and variation aside, Hooker represents another exceptional accounting class to come out of Wake Forest’s accounting program – which is in the top 5% of accounting programs nationwide.

Katie Fox / Old Gold & Black

AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIES

SIERRA DEVEAUX

CONNOR MCNEELY Editor-in-Chief Sierra DeVeaux will graduate as the first African American Studies major in the history of Wake Forest University. DeVeaux made the decision to major in African American Studies just before her senior year and found a discipline and faculty altogether different from any that she had ever encountered.

Wake Forest launched the African American studies program in the summer of 2021. It is led by program director and distinguished Wake Forest Professor of the Humanities Dr. Corey D. B. Walker, who has also worked as an external consultant on Wake Forest’s Slave, Race and Memory project.

Walker, a mentor to DeVeaux, spoke to her exceptional skills as a student and her remarkable desire to learn.

“Sierra is a creative, committed and compassionate scholar,” Walker said. “She practices a deep ethic of intellectual hospitality that complements her passion for creating a more just and humane world ... it was a true gift to learn with her.”

For DeVeaux, Walker’s classes and the new African American Studies program became a place in which her passion for learning could flourish.

“This department and my experiences with its professors definitely push your intellectual capacity in ways that I really embrace,” DeVaux said. “They get you to think critically and always ask questions constantly.”

DeVeaux’ curiosity about the academic institution has powered her excellence within her studies at Wake Forest. She has also studied within the sociology department at Wake Forest and intended to major in the discipline until the African American Studies program came into existence.

One of the most important influences on DeVeaux’ academic experience was Dr. Brittany Battle, an assistant professor in the sociology

department and affiliate faculty in the African American Studies program.

“Dr. Battle started my journey as a student in her Intro to Sociology class,” DeVaux said. “She and other professors were some of the first people to expose me to thinking about the world, and also caring for people’s humanity.”

Battle highlighted DeVeaux’s intrepid passion for sociology and her other studies.

“Sierra was one of the best students I’ve taught!”

Battle said. “Her intellectual curiosity and initiative made her such a pleasure to have in all of my seminars.”

After exhausting many academic catalogs, DeVeaux’s hunger for knowledge led her to its real-life application. And her major met her in that pursuit.

“A large part of the program is connecting the university with the community. You cannot just talk about something all the time and expect to automatically put it into practice,” DeVeaux said.

“What we’re talking about is not just ideology, it’s not just theories, there’s actual practice that goes along with it.”

DeVeaux’s experiences in the classroom often translate into her life outside of Wake Forest.

As an individual with a deeply creative mind, DeVeaux enjoys putting her writing, painting and video editing skills to use with her friends at Wake Forest and also in downtown Winston-Salem at Umoja African Crafts, a nonprofit store that sells handmade items crafted by artisans in Kenya.

Now, DeVeaux faces a journey from traditional academic instruction into a world where her intellectual curiosity will be without limits. She plans to spend the upcoming year after graduation investing time into her most meaningful relationships with others.

“I just wanted to remind myself after graduating that I can’t forget to live,” DeVaux said. “I can go to England and spend time with my family that I haven’t been able to before and make connections with people that I wouldn’t have expected.”

Katie Fox / Old Gold & Black

Page 8 | Thursday, April 28, 2022

Old Gold & Black | Graduation

ANTHROPOLOGY

RUOHAN LI MEREDITH PRINCE Features Editor

Katie Fox/ Old Gold & Black

With a primary major in Finance in the Wake Forest School of Business, Ruohan Li has spent countless hours studying within the business world and focusing on a future within the accountancy sector. She is currently enrolled in the five-year finance track through Wake Forest’s Masters of Science in Accountancy Program. Yet, Li developed a second passion of anthropology — which turned into her secondary major — after taking an introductory archaeology course her freshman year. Li detailed the unforgettable lessons she has learned from the numerous anthropology courses she has taken throughout her time at Wake Forest.

Li took the introductory archaeology course after watching CSI: Crime Scene Investigation many times throughout her youth. Her childhood dream was to be a forensic scientist, and taking such a course, she believed, would allow her to take a glimpse into the world of forensic science that she had initially dreamt of.

“I always thought archaeology was cool: digging something up, and analyzing the artifacts,” Li said.

“After taking that class, I found it so fascinating, and it encouraged me to look at the world from a different perspective.”

Li recognized the similarities between forensic science and biological anthropology, specifically noting the work with human bones and skulls. She noted there is an entire field, forensic anthropology, in which anthropologists work with police to identify skulls. Although Li never experienced this work firsthand, she enjoyed hearing the stories and experiences of other anthropologists, which sparked her developed interest in the field.

Li credits much of her passion and success in the anthropology field to Dr. Paul Thacker, who taught her in Intro to Archaeology (ANT 112) her freshman year and with whom she continued to take classes throughout her time at Wake Forest.

“Ruohan has a deep intellectual curiosity which drives her to read and research far beyond class

requirements,” Thacker said. “I could always count on her to pose thoughtful questions or to make insightful observations that transformed the class conversation.”

Coming from Beijing, China, Li knew she wanted to attend Wake Forest after viewing photos of Wait Chapel and discovering what Wake Forest had to offer. Although she knew she had an interest in finance, she was unaware of what the anthropology field had to offer, but she soon discovered that she wanted it to be a part of her future. One of the first and long-lasting messages Li has taken from anthropology is to “never take anything for granted.” Specifically, she notes that through studying anthropology, she has learned how much effort people put into building historical monuments and that it’s important to recognize the tools we have today.

“With today’s technology, we can do whatever we want, but learning how people had to put a lot of effort to get together and get things done was really eye-opening,” Li said. “We need to think about how we can implement our power into our work in a more sustainable way.”

Li said that while she has learned plenty, there are many things that she wants to discover more about. Specifically, she recalls a human evolution class where they discussed that there is much more space to discover regarding our human ancestors.

A large part of archaeology, she noted, is finding out what happened in the past, and because this field is still new compared to other majors, there are more things for students to discover and research. It is these types of revelations and questions that have allowed Li to excel in both the creative and empathetic levels of anthropology.

After graduating from Wake Forest, Li will work at Ernst & Young, an international accounting firm, in its FSO Assurance practice as an auditor.

Although she will not be directly pursuing a job in the field of anthropology, she believes that her study in the field has made her more open-minded and, in her future jobs, will encourage her to embrace new perspectives and opinions, and be more critical when making decisions.

APPLIED MATHEMATICS

MINATO HIRAOKA CHASE BAGNALL-KOGER Features Editor

Katie Fox/ Old Gold & Black

When Minato Hiraoka applied to Wake Forest, he knew what he would study. Now he is graduating after only three years with a degree in applied mathematics.

Though Hiraoka always knew he would be majoring in a science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) subject, he describes the decision to major in Applied Mathematics as a “process of elimination.” Physics and chemistry were never as fun and biology never as interesting as math. After completing classes in different STEM subjects in high school, Hiraoka was looking forward to pursuing mathematics at Wake Forest.

After beginning early by completing highlevel mathematics courses in freshman and sophomore year, Hiraoka was on track for a quick graduation. This fall he will begin graduate school at Northwestern University to pursue his doctorate degree in applied mathematics.

“Taking lots of math classes early on gave me the opportunity to quickly branch out to higher-level math classes and take pretty much all the applied math classes that this school has to offer within three years,” Hiraoka said.

Within the applied mathematics department, the intimate community allowed him to form close connections with his fellow classmates and professors. Particularly, Professor Kaitlin Hill, who also attended Northwestern University, made a significant impact on the course of his educational career at Wake Forest University.

“Minato thinks deeply about the connections between mathematics and applications, engaging in the sense-making process to a depth I have rarely seen,” Hill said.

She continued: “It has been an honor to work

with Minato in both classes and his research.

I am looking forward to hearing more about his path as he moves forward in his career in applied mathematics.”

The ability to form connections with fellow classmates and professors also proved to be a critical part of Hiraoka’s experience at Wake Forest, despite the amount of studying and schoolwork required to complete a mathematics degree, he branched out after the first semester of his freshman year and found a more social aspect of the school. One of his favorite study spots, the ‘atrium’ of the Z. Smith Reynolds library, was where he met several of his close friends.

Hiraoka also made use of his summers. Between semesters, he participated in research projects at the Florida International University, where he was able to work closely with professors on their ongoing work.

“Working with professors from that university really helped me realize that I want to do research after college,” Hiraoka said.

For his senior thesis, Hiraoka chose to focus on a topic that has become increasingly compelling to the public in recent years: epidemiology. Hiraoka’s work involves formulating models that predict the possible incomes of government responses to a pandemic on both the spread of the disease and that nation’s economy. For example, a complete “lockdown” may be effective in slowing the rates of infection but can have irreversibly devastating effects on some nations’ economies.

Though the research appears particularly relevant in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the goal of the models is for them to be applicable to the global spread of any disease.

As far as graduate school research and possible concentrations, Hiraoka is keeping his potential options open.

“My senior thesis was a fun project, but I’m looking forward to finding new topics to explore during the next few years,” Hiraoka said.

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ART HISTORY

MADDY BARNICK COOPER SULLIVAN Multimedia Managing Editor

When coming into college, many students are told to pick a profitable major or one that will set them up to easily find a job upon graduation. Sometimes this works out, the match is compatible and the DegreeWorks “What If ” section goes untouched.

But sometimes, a lucky student gets to tell their parents during a lull in a winter break dinner conversation that they want to pursue art history. During her time at Wake Forest, Maddy Barnick was very lucky in that regard.

Barnick came into college with the presumption that she was going to go into finance and study in the business school. She would just have to get through the first two years of divisionals. It was her First Year Seminar, “Discovering the Avant-Garde” with Professor Leigh Ann Hallburg, that made Barnick realize there was more to art than what she had previously believed.

“I had no exposure [to art before this],” said the senior from Stratford, CT. “That was the first time that I ever sat in a class and learned about art and its history and certain styles of painting. I never really understood that art had meaning outside of just being an image.

So that was the first time that I started to see how dynamic art actually was.”

Barnick would soon start to work at the Hanes Art Gallery and realized that the worlds of business and art do in fact intertwine. The original plan was to continue with business and complete an art history minor, but after enrolling in the Acquavella Business class, which explored the roles that galleries, sellers and artists all play in the global art market, she realized she was going to make the switch.

“I was actually terrified to tell my parents that I wanted to do art history,” Barnick said.

“I wasn’t nervous to tell my parents that I didn’t want to do business because there are

so many other majors. I was really nervous to have that conversation about what art history would be for me, and how that would be beneficial.”

Barnick realized that she would have to show her parents that there are opportunities postgraduation in order to receive support, so she made it her mission to show that she not only would belong in the art world but that she would thrive in it.

During her junior year, Barnick and 12 other art-loving students were entrusted with $100,000 of university money to purchase as many works as they wished for the Student Union’s Collection of Contemporary Art. This prestigious group is selected every four years and normally would let the students travel to New York City to roam galleries and private collections. Due to COVID-19, the group had to conduct all their research virtually, but Barnick said it was still an amazing experience.

“Once I switched, my parents were like ‘we don’t want you doing anything else,’” Barnick said. “My parents are so behind me now being an art history major. They love it. My sister is in the business school and they get so excited of course but they get so excited about the things that I’m doing because I actually have passion for it.”

After graduation, Barnick will be moving to London to obtain her Master’s degree in Art Business from Sotheby’s through the University of Manchester. She hopes to work in a gallery for a few years and then return to the university system to help inspire other students to pursue their art dreams.

“If you find something you like and if you have passion for it,” Barnick said. “Just go with it. It is scary, especially at a place like Wake Forest, where everyone is so driven and so competitive and so ready to take on the hardest task. But the art department is like a family here and no one is going to let anyone else fail. I’ve been so fortunate for these people.”

Katie Fox/Old Gold & Black

BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

CAROLINE KERNELL

KATIE FOX Photography Editor Caroline Kernell is a highly-accomplished Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (BMB) major hailing from Houston, TX. With advice from her a cappella director Kate Hanson — and a semester of experience in Dr. Lindsay Comstock-Ferguson’s lab as a research assistant — Kernell declared her major early in the fall of her sophomore year.

“Caroline has been a joy to work with for the last three years as a student in my research lab,” Comstock-Ferguson said. “After joining in her freshman year, she took on a challenging project and learned a lot of experimental techniques quickly.”

While Kernell was always set on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), her divisional requirements proved to be impactful. Inspired by her Christian a cappella group, Minor Variation (MV), and an amazing experience in Dr. Ken Hoglund’s Intro to the Bible (REL 102) course, she added a religion minor.

“For a long time, I [didn’t] like anything else besides STEM, but I really liked my religion classes because they’re interesting in a different way,” Kernell said.

She added that conversations with former MV Chaplain Anna Crumpler solidified her plans, and she was glad she had the opportunity to take so many interesting courses across so many different departments in her four years.

Academics were Kernell’s primary focus, and that focus earned her recognition as a Thomas E. and Ruth Mullen scholar — part of the Carswell Scholarship Program for returning students — as well as membership in Omicron Delta Kappa, the Mortar Board Honors Society, and Phi Beta Kappa. Kernell has also worked as a supplemental instructor and tutor for the Chemistry Department, and as a private tutor in chemistry and biology on and off campus.

Kernell also served as president of Wake Saturdays, a service organization in which students help houseless people downtown. Kernell is also

a member of Alpha Delta Pi and was excited to share about her work as Fraternity and Sorority Life ambassador and a GRC (a sorority rush counselor) for two years.

Kernell says the arts have been essential to her life at Wake Forest. An active member of the Wake Forest Chamber Choir for all four years, Kernell performed under Dr. Brian Gorelick before his retirement and helped Dr. Christopher Gilliam navigate his new role after he joined the department in 2020. She is looking forward to the choir’s upcoming tour of the East Coast. Gilliam spoke highly of her character.

“Caroline has a joyful spirit and has been the backbone of Chamber Choir for her years at Wake Forest,” said Dr. Gilliam. “She is an exceptionally hard worker, a joy to be around, and a beautiful singer, and she will definitely be missed.”

When asked about her best decision during her time at Wake Forest, Kernell proudly explained that MV was the most important activity to her.

She served as the treasurer and business manager for the group her sophomore and junior years, during which time MV released three records between 2018-22. Kernell was featured as a soloist most recently on ‘Run to You’, MV’s newest album, which will be released on April 29. She recalled how grateful she was to travel to Durham and Graham, NC for week-long recording sessions in 2020 and 2022, respectively.

“If I had to quit everything else at Wake Forest except one thing, I would stay in MV because MV is the best,” Kernell said.

After forty medical school applications, Kernell will be moving back home to Texas to attend UT Southwestern Medical School to pursue surgery.

Before orientation begins in August, Kernell will return to the lab of the postdoctoral researcher she worked for as a freshman.

From the “tomfoolery that ensued in the lobby of Winston” before taking her BIO 114 final to learning about the chiral anatomy of ducks in Organic Chemistry II (CHM 223), Kernell will leave Wake Forest with countless, priceless memories of her best four years thus far.

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Old Gold & Black | Graduation

BIOLOGY

LEONARDO SILENZI CHRISTA DUTTON News Editor

Katie Fox/ Old Gold & Black

Leonardo Silenzi loves complexity.

In his experience, Silenzi has found the human brain to be the most complex structure on Earth, so he has decided to spend his time studying that.

“I love to stare at complexity,” Silenzi said.

“Sometimes it’s frustrating, but it’s fascinating to me. I’ve always been interested in understanding human nature.”

Silenzi is passionate about philosophy, psychoanalysis, neuroscience and the intersectionality between all three — and that is how he decided to major in Biology with minors in computer science, neuroscience and chemistry.

He moved to the United States and attended Wake Forest to apply the knowledge he was gaining in these topics. In Italy — where Silenzi grew up — he described his schooling as “instruction, but not education.” He never touched a laptop in high school and had not ever set foot in a lab. At Wake Forest, he has received many opportunities to participate in research and form relationships with professors.

Relationships with professors have been Silenzi’s favorite part of his Wake Forest experience because of the passions and interests he has developed through conversations with them.

“I had mentors and people that were able to spark that passion in me,” Silenzi said.

One of the professors that have had a particularly strong impact on Silenzi’s time at Wake Forest is Professor of Biology Dr. Wayne Silver. Silenzi took Silver’s sensory biology class and worked in his research lab for four semesters. Silver described Silenzi as one of his best students.

“I can’t say enough about Leo,” Silver said.

“To me, he is what all Wake Forest students

should aspire to be. I have been teaching at Wake Forest for 37 years. I have had hundreds of undergraduate students work in my research lab over that time. I would rate Leo in the top five students to ever work in my lab.”

He continued: “He is easily the equal — and better — of most of the graduate students I have mentored. He is tenacious when it comes to pursuing a problem. He is not afraid to try new things or ask for help when he hits a wall.”

Silenzi’s intellect and work ethic is evident through the way he speaks of his interests.

Silenzi loves to think deeply, saying “it’s a good way to spend life.”

What motivates Silenzi to think deeply and be dedicated to his studies is not the excellent grades, the career possibilities or the money, but rather pure, unadulterated passion.

“Freshmen and sophomores have asked me ‘how do I find what I want to do?’ I tell them that it didn’t appear to me — I had to look for it,” Silenzi said. “What matters at the end of the day is having a passion.”

After graduation, Silenzi will be attending Harvard University to earn his Ph.D. in neuroscience. He is excited to do research but is also looking forward to spending time around like-minded people who are just as passionate about science and intellect as he is.

He described a night while on a visit to Harvard where he met his Ph.D. cohort. He and his cohort stayed up until 2 a.m. discussing science, philosophy and other intellectual matters. Silenzi left that weekend confident that this is exactly where he wanted to be surrounded by exactly the type of people he wanted to be around.

“There was no superficiality,” said Silenzi.

“It was amazing.”

When asked what he still has left to learn in his field in his post-graduation studies, Silenzi humbly responded: “Everything.”

BIOPHYSICS

RICH POPE JOSIE SCRATCHARD Life Editor

Photo courtesy of Rich Pope

Rich Pope came to Wake Forest as a curious student looking to find his niche in academics.

Coming into college, he thought he was content with biology but found himself venturing into broader sciences. With his mind open, he explored organic chemistry and physics, which opened a whole new door for him academically as he found a new love for physics. He found himself with a choice between the biochemistry and biophysics majors. He chose the latter.

“I found that the two majors were really similar,” Pope said. “But the biochemistry major lacked that physics background that I was also interested in, so I decided based on that.”

Not only did Pope discover a new love in physics, but he also unlocked a new talent. Dr. Martin Guthold, professor of Pope’s first-year General Physics I (PHY 113) class and senior year Biophysical Methods Lab (PHY 325) class, saw this talent immediately.

“I’ve been teaching at Wake Forest since 2001, often in larger classes with 30-50 students, likely instructing about 2,000 students,” Guthold said. “The quality of Rich’s work was at the highest level, with nearly perfect scores in all assignments and exams. It is something I only see every few years in these demanding classes; Rich is among the top five students I’ve had in all my classes.”

Guthold’s mentorship was instrumental in Pope’s decision to become a biophysics major, as he pushed Pope to continue work in the subject. With Pope’s academic prowess came opportunities to explore more in the field of biophysics. Pope partook in seven semesters of research with Guthold, investigating the effect that low-density lipoprotein, or “bad cholesterol”, has on the main structure of blood clots.

“Rich’s research provided strong evidence of a novel role that bad cholesterol has in blood clotting. It is a breakthrough discovery,” Guthold said.

This research experience was paramount to Pope gaining exposure to the biophysics field and was a large contributor to his newfound interest.

While Pope has been involved in groundbreaking research, he has also taken part in other onand off-campus activities. He was the president of his fraternity, Sigma Pi, for a year and enjoys taking part in outdoor activities like hiking, camping and kayaking.

Pope also balances biophysics with his second major in economics. In fact, economics is the path on which Pope sees himself after graduating from Wake Forest. He has gained extracurricular experience in economics through his participation in the Wake Forest Federal Reserve Challenge Team and will be continuing his pursuit of the discipline with a job as an investment banking analyst for William Blair in Charlotte.

Though biophysics will only be supplementary to his future career, Pope has a profound appreciation for the discipline. Pope’s interest in biophysics stems from his willingness to learn more about the scientific basis for life.

“It gives a really deep understanding of every biological phenomenon,” Pope said. “Working from using physics as a base, I think it’s really interesting to see how all different types of interactions can describe things through biological phenomena.”

Guthold believes that Pope has every asset to excel beyond Wake Forest.

“It has been such a pleasure working with Rich, he was an outstanding student in class and in research, he is so quick in grasping even very hard concepts,” Guthold said. “He is humble and very dedicated to his work and helping others.”

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CHEMISTRY

RENATE MA CONNOR MCNEELY Editor-in-Chief

Renate Ma is a chemistry major from Rocky Mount, NC, who epitomizes Wake Forest’s undergraduate pre-medical program. Although from a young age, Ma wanted to be everything but a scientist, now she hopes to use her skills in the medical career field as she transitions into the Wake Forest Medical School in July.

Ma’s journey began in high school when she took an AP class in organic chemistry with a teacher who worked at DuPont.

“He helped me understand that chemistry is enjoyable and that it can be interesting,” Ma said.

“It clicked in a way for me that I don’t think it did for other people.”

It wasn’t all at once that Ma fell in love with chemistry. It was a continuous process that took root in her years as an underclassman in organic chemistry classes. “[Chemistry] is a lot of work to go on. It’s very spatial. There were a lot of aspects that involved visual imagination and modeling that I wasn’t expecting to be good at,” Ma said. “It exercised my mind in a way that I wasn’t used to and was something that I really enjoyed my freshman year.”

In the second semester of her freshman year, Ma declared her major in chemistry. She has benefited from many helpful advisors and faculty members, including Drs. Angela King and Ulrich Bierbach.

Ma found enjoyment in chemistry courses such as medicinal chemistry and fibers and dyes.

“CHM 351, Special Topics in Chemistry, allowed Renate to showcase both her skills at synthesis and mechanisms as well as her artistic nature and creativity,” King said. “She dyed embroidery floss throughout the class and beautifully embroidered the chemical structure of dyes that produced each color of thread.”

Ma’s accomplishments extend further beyond the chemistry department. She has worked as a student adviser throughout her college experience and has volunteered for Campus Kitchen, a non profit organization that repurposes food. Ma also has worked for the Wake Forest Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for most of her college career and has served in the county EMS unit.

One of Ma’s favorite activities is dancing, which she pursues through her involvement in the Wake Forest Dance Company, and the Ballroom Dancing Club, of which she was formerly president.

Ma’s undergraduate experience has also included academic interests other than chemistry. She is passionate about classical literature and philosophy, which she has spent much time studying.

“I like the atmosphere, it’s more collaborative with a focus on narrative,” Ma said. “It’s nice to have a different type of intellectual involvement.

Having both of them keeps me interested and sane.”

Ma’s favorite classes include those that consider ancient comedy and notable ancient Greek philosophers.

“Renate has what I call a ‘live mind,’ as if you can see her brain whirring and tell that she’s already three steps ahead,” said Dr. Emily Austin of the Philosophy department. “She does not merely read the text—she explores its nooks and crannies, looks under it, sees beyond it.”

When asked about advice that she could give to younger students in the pre-medical program, Ma reflected on a common misconception that many students have at the beginning of their careers.

“One of the misconceptions that I had coming in was that PIs or professors would want older, more experienced students for research,” said Ma. “But that’s not the case. Don’t be shy to email people and say ‘I’m interested in your research’.

Get involved early so that you can work for a longer period of time.”

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Old Gold & Black | Graduation

CHINESE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

BRAE TROUTMAN

SELINNA TRAN Print Managing Editor

Katie Fox/ Old Gold & Black

Brae Troutman always knew that he wanted to pursue a Chinese language when coming to Wake Forest, but did not expect to also develop a deep passion for another discipline — computer science.

“Coming to Wake [Forest] initially, I only wanted to major in Chinese,” Troutman said. “I came in and I thought that I would really like to teach English overseas. I came in and took an intro to computer science course for quantitative reasoning and I realized that I was really passionate about and interested in computer science for the same reason that I was interested in Chinese — this aspect of communication.”

Because he was able to draw upon the different characteristics of his Chinese studies, Troutman noted the importance of connecting to people and communication and how learning another language has helped him to grow as a person.

Troutman notes that having “a cultural understanding and the ability to engage with another culture and speak another language allowed the ability to be more empathetic to connect with people in ways that I would not be able to if I was monolingual.”

When reflecting on his time at Wake Forest, Troutman recalls fondly two particular experiences — a course and a teaching opportunity.

“One of the best experiences I’ve had with my major was in Business Chinese – I really got an opportunity to have intersectionality between my two majors where I gave a ten-minute presentation in Chinese on the future of cloud computing in China,” Troutman said.

Troutman continues: “In a fourth year Chinese course, I got to engage with students at Durham academy — who were taking Chinese [classes] — and we got to go beyond being learners of Chinese to being able to help and tutor students who were learning the language at a level below what we had just achieved.”

Outside of his many academic pursuits, Troutman enjoys occupying his time with the different art spaces on campus — whether that be music or visual art.

“I’m also involved with an acapella group on campus.

I’m in Innuendo, a co-ed acapella group,” Troutman said. “I’ve been involved with various art space activi-

ties — which is always something that I really enjoy engaging with.”

These extracurricular activities hold together Troutman’s passion and interest in his studies. The idea of communication is prevalent in almost every aspect of Troutman’s life in various forms.

“The things that I really like to engage with on campus are these aspects of communication,” Troutman said. “Music and arts are a way of connecting and communicating emotionally, language is [communicating] ideas and computer science is communicating information. I find that that connection is the way that I engage the most.”

Dr. Andrew Rodekhor speaks on Troutman’s enthusiasm towards the discipline and engagement with the content: “Brae has been a wonderful part of my classes and the department over the last several years.”

Rodekhor continued: “He is always willing to answer challenging questions about the material, responds to his classmates’ points, and generates great discussions with his questions. His video essays that he made for my courses (on the history of classical music in the PRC, and on the Japanese anime film Paprika) have become models that I show to my classes for inspiration. Brae’s thesis project explores the networks of queer activism in the PRC that are built through and sustained by documentary filmmaking. His research on the creation of community while subject to political surveillance, censorship, and erasure is vital and fascinating.”

Currently, Troutman is pursuing a joint M.S./B.S. program. “I am taking some grad level [courses] in Computer Science and next year I’ll finish up and get my master’s degree in Computer Science,” he said.

Troutman is excited to put his two disciplines of studies together in his future and is prepared for a career combining elements of all that he has learned — with hopes that he will be able to engage with Chinese culture in-person. All of his study abroad efforts were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This summer I will be working at Red Hat — a Charlotte-based, global open source company,” Troutman said. “I’ll get to engage beyond American culture and will engage with cultures and employees around the world.”

CLASSICAL LANGUAGES

ASHRUT SOOD

AINE PIERRE Online Managing Editor

Katie Fox/ Old Gold & Black

Ashrut Sood has spent over half of his academic career in a Latin classroom. He began taking Latin in sixth grade. However, majoring in Latin or classical languages, which combines Latin with Ancient Greek, was not on his radar coming into Wake Forest.

“It started off as a way to fulfill the language requirement,” Sood said. “But then I really came to appreciate and admire the faculty in the Classics Department. They’re really receptive, and they tailor their classes to fit what the students are looking for. It’s not just like they’re just going to be preaching at you.”

In the spring of his junior year, Sood realized he was close to completing a classical languages degree — described by faculty as the most prestigious degree the Classics Department offers — and changed his major over from Latin.

“I think it’s important to sort of like keep preserving the tradition of studying these ancient languages because not too long ago, in the middle of the 20th century, almost every kid had to learn Latin as they grew up,” Sood said.

He continued, “I think that’s been forgotten a lot. People are way more focused on like modern languages, which obviously very important too, but I think there should be every school there should be the ability to take Latin and/or Greek.”

Sood praised Dr. Amy Lather, his Greek professor, for making Ancient Greek accessible.

“Professor Lather does an amazing job of introducing people to ancient Greek, and she is also aware that it takes a lot. I would say Greek is a lot harder than Latin, but the way she shows us, it’s very digestible and it isn’t overwhelming at all.”

Lather spoke highly of Sood’s resilience.

“He’s a diligent and enthusiastic student and a delight to have in the classroom because of how he is always willing to engage in class activities and to help his peers,” Lather said. “He also has

consistently proven himself to be more than willing to rise to challenges, and there are many of those in learning ancient Greek!”

Lather continued, “We will miss having Ashi around the department, but he has been a great student in all the time I’ve known him.”

Another of Sood’s favorite professors is Dr. Michael Sloan, who was Sood’s Intro to Latin Prose (LAT 212) professor and is now his thesis adviser. Unfortunately, Sood refused to provide his thesis subject to the Old Gold & Black, as it is being kept under an air of secrecy.

“Professor Sloan’s a really interesting guy,” Sood said. “I would take as many classes as I could with him.”

Sood also noted thst his belief the future of the Wake Forest Classics Department is bright, especially compared to other departments in the United States.

“When you look at a lot of other college classics departments around the country, a lot of them are sort of withering away in a sense,” Sood said. “They’re decreasing the amount of faculty, but at Wake Forest, we’re actually hiring new professors and opening new tenure tracks for classics professors.”

Outside of the classroom, Sood says he enjoys attending Wake Forest sports games with his friends. He recalled an anecdote from the 2021-2022 basketball season that was particularly memorable.

“I came back early from winter break, and I drove through a snowstorm,” Sood said. “I got stuck a couple of times, but we made it just in time so that the next morning we could go to the Wake Forest-Syracuse game. And the team came back and won in overtime, which was pretty cool.”

Whether it be cheering on the Demon Deacons on the basketball court or football field, or studying the works of ancient Greek and Roman authors, Sood reflects on his Wake Forest experience with fondness.

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CLASSICAL STUDIES

BAM PURCELL AINE PIERRE Online Managing Editor In Latin, the verb ending “bam” indicates something one did in the past. For example, the Latin word vincabam means, roughly, “I succeeded”. In the Classical Studies major, one person who definitely has a right to say she succeeded is Bam Purcell.

Purcell, a Clayton, NC native originally from Thailand, planned to study science at Wake Forest. Her plans changed after taking a Latin prose class with Dr. Michael Sloan.

“We were reading Cicero,” Purcell recalls. “I never imagined myself being interested in ancient texts before, but we were talking about his philosophy on old age and on how to live a good life. And I just found myself thinking about these things outside of class and like seeing how it applies to my life and to everybody’s lives.”

Purcell continued: “I was just really surprised in a pleasant way that I was enjoying these classes.

And even though I still liked chemistry and biology, I found they didn’t have that same draw and interest that I found in classics.”

Sloan, for his part, sang Purcell’s praises — and quoted Cicero while doing so.

“Bam is an excellent student; she exhibits all the laudable qualities that occasion great joy in teaching,” Sloan said. “The first Latin text we read together was Cicero’s Pro Archia, so perhaps it is fitting that I paraphrase a line or two from that text to characterize my opinion of her: ‘It seems to me that nature without learning more often leads one to glory and virtue than mere learning.

Yet, when one adds a rigorous education to a commendable and kindly disposition, then one becomes a person of singular and distinguished excellence’ such as we find in Bam.” Another of Purcell’s favorite professors in the Classics Department is Dr. John Oksanish, with whom she took her Latin Seminar on a familiar topic.

“I think it was also on Cicero, which is interesting because my initiation to classics was Cicero,”

Purcell said. “But with his class also, I’m just so impressed at how passionate Dr. Oksanish is.

He knows so much, and I really like how he’s able to analyze one word for an hour. I feel like that could raise the question, ‘why is that fun?

Like, why is it interesting?’ But I think like the energy of the professor is really infectious — when they’re excited, I get excited.”

From his comments to the Old Gold & Black, it appears Oksanish is also a member of the — unofficial, as of now — Bam Purcell Fan Club.

“First, Bam is a really deep and reflective thinker, and she chooses her words with care and precision — both vanishing virtues,” Oksanish said. “Second, Bam has been in at least one class with me every semester since spring of 2020: I’ve valued our conversations about the weird, ineffable experience of living through this global pandemic in its various stages, and how studying ancient texts written in times of crisis could illuminate the sometimes existential questions that the last two years or so have made more immediate to many of us.”

Purcell noted that one of her biggest challenges was identity formation in college.

“I think it was kind of a culture shock to be in a school that is wealthy and predominantly white,” Purcell said. “I was trying to find out a bit more about, who I am, where I stand on social issues and my identity.”

In addition to her work in the Classics Department, Purcell has been involved with the Summer Nonprofit Internship Program (SNIP) and has worked with United Way. Purcell says her classics background informs her work.

“I did work with United Way and my supervisor runs the team on housing and homelessness.

And so every team meeting, she has to use her language to be clear and concise and really explain why we are doing this so she can motivate her team. I got to connect the way that language is used in classics and see how it’s used in nonprofit and social justice work.”

Purcell’s next position will be close to the Classics Department, as she will be joining the Dean of the College’s Office as a fellow.

Katie Fox/ Old Gold & Black

COMPUTER SCIENCE

ZOE CHAMBERLIN JOSIE SCRATCHARD Life Editor With Zoe Chamberlin having been chosen to represent this year’s class of computer science majors, one would think that she has been interested in the subject for quite some time.

Surprisingly, she was originally averse to it and planned to pursue a track in chemistry, her high school interest.

Chamberlin’s mother constantly impressed upon her that coding was the future and that she should see what it had to offer. Despite her reluctance — because women of color are rarely represented in technological fields — she applied to Girls Who Code, a summer program intended to increase women’s involvement in computer science, in an effort to keep her mother happy. Through this eight-week intensive program, Chamberlin discovered the potential that computer science held, as well as the fact that minority women can excel in the subject.

Through this new avenue in computer science, Chamberlin was able to create a website entitled Woke Up, dedicated to informing young adults about social issues and providing them with a platform to discuss them. This project increased Chamberlin’s faith that she really could pursue computer science.

“I really love the creative aspect of it, and most importantly, the fact that I would have the ability to create something that could impact and help populations that I care about,” Chamberlin said.

Chamberlin’s creativity and potential have stood out to her professors, as well.

“Zoe is such an impressive student,” Dr. Abbey Bourdon, Chamberlin’s discrete mathematics professor, said. “So many students give up when faced with tasks that are difficult and unfamiliar, but Zoe has the drive and persistence necessary to do truly innovative work.”

Further, Chamberlin’s computer science interests have led to a great impact in the Wake Forest community. She spearheaded a men-

toring program with the faculty called CS for Success. In this program, students in intro-level computer science classes, as well as prospective majors and minors, are able to gain support.

Not only that, but the program has created more opportunities to increase diversity and inclusion in the department — an endeavor that Chamberlin holds close to her heart.

“I wish there was more representation not even just in this department, but just in the discipline in general,” Chamberlin said. “But I think that’s just something that’s going to continue to grow over time as we get more exposure or allow people to have more exposure to the discipline.”

Chamberlin also is involved in mentoring programs that increase student exposure to the sciences. She serves as president of Wake Women Lead, a club that mentors and tutors at-risk students. She is also a Friends-in-STEM mentor to elementary students, a tutor for student-athletes and a student leader for the Growth Mindset in STEM summer program.

Chamberlin has made a large impact on the greater Winston-Salem community with her leadership.

Along with Chamberlin’s computer science endeavors, she undertook a double minor in entrepreneurship and writing. One of her writing professors, Dr. Keri Epps, speaks highly of her work.

“Zoe is one of those students whose character, drive, patience and brilliance make people want to work with her,” Epps said. “She has worked with me on an important community listening project with the local nonprofit Authoring Action and has co-written part of a recent publication about the project with me.”

Chamberlin’s combination of leadership and mentoring skills in addition to her academic prowess are facets to success, that she will use in the near future. Following graduation, Chamberlin will be working with CitiBank on Wall Street as a software analyst, putting her skills to work in the Big Apple.

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Old Gold & Black | Graduation

ECONOMICS

GRACE LYONS ESSEX THAYER Sports Editor

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Among many other factors, one thing that really drove Grace Lyons to Wake Forest was the weather; North Carolina is far warmer than a Massachusetts winter.

“I hated the cold weather,” Lyons said. “Then I took a tour of the campus and absolutely loved it.”

Early into her time in Winston-Salem, Lyons found a home in the economics department.

“I decided to take ECN 150 to see how I liked it.

My brother was an economics major,” Lyons said.

“I took the class in freshman year with Professor Megan Regan and loved it. I liked the quantitative nature of it and the ability to problem-solve.”

While that first economics class set Lyons towards being an economics major, many people had an impact on her academic career along the way.

“The most impactful professor I had would probably be my thesis advisor, Amanda Griffith,” Lyons said. “I’ve met with her quite a bunch, and she’s been awesome as a mentor in economics, but also just in life and giving advice.”

Dr. Christina Dalton also proved to be important to Lyons’ time in the department.

“I do research with Professor Dalton,” Lyons said.

“I’ve worked with her now for two years. So she’s also been a huge role model in the department.”

Along with having several important professors, Lyons mentioned classes that drove her interests.

“I took a global health class in economics,” Lyons said. “The class looked at healthcare in developing countries and how to use economic mechanisms to help people save for emergencies. ” Outside of the economics department, Lyons credits an interest in science with courses in bioethics and epidemiology. Lyons was also involved in several extracurriculars.

“I’m the president of the Club Equestrian team

on campus,” Lyons said. “That’s something that I enjoy having, getting to continue to horseback ride throughout college.

Being a tour guide, teaching assistant and research assistant was impactful.

“All these extracurriculars have really just strengthened my sense of community here at Wake Forest,” Lyons said. “I knew I wanted a small school because I enjoyed having that close knit community.”

After several years in the economics department, Lyons has a lot of advice to offer.

“Reach out to the faculty in the department,” Lyons said. “A lot of the things that I’ve gained from the department have been from making connections with faculty and doing research.”

Lyons continued: “If you take a course you like, go and speak to the professor about their research and learn what they do. They are really helpful.”

“Grace has made so many wonderful contributions to the economics department in her four years here,” Griffith said. “She has really stood out as one of our best students with her thoughtful and careful approach to research.”

After graduation, Lyons will move to Washington D.C. to work for Deloitte in their Government and Public Services consulting group.

But she’s also thinking long term.

“I’m hoping to do that for a little while,” Lyons said. “I’d love to go back to school at some point and maybe get a Ph.D. in economics or behavioral economics.

For now, though, Lyons is looking back on her time at Wake Forest fondly.

Wake Forest has been an amazing experience for me,” Lyons said. I feel like I’ve made so many connections that I will keep with me for the rest of my life. Whether that be faculty or friends, it’s become a second home and I’ve loved every minute of it.”

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION

LAUREN ROBERTSON CHRISTA DUTTON News Editor

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Since childhood, Lauren Robertson always knew she wanted to be a teacher. She was one of those kids who used to force her siblings to play school with her, making them sit down and listen to her lessons. So when she arrived at Wake Forest four years ago, there was no doubt as to what she would study — what she didn’t know was how many opportunities being an elementary education major would offer her.

After graduation, Robertson will be teaching English at an elementary school in the Canary Islands in Spain as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grantee.

Outside the classroom, Robertson serves as the secretary for Wake Women Lead, an organization dedicated to connecting Wake Forest women with at-risk youth in Winston-Salem through tutoring and mentoring relationships.

Robertson is also the lead intern for the Skip Prosser program, a project that promotes literacy in fourth-grade students in the Forsyth County and encourages them to read independently. This project is spearheaded by Associate Professor of English Education Dr. Alan Brown and has become the umbrella project for many literacy programs that involve Wake Forest undergraduates. Brown’s scholarship is predominantly centered around sports literacy, the idea of increasing students’ interest in reading through sports-related literature. Robertson has spent the past two years doing research with Brown on sports literacy; she will also be leading an after-school sports literacy program in Spain.

Brown has enjoyed working alongside Robertson and speaks very highly of her.

“Lauren is an ambitious, dedicated, orga-

nized and hard-working student,” Brown said.

“Those descriptive characteristics made her perfect for this position and helped us take the Skip Prosser Literacy Program to new heights despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, forever cementing her legacy at Wake Forest.”

Last semester, Robertson was a full-time student teacher in a fifth-grade classroom at Sherwood Forest Elementary School. This was quite an adjustment for her, as she was working a full-time job while the rest of her friends were having a normal college experience.

She added: “The first few weeks were spent getting acquainted and spending a lot of time in classrooms. But then on week three, you take over teaching a subject, and I was like ‘oh my gosh, what am I doing?’ It felt very ‘real world.’”

One of her favorite memories from her student teaching semester was her last day, not because she was ready to leave but because her students gave her a special send-off celebration.

The students decorated the classroom in Wake Forest colors and gifted her their favorite book to add to her future classroom library. They also gave her a scrapbook full of their favorite memories of the year.

“It was a really special day,” Robertson said. “[Student teaching] is very time-consuming. . . but overall it was so worthwhile, and I learned a ton by just being [in the classroom].”

Teaching fifth grade was especially meaningful for Robertson because her fifth-grade teacher, Mr. Hossler, had a significant impact on her and inspired her love for education and English.

“He treated you not just like a student, but like a person,” said Robertson.

After her year in Spain, she will be attending Vanderbilt University to get her Master’s in Education. She plans to teach for five to 10 years and then would like to pursue a career in educational leadership and administration.

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ENGINEERING

JULIANNA HOPPER UNA WILSON Asst. Features Editor Like many Wake Forest students, Juliana Hopper thought her career path was set when she came to campus as a freshman, but she found a completely different avenue for her passions instead.

Hopper is originally from Westport, CT. Although she anticipated that she would major in biology, a transformative experience in an Intro to Engineering course inspired her to pursue a different path.

As Hopper began to take more and more advanced courses in the department, she developed a passion for environmental engineering. She spoke of one professor who was especially integral to informing her interests: Dr. Courtney Di Vittorio.

Di Vittorio spoke very highly of Hopper as she recalled their close relationship throughout Hopper’s pursuit of her major.

“What I admire most about Juliana is that she pursues opportunities that align with her interests and values and is motivated by personal and professional growth.” Di Vittorio said. “While following her passions and sometimes taking risks, such as pursuing a writing minor as an engineering major and being one of the first engineering students to take a research-forcredit course — she is an exceptional student and has built a very impressive transcript and resumé.”

Hopper said her decision to take a writing minor was partly made to better advocate for her engineering projects.

“A lot of people wouldn’t think that writing and engineering fit together well, but having the minor has been so helpful to me.” Hopper said. “I frequently have to write proposals and analyses for projects in engineering; thats where good writing skills have been so important.”

Engineering professor Dr. Melissa Kenny also taught Hopper during her time at Wake Forest. She recalled Hopper’s enthusiasm for learning and optimistic disposition.

“Juliana is a bright, clever and curious student who was a pleasure to have in the classroom,” Kenny said.

“She always greets everyone with a big smile and a cheerful hello which never fails to get her a smile in return. Everytime I chat with Juliana, she has smart and thoughtful questions and is always thinking of others.”

For her final capstone project, Hopper is focusing on a small county in Alabama suffering from wastewater leakage issues. Because the soil is mainly composed of clay in Alabama, sewage runs out of septic tanks and can flow into the homes and yards of residents, as well as contaminate their clean water.

“Learning about wastewater treatment with Dr. Di Vittorio is what got me passionate about environmental engineering originally,” Hopper said. “We were assigned one really interesting project where we were asked to design a way to treat and divert wastewater behind the Biology building on campus. I absolutely loved the experience, and I think it definitely contributed to me selecting my capstone project to be about wastewater too.”

Hopper gained another unexpected passion from her Engineering major as well: teamwork.

“I used to be very individualistic in my work style, I didn’t do a lot of group work,” Hopper said. “In engineering, we are frequently asked to work with smaller groups of people. Because I got so much exposure to it, I actually started really enjoying teamwork.

It is one of the most valuable skills the Engineering Department at Wake Forest has given me, and it now informs my career path.”

After graduating, Hopper will be starting as a Project Engineer for the Water/Wastewater team atTimmons Group in Raleigh, NC. Outside of her major, Hopper is a member of the Wake Forest Concert Choir and toured London with the group as a sophomore.

Hopper is also the president of the Tap Club, another passion she carried over from high school.

“I have done Concert Choir three out of the four years I’ve been here, and in addition to going to London, I’ve also had the opportunity to sing under two different directors,” Hopper said.

Katie Fox / Old Gold & Black

ENGLISH

LAUREN DEMARCO SELINNA TRAN Print Managing Editor For many, figuring out how to balance all of your interests and figuring out what to major in is a difficult task. For Lauren DeMarco, she decided to pursue all of her academic interests, and she affirms that despite the intense workload, she has enjoyed her time in these various disciplines.

“I’m an English and studio art double major and a Spanish minor. I came into college not exactly sure what I wanted to study, but I kind of just have these three fields that I’ve been interested in. Throughout my life, throughout high school I’ve always really loved reading and writing — which is why I wanted to pursue English.”

Despite pursuing three different disciplines, DeMarco found the intersection — communication.

“It’s been a really great four years of taking English classes,” she said. There’s a lot of flexibility within the major to take classes that you’re in. [The three disciplines are] all different forms of communication, visual, foreign language, written weaving together.”

During her time at Wake Forest, DeMarco has made fond memories in English classes she took. These classes provided various intersectional approaches to content and also broadened DeMarco’s view on different topics — like Asian American fiction and literature.

“When I took Dr. Barry Maine’s word and image class, we met in the gazebo outside the Reynolda House,” she said. “On a beautiful day in early fall, we would sit outside and discuss the intersection of literature and art. It was all of my favorite things — sunshine, novels, and art — at once.”

DeMarco continued: “As part of Dr. Jessica Richard’s 18th-Century British Fiction class,

we took a trip to the rare books room in the Z. Smith Reynolds Library, and it was so interesting to see early editions of the books we had been discussing. Books from that time were much more carefully crafted than our modern novels, and I loved paging through the old books and examining them as works of art.”

“One of my favorite classes I’ve taken within the major was Asian American fiction with Dr. Derek Lee — the books from which I ultimately ended up writing my thesis on,” DeMarco said. “[This class] was kind of a highlight of my online school days. ” Dr. Lee reflects on DeMarco’s time in the course as well as her passion towards the discipline: “She has been a joy to work with over the past two years. In my Asian American literature class she would get completely wrapped up in certain concepts and historical events and take them in such amazing directions.”

Dr. Lee continued: “For example, she read a Ken Liu short story during the last week of the semester and decided to completely change her final essay topic to explore it. It’s usually a bad idea to make such a drastic change so late in the game, but she knocked it out of the park.

Lauren writes with such finesse, rigor, and passion. It’s always a pleasure to read her work. She will be greatly missed around the department!”

Outside of the classroom, DeMarco found passion and a bond in the ultimate frisbee club — an organization of which she been a part for four years. DeMarco is currently one of the captains of the team. “[Frisbee] is something that has consistently been a highlight of my time here at Wake [Forest],” DeMarco said.

Looking ahead to her post-grad career, DeMarco is excited to be applying the skills she gained from this intersectional approach in her future work — which will begin with a one-year Master’s program in engaged public humanities at Georgetown University.

Katie Fox / Old Gold & Black

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Old Gold & Black | Graduation

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY STUDIES

SOPHIA MASCIARELLI

UNA WILSON Asst. Features Editor

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With the future of the planet uncertain, graduates like Sophia Masciarelli give hope to the fight against climate change. As an environment and sustainability studies major, Masciarelli has fully embraced Wake Forest’s interdisciplinary approach to sustainability in both her coursework and extracurricular pursuits.

Although she initially wanted to pursue a major in politics and international affairs, Masciarelli fell in love with her environmental studies classes. She shifted her studies in politics to a minor and catered her major to sustainability studies. The environment and sustainability studies major was created in Masciarelli’s sophomore year at Wake Forest.

Masciarelli recalled that Dr. Paul Thacker’s Culture and Nature course within the anthropology department was especially integral to her studies.

“I really loved the human insight element of that class and the way that anthropology as a discipline supplements environmental studies,” Masciarelli said. “Understanding the way human society evolves and how our relationship with nature has evolved alongside it really intrigued me. I think it allowed for deeper insight to the situation we’ve gotten ourselves into today with climate change.”

Thacker was equally as enthusiastic to have Masciarelli in his courses. “At the risk of sounding trite, I can confidently state that our world is better because of Sophia,” Thacker said. “Sophia is a leader committed to the practice of ethical environmentalism. Sophia thinks innovatively and explores interdisciplinary connections in everything she experiences. Our campus community will deeply miss her inspirational leadership, personal compassion, and resilient optimism.”

Although she has shifted her focus to environmentalism, Masciarelli is still interested in policy.

This summer, she plans to pursue a fellowship with the Piedmont Environmental Council outside of Washington, D.C. “In the program, we’re going to be working with

issues like wind conservation, habitat restoration policy, and sustainable agriculture,” Masciarelli said. “I’m really excited to explore more in policy — to me it seems like a place you can leverage tangible change.”

Though she is excited to try all sides of environmental legislation, Masciarelli is particularly passionate about environmental justice.

There’s a lot of intersections and opportunities to make positive changes around environmental justice,” Masciarelli said. “There’s so much work to be done, and I am so energized by the surge of other people passionate about environmental justice, too. As we know, this isn’t just an ecological crisis, it is connected to race and gender as well.”

Dr. Lucas Johnston taught Masciarelli in four of his courses. He spoke to her passion for the interdisciplinary nature of environmental and sustainability studies.

“Sophia came at just the right time to take advantage of our new major in environment and sustainability studies,” Johnston said. “She is an excellent testament to the sort of broad but rigorous academic background the major requires and an exemplar of why we should focus on education for sustainability.”

In addition to her academic study of the environment, Masciarelli has also dedicated much of her senior year toward her communications and events internship in the Office of Sustainability.

“My experience as an Office of Sustainability is what made my time here at Wake Forest,” Masciarelli said. “Working closely with the faculty of that office and developing a robust skillset surrounding communication of sustainability issues has been invaluable.”

After her summer with the Piedmont Environmental Council, she has another fellowship lined up at Emory University in Atlanta. She is especially excited to draw from the breadth of knowledge she has gained at Wake Forest.

“Sustainability is so interwoven with many other things,” Masciarelli said. “There’s a place for everybody in the sustainability movement, and I really believe it is the future.”

FINANCE

SARAH KATE MASSEY CONNOR MCNEELY Editor-in-Chief

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If Sarah Kate Massey is anything, it’s balanced.

This can be a difficult feat to accomplish at Wake Forest, where unique opportunities to involve yourself in university life abound. As a senior graduating with majors in finance and psychology, Massey is the picture of a student who used her time at Wake Forest to pursue her interests in all aspects of academics.

Although Massey will graduate with both majors, her career will undoubtedly be in finance.

And when she arrived at Wake Forest from Dallas, TX, she knew it for sure.

“I was really enticed by the business school when I visited on accepted students day,” Massey said. “I remember Betsy Hoppe was the executive director of the school of business when I visited. I knew that she was a woman I would like to be when I grew up. She was one of the strong women in finance that kind of turned my decision towards finance.”

Hoppe complimented Massey and her proficiency in business.

“Sarah made an immediate impression on me,” Hoppe said. “Sarah has a personality that just draws people to her. She is incredibly intelligent, but it is her spirit of optimism and incredible enthusiasm that drew me to her.”

As Massey began her college career, she found the Pre-Wall Street Career Track, which provides early and focused professional preparation for qualified students intending to pursue careers in investment banking. This preparation was “instrumental” in the beginning of Massey’s freshman year. In the second half of her freshman year, Massey took accounting classes, which solidified her confidence in her choice of a career.

Later on, Massey was accepted into the Wake Forest School of Business. Among the many courses offered in the business school, Massey grew to enjoy Equity Investments (FIN 233).

“It was a good experience to be able to present a company to a class and have them select it and see if it was worth investing in,” Massey said. “The fact that it was real money made it all the more worthwhile. I found myself looking at my personal finances, thinking about how I should invest in different stocks that I had heard about.”

However, success in the Business School and in her studies at Wake Forest was not always unencumbered. Fortunately, Massey’s obstacles were in the form of other accolades and academic pursuits.

“One of the biggest challenges of being a finance major was that it’s just so many hours,” Massey said. “I definitely wanted to be a part of other organizations and not just be a person in finance.”

Massey is a member of the Wake Forest chapter of Chi Omega and has served as a student director for Wake ‘N Shake, working with the corporate sponsorship side of the executive team.

“It was so nice to be a part of something that’s beyond your major and classwork,” Massey said.

“It was amazing actually seeing the tangible effects that [Wake ‘N Shake] had on Wake Forest Baptist right down the street.”

Massey’s career is already off to a good start. After an internship with Redbird Capital Partners, a private equity firm in Dallas, Massey found her start in investment banking at Barclays. In this work experience, she realized her passion for healthcare investment.

“I thought of it as an opportunity to merge my psych and finance focuses with behavioral health,” said Massey.

As she leaves Wake Forest, Massey will remember and miss both her time in finance and her time spent outside of finance.

“I’m really proud of what I’ve done on campus, but I think that I forgot there is like a city and a state beyond that,” Massey said. “I’m looking forward to living in New York, and to get outside of the Dallas bubble and expand my horizons.”

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FRENCH STUDIES

LAIA VANCELLS LOPEZ CHRISTINA DENOVIO Sports Editor

Laia Vancells Lopez is a French major from Terrassa, Spain. While her outstanding performance in her French classes has gained her recognition as a distinguished French major, Vancells also excelled in her second major, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (BMB).

Furthermore, Vancells was a key asset to the women’s field hockey team over her four years at Wake Forest, as she was recently named to the 2021 All-ACC Academic Team, the 202021 Second Team NFHCA All-Region and the 2020-21 Second Team All-ACC. Vancells speaks a total of four languages, including Catalan, her native language. Though at home and in her local community she speaks Catalan, Vancells took classes in Spanish and French in school. She had not intended on majoring in French when she arrived at Wake Forest but soon decided that she wanted to continue studying the language.

“I’ve always liked French. I had learned in high school, and I didn’t want to lose it,” Vancells said. “I took a French class just for fun at first and I loved it. I took another one for fun, and I loved it, too.”

Vancells declared French as her second major during the spring of her junior year, over a year after declaring her BEM major. She proved that it’s never too late to follow an academic passion, as she took all of her advanced French classes during the spring of her junior year and throughout senior year.

With two majors and a commitment to the field hockey team, Vancells had lots of responsibilities to juggle as a college student.

“It was hard.” said Vancells. “But, the professors are really understanding and they help you out. So even though it’s hard, they make it possible for you to work hard too.”

Vancells praised her professors for making her

Wake Forest classroom experience the best it could be. The admiration appears to be mutual.

Dr. Stephen Murphy applauded Vancells for her stellar performance in his class.

“She combines a quiet sense of humor with a tenacious work ethic. She has juggled several demanding commitments (biochemistry, field hockey) while making it seem that her work in French Studies has her exclusive attention,” Murphy said. “At the end of a course on French and Francophone poetry (and despite the pandemic!), Laia illuminated much of what we read and discussed by writing compellingly about ‘The Paradox of Melancholy.’”

When asked what distinguishes Vancells from other French students, Murphy said, “Her excellent French, both spoken and written; her dependability, her intellectual curiosity, her resilience and a sensitivity to the nuances of literary language that I think comes from her polyglot experience (Catalan, Spanish, English, French).”

At the moment, Vancells plans on pursuing a Master’s in data science. Apart from this, Vancells is not certain of what her future holds, but she plans to use French and other languages she has mastered as an asset in any career path she follows.

“I want to do something that requires me to use different languages. I like a lot of things — I like science, but I also like law. Maybe something related to the European Union organization in Belgium, so I could use my English, French and Spanish.”

After receiving several job offers in the United States, Vancells is unsure of when her opportunity to live in France will come, but her proximity to France will make it easy for her to travel there.

“Maybe in a couple of years I will go to France — I live an hour and a half away from France, so it’s easy for me to go short-term or long-term.”

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GERMAN

ELLIOT LEADEM KATIE FOX Photography Editor Born in London and raised in Charleston, SC, Eliot Leadem has never considered one single place home other than where his family is. Leadem became a world traveler early in life, and he and his siblings have always shared a love for languages. Although he took French throughout middle school and high school, he took his first German class the second semester of his freshman year with Dr. Alyssa Howards, who inspired him to pursue it further.

Leadem jumped right into the department through a study abroad program in Jena, Germany the summer after his freshman year. Full immersion was challenging when his host parents were native Russian speakers, with German as their second language and English as their third.

“I grew a really great relationship with them,” he said. “Though there was quite the language barrier.”

He described how he drank coffee and ate German bread each morning with his host ‘father’, with whom Leadem bonded over their shared interest in history and learning about familial past.

While his plans for going abroad to the Vienna Flow house during a fall or spring semester were canceled due by the pandemic, Leadem returned to Germany the summer before his senior year through the Sanders Scholarship, designed to support promising German students in their ventures abroad. While studying in Berlin, Leadem’s brothers visited him in Europe and he reunited with his original host parents in Jena, who he said made him feel like their own son even years later.

In Berlin, Leadem collected data for his German honors thesis, which he successfully defended in April. His research looked at marketing disparities in the German Ubahn, comparing inner and outer city advertisements which he measured through a coded map he designed

with a colleague from the University of Virginia.

His experiences abroad solidified his decision to primarily pursue German and relegate his other academic pursuits, such as his political science major and minor in global trade & commerce studies, to lower importance. He described how proud he was to claim the German department, especially for their efforts to host in-person classes during his junior year when the pandemic forced many on-campus interactions online.

“While everyone else was doing online classes junior fall, I was coming to kind of an empty campus every single day to take classes in person,” Leadem said. “I felt very proud of my major decision at that point because I don’t work nearly as well online to do in person and having that ability was something that I don’t think really any other people in North Carolina did.”

During this time, he took some of his favorite literature classes with Dr. Tina Boyer.

“Elliot is without a doubt, one of the nicest and most genuine people I have met.” said Boyer. “I have wonderful conversations with him in and outside of the classroom. It will be a shame to see him graduate because we will all miss him, but at the same time, I am absolutely thrilled because his future looks so bright.”

In addition to his coursework, Leadem is the president of Delta Phi Alpha, a senior member of Chi Psi and was actively involved in various campus events and traditions such as Hit the Bricks and Wake N’ Shake. He is also an avid sports fan and player and has run an active Twitter account about Wake sports since 2013.

Reflecting on some of his favorite memories in college, Leadem said that he never missed a soccer, football, or basketball home game, and he couldn’t decide between going to the ACC championship in Charlotte, beating Duke in basketball last year, or beating UNC this year as a favorite memory.

After graduation in May, Leadem plans to move to New York, NY where he will begin work as a client management associate at Coleman Research.

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Old Gold & Black | Graduation

HEALTH AND EXERCISE SCIENCE

SHAYLA SMART MEREDITH PRINCE Features Editor

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Shayla Smart knew she would be attending Wake Forest in her sophomore year of high school, when she committed to play soccer for the Demon Deacons. As an athlete, she was always drawn to the Health and Exercise Science (HES) field, but she knew that she wanted to pursue a future within medicine. Coming to Wake Forest, she believed that majoring in HES would be the best fit for working through all the prerequisites for physician assistant’s (PA) school.

Smart credits much of her success in the HES field to the professors who have helped her through this journey. She believes that her time at Wake Forest would not have been as excellent if it weren’t for the mentors she met through the major.

“The professors within the department are so helpful and useful,” Smart said. “They’re always there with open doors. I got to know all my professors on a really personal level. So, I feel like I wouldn’t have had such a great academic journey and success if it wasn’t for [this major].”

Specifically, Smart recognizes Dr. Ted Eaves as one of her greatest influences throughout her time at Wake Forest. She took three classes with Eaves and noted his Human Gross Anatomy (HES 352) as the most compelling class she has taken.

“Shayla is a very intelligent and driven student who has excelled in several of my classes,” Eaves said. “Her high level of success both academically and athletically validates how hard-working and dedicated she is to everything that she does and demonstrates how much potential there is for Shayla in her personal and professional future.”

Smart’s most memorable experience within the HES department is the cadaver laboratory that was offered through the anatomy class. She

highlights the importance of learning about the human body and different muscular and skeletal systems on a deeper level but also doing so with professionalism.

“Outside of knowledge about the human body, I also learned about compassion,” Smart said about the cadaver lab.

While Smart has certainly had much success within the HES field, she also has had a significant career on the soccer field. Playing as a forward, Smart made large contributions to her team through goal-scoring. In September 2021, she was named one of the “ACC Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week” after scoring the first hat trick of her collegiate career and the first hat trick for Wake Forest’s women’s soccer team since 2016. Beyond Wake Forest, Smart has also represented Jamaica on the senior national team as well as the under-17 and under-20 national teams.

After graduating from Wake Forest, Smart will return home to Orlando, Florida, and begin applying to PA school this summer. She will also be working as a medical assistant to fulfill her patient career experience hours for PA school.

Last year, Smart started a pre-PA club on campus that was chartered this semester. Smart spent a lot of time organizing the club’s goals and meetings while also helping out other pre-PA students.

“I am so excited that she will be going to PA school, because I have no doubt Shayla will be an asset to the field and help so many patients who need her,” Eaves said.

While Smart is grateful for all she has learned and experienced within the HES department throughout her time at Wake Forest, she is ready to get into the professional field for a more handson experience.

“I’m excited to take everything I’ve learned from the past four years and go work in the field that interests me,” Smart said, “rather than just learning everything in the classroom,” Smart said.

HISTORY

LEJIU (JULIE) SUN KATIE FOX Photography Editor

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Lejiu (Julie) Sun arrived at Wake Forest from Hangzhou, China with a keen interest in history.

During her first semester of freshman year, she took a seminar class (HST 343) with Drs. Qiong Zhang and Jeffrey Lerner on the Silk Road. While sitting in the library, brainstorming a topic for her final paper, Sun noticed a cup of tea on the table and started researching. After a month of composition, she finished a 25-page essay on the Tea-Horse Road as a first-year student, and Zhang suggested she could extend it further and present it at an upcoming Silk Road conference in Reynolda Village.

By the end of her first year, she had presented on a student panel and won both the Richard Worden Griffin Research Prize in Asian, African, or Latin American History and the David W. Hadley Prize for Historical Writing at the 100 Level from the History Department.

The summer after Sun’s sophomore year, she was granted a Richter scholarship to continue her research on the Tea-Horse Road. Sun also attended the European Institute for the History and Culture of Foods (IEHCA) International Conference on Food History and Cultures virtually as Dr. Robert Hellyer’s research assistant.

“Julie has an amazing curiosity about history,” Hellyer said. “She is always ready to seize on any opportunity to learn about the past and better understand how it has shaped our world today.”

After returning from her Richter trip, which she spent in Tibet for 28 days and knocking door-todoor around 33 historical sites to create primary source documentation, Sun presented her findings at the Undergraduate Research Day and the ACC Meeting of Minds conference. Electing to conduct independent research through the HST 392 course, Sun continued with her research and published her first thesis draft in Fall 2021, which

Zhang was thoroughly impressed with.

“Julie has a tremendous drive and clear sense of purpose,” Zhang reflected. “She tackled her thesis project like a doctoral student approaching her dissertation.”

Sun described her months of research through the Richter and on her own, studying scholarly literature in English and Chinese, as well as Chinese primary sources, which prepared her well to construct a timeline and central focus.

“With such a massive amount of preliminary work already completed on her own, we were able to spend the semester on close analysis of the most relevant primary sources, testing and reshaping her argument and articulating her original contribution in relation to previous scholarship,” Zhang continued. “Her rich original insights, meticulous spade work, and relentless pursuit of perfection were nothing short of inspirational.”

Throughout her time at Wake Forest, Sun wrote, presented and even published some of her extensive research in the field of history. She will also graduate with her North Carolina social studies teaching license after completing her minor and certification in Secondary Education, as well as a minor in East Asian Language Studies.

In addition to her impressive academic achievements, Sun has been involved in various Chinese Student Committees, working to promote the Chinese Students & Scholars Association and as a coordinator for the Chinese Historians in the United States (CHUS). Sun also serves as a library ambassador at ZSR. “I am consistently impressed by Lejiu’s determination to understand complex sources, her commitment to economic history, and her curiosity and passion for the practice of history.” One of her graduate school recommenders, department chair Dr. Monique O’Connell said.

The recommendations paid off and in the fall, Sun will attend the University of Chicago to work towards a graduate degree in history, with hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in the future.

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Thursday, April 28, 2022 | Page 19

JAPANESE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE

MIA WILLIAMS

ADAM COIL Life Editor Going into college, Mia Williams was not too interested in learning a new language after some struggles with German and French in high school and Spanish in middle school. She knew, however, that there was a language requirement to be fulfilled, so she decided to give the Japanese a try.

As a big fan of anime, taking Japanese seemed like a logical and exciting opportunity.

“My whole life, my older brother and sister watched a lot of anime,” Williams said. “It was never in English, always in Japanese — so I was like, okay, I like anime, maybe taking Japanese will be fun.”

This turned out to be a pretty great idea, as she quickly found herself immersed in the culture of the Japanese as well as picking up their language at a rate much faster than she’d experienced with other languages.

On the pre-medicine track from the beginning of her time at Wake Forest, Williams found the atmosphere and content of her Japanese classes to be relaxing and enjoyable in contrast to the rigorous workload of her biology and chemistry courses.

“Going to Japanese class was a fresh air moment, and I really enjoyed the classes,” Williams said.

Thus, once sophomore year rolled around, Williams — after some encouragement from her sensei — decided to pursue a double major in Japanese.

Williams quickly fell in love with the environment of her Japanese classes, as well as the rapid progress she was experiencing in her speaking and writing abilities. Her confidence grew. When she spoke to natives on Zoom calls, she was able to talk about more complex things that she cared about, like medical discrimination.

“It was really rewarding because, throughout this whole process, I was like, ‘can I do this?’”

Williams said.

But, by the end, she proved to herself that she was more than capable and felt as if she had been making the right decisions all along.

Because the class sizes for Japanese tend to be relatively small, there were many opportunities for engagement and connection with professors.

Over the years, Williams developed a strong bond with and appreciation for Professor Yasuko Takata Rallings.

“I loved having [Williams] in class, particularly during the COVID-19 year,” Rallings said. “Even on days when everyone was obviously experiencing Zoom fatigue, I could always count on her active engagement during online sessions.”

Following graduation, Williams plans to go to Japan for at least a year to work as an assistant language teacher in public schools through the JET program — something she was unable to do during her time at Wake Forest because of the pandemic. In combination with being able to see with her own eyes the country and culture that she has been studying for three years, Williams said that she was most looking forward to “being able to teach other people about Black culture, which is very uncommon in Japan.”

Williams said that she plans to bring and incorporate her own unique culture into her teaching because she has always been very interested in studying how various cultures have the ability to merge into and influence one another. Rallings expressed her excitement for Williams’s future abroad, as well as her confidence that she will excel, saying that she was sure that Williams would “spread her positive energy and love for learning to public school students” during her time overseas.

Upon her return from Japan, Williams still plans to go to medical school to fulfill her lifelong dream of becoming a doctor. However, nothing is entirely concrete.

“Something else could pop up, and I may decide to stay in Japan for the rest of my life,” Williams said.

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LATIN

ZOE CLAY ADAM COIL Life Editor Zoe Clay is someone who does it all. Being Raised in Crozet, VA, Clay was heavily involved in track and cross country in high school, but they also found time to get interested in Latin — despite the high turnover rate of their high school Latin teachers — and took the language all four years.

Despite their experience with the language, Clay was not anticipating majoring in Latin when they arrived at Wake Forest. They credited their teammate, Anna Campbell, as the person who inspired them to pursue Latin. Clay said that they are “so glad she did, because [their] favorite classes at Wake Forest have all easily been through the Classics Department and have provided a nice balance and contrast to HES lectures.”

Clay, who is also majoring in health and exercise science, noted that the two majors actually have some convenient overlap.

“I had a great time in anatomy with all the Latin roots,” said Clay, “Knowing that a lot of the names were in the genitive (a Latin case) really helped me out with spelling one time during a practical.”

They continued: “Learning Latin has also helped me with the other languages I’ve been studying as well, though the atmosphere of my classes at Wake Forest has definitely taught me to appreciate it on its own and I will continue reading Latin after I graduate.”

Clay mentioned T. H. M. Gellar-Goad as one instructor, in particular, who inspired them and helped them along the way.

“Zoe is a diligent, skilled, and resilient student of Latin and classics,” Gellar-Goad said. “They are confident and collaborative all at the same time.”

Gellar-Goad also noted how entertaining Clay is to have in class.

“They’ve got a great sense of humor, too, as

I’ve been fortunate to get to experience both in a Latin course on ancient Roman comedy and in our Latin Advanced Grammar & Prose Composition course this semester,” Gellar-Goad said.

“Zoe’s group consistently came up with the funniest translations, in which they adopted the persona of ‘Chadullus’ to give a ‘brotacular’ presentation to answer the question ‘Why Latin?’”

Clay has managed to survive and even thrive during their time at Wake Forest, though they did make note of how challenging it could be at times.

“It’s hard to identify a specific best or worst day,” Clay said. “In general, my worst day was probably one of the days when I’d gotten overwhelmed with other work and hadn’t been able to adequately prepare for my Latin class.”

While the small Latin class sizes here at Wake Forest can be unforgiving when one does not have the time or energy to prepare for class because “there is really no way to hide,” it can also be extremely rewarding because of how much progress one can make in a short amount of time.

“There are so many good days,” Clay said, “like when the meter in a poem comes together in your brain and you can read a whole passage out loud and hear it at the same time, or when something you’ve read sparks simultaneous connections to multiple subjects or ideas.”

Clay also found it surprisingly easy to connect to people writing so long ago — the chronological distance was not as divisive as they expected. This can conjure mixed feelings because that recognition can be “sometimes comforting, sometimes illuminating and sometimes it’s really just disheartening.”

After college, Clay will be taking a gap year while working in Winston-Salem, and they are also planning on applying to PT schools. Right now, however, Clay is most excited about “experiencing Winston-Salem beyond Wake Forest” and exploring all of the hidden gems that the city has to offer.

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Old Gold & Black | Graduation

MATHEMATICAL BUSINESS

NOAH EDWARDS-THRO COOPER SULLIVAN Multimedia Managing Editor

Katie Fox/Old Gold & Black

Like many children who were dissuaded from watching Disney Channel, Noah EdwardsThro’s favorite programming came from a Disney Co. subsidiary — ESPN. Growing up in Lexington, KY, Edwards-Thro was a big Kentucky Wildcats fan. But if the blue-blooded basketball team wasn’t on the television that night, he was fine with any other ballgame.

Playing since the age of eight, Edwards-Thro carried that love of basketball to Wake Forest, where he became a student manager for the women’s team during his freshman year. It was the basketball court that opened his eyes to the world of data analytics.

Edwards-Thro came into college as an intended finance major but went to an info session during his first year that quickly changed his mind.

“I learned that the average first-year, secondyear analyst works like 80 to 90 hours a week,” Edwards-Thro said. “I was like, ‘not going to do that. I’m just not.’”

One of his old friends was a mathematical business major and showed Edwards-Thro what the subject really was. Then, Edwards-Thro was thrust into the growing world of sports analytics and data science. Nowadays, many professional teams use analytics to improve their team’s skill in the most cost-beneficial way — Moneyball, but make it mainstream — and this change has expanded into the collegiate levels.

“Working for the women’s basketball team made me realize that sports and data not only could be combined, but that they should be combined,” Edwards-Thro said. “It was really cool for me to see our team tangibly improve because of some of the recommendations that I brought to the coaching staff.”

Edwards-Thro’s thesis even centered around basketball analytics, “NBA Player Clustering using Gaussian Mixture Modeling”. Even with the intimidating title, you don’t have to be Billy Beane to get the gist.

Edwards-Thro argues that the five-position system basketball operates under is a thing of the past and that coaches, general managers, and award voters should break the players into more skill-oriented categories. He then uses these new distinctions like the ball-dominant scorer (Damian Lillard) or the mid-range big (Dirk Nowitzki) to recognize trends in the NBA and how roster-building around this new position mindset leads to championships.

Dr. Lucy D’Agostino McGowan has had Edward-Thro in three of her statistics courses and was his senior thesis advisor.

“I’ve been so impressed by his ability to independently synthesize the literature, his technical acumen, and his capacity to communicate complex statistical concepts to various audiences,” D’Agostino McGowan said. “[His thesis] was a perfect topic for Noah combining a complex modeling technique with a practical application.”

Edwards-Thro has been looking to work at an independent consulting firms, saying that while working for a specific team would be cool, there is a lot less free time outside the organization. The summer before senior year, he interned for the Chicago-based company Stats Perform and he will return to a similar position post-graduation.

He will be working for the company remotely as he simultaneously obtains his master’s in data science from the University of Virginia. He won’t be in Charlottesville, however.

Edwards-Thro’s fiance, Amber Adkins (see page 24), will be conducting psychology research at Wake Forest Baptist the next two years, so the soon-to-be-wed couple will remain in Winston-Salem.

And although his time in Winston-Salem is not over yet, Edwards-Thro will still be missing the simple moments of being on the Reynolda campus.

“The best days are just the ones where you’re out on the quad doing work, playing spike ball, throwing the football,” Edwards-Thro reminisced. “You know those days where it’s just simple. When life is not complicated and there’s a simplicity to being with other people.”

MATHEMATICAL ECONOMICS

DAVID LI

CHRISTA DUTTON News Editor David Li became interested in economics when he picked up the book “Freakonomics” and started listening to its accompanying podcast of the same name.

One particular story in “Freakonomics” that was of great interest to Li was a story of why Roe v. Wade, which barred states from criminalizing abortion, was connected to a dramatic decrease in crime in major American cities in the 1990s. Economists discovered that because women were given the right to choose, they were more likely to only give birth if they were ready, thus decreasing the number of children born into disadvantaged situations that would make them more prone to committing crimes. “[‘Freakonomics’] looks at problems in our world in a completely different light,” Li said.

Li added: “That out-of-the-box thinking could really change a lot of things in our society. So that is the kind of a story that drew me into [mathematical economics]”.

Li has been interested in economics since high school but chose to major in mathematical economics because of how the discipline can explain the human mind and solve problems.

“I like how through economics, you can understand why people make certain decisions,” Li said. “Psychology studies the more explicit side of it, and mathematical economics incorporates math and numbers into why people make certain decisions.”

Dr. Frederick Chen, associate professor of economics at Wake Forest, has had Li in two classes. He described Li as analytical, creative, determined and resourceful.

“One time in a mathematical economics class, I mentioned that one of the problems I had given the students is so hard that a former student of mine who is a professor at West Point now still remembers it 10 or 15 years Katie Fox/Old Gold & Black after graduating from Wake Forest,” Chen said.

“David managed to track down this former student and ask her if she could give him some hint on an assignment. I found out about it only because my former student texted me to ask if it was okay.”

This out-of-the-box thinking has benefited Li in another one of Chen’s classes as well.

“David is not afraid to think outside the box,” Chen said. “He and his partner for a group project in my game theory class came up with a method that I had never seen before to visualize and analyze a certain type of game. I am going to steal their idea and use it in my future teaching for sure.”

Li’s innovative thinking will also help him in his future plans to bioengineer drought-resistant plants, a research project he started with the Biology Department at Wake Forest and will continue while attending graduate school at the University of Washington at St. Louis, where he will earn his Ph.D. in Biochemistry.

“I’m excited to do more research,” Li said.

“We live in a world where we don’t really know how most things work. Very few of us take the time to think about how the world works.”

He hopes to spend his future being a person who does think about how the world works.

“In my future, I think I’m going to be a researcher, whether in academia or industry, and I’m excited to figure things out and see my brain be challenged,” Li said. “Figuring complex concepts out has been some of the most rewarding processes I’ve ever had in my life. To be able to do that professionally full time is something exciting.”

He is confident that the skills he has developed in the Mathematical Economics major will serve him well in the future even though he is pursuing further education in his other major.

“I know how to think about things in a mathematical way, I know how dynamic modeling works and I know how humans interact because of behavioral economics,” Li said. “Those are skills that can really help people — not only in economics — but in life in general.”

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Thursday, April 28, 2022 | Page 21

MATHEMATICAL STATISTICS

ANDY GREENE

COOPER SULLIVAN Multimedia Managing Editor

A lot of kids grow up wanting to be on the silver screen, being recognized wherever they go. Hearing whispers as they walk by of “is that Jessica Chastain? Honey, look it’s the guy from ‘Ted Lasso’” and “oh my god you are local Channel 6 News meteorologist Andy Greene” That was the dream for this Milford, Pennsylvania native — until he found out how much science was involved.

Andy Greene is now a statistics and computer science double major, but he’s still trying to devote his love of numbers to weather prediction.

Working with Dr. Rob Erhardt, Greene’s senior thesis uses statistical modeling to predict how intense droughts would be in certain areas of the world based on factors such as air temperature and soil moisture.

“What I did was just kind of a pilot study for a larger project that [Erhardt] is going to be tackling for the next few years,” Greene said. “He’s been in communication with some of the government agencies that handle the national drought monitors and they said if we can come up with really good research and really good results, then they would consider applying it.”

Over the summer, Greene will be preparing to move to New Mexico, where he will begin work at the Los Alamos National Labratory on similar environmental research.

“I’ll be working remotely at home over the summer, but they will fly me out and get me acquainted with the area,” Greene said. “But it’s scary. You know, there’s a whole new chapter of my life I’m about to get into but I guess I just kind of have to dive in headfirst.”

But diving headfirst in has been something beneficial for Greene throughout his college career. It was deciding to join the board game club on a whim that led him to some of his good friends. It was registering for a jazz class as his arts divisional that uncovered a new interest of combining music and numbers.

After speaking with professors in both departments, Greene realized that there is a lot more interconnectivty between musicians than some may believe. Perhaps this could be shown with a statistical model?

“I basically just collected a bunch of data on different jazz musicians throughout history,” Greene said. “Who recorded with who? Which people were on different albums? And I tried to create this map of all of the interaction between these different jazz players throughout history. It was just a good way of visualizing how interconnected and collaborative jazz is.”

This wasn’t for an assignment for either class. Greene just was naturally curious and had some time on his hands. He has always favored the problem-solving aspect of statistical analysis and applying these methods and models to areas of personal interest are what he believes makes statistics so valuable.

In terms of advice for those wishing to follow his footsteps and try to analyze the seemingly unnumerical, don’t think about it like numbers. He admits it sounds a little counterintuitive, but there’s a method behind the madness.

“Try not to focus on the theory and all of like the complex math behind it, because that can get kind of overwhelming,” Greene said. “So to not get bogged down in it, but really, try to keep that high level view of what you’re doing and how you want to apply this.”

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MATHEMATICS

SARAH RUTH NICHOLLS UNA WILSON Asst. Features Editor Many students are intimidated by math and therefore give up long before they reach higher level courses. Sarah Ruth Nicholls is one of the students who did not give up.

As a double major in math and computer science, Nicholls devoted a great deal of her time at Wake Forest to disciplines in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). She will tell you, however, that there is no such thing as a ‘math person’.

“Just because you don’t get math the first time doesn’t mean you don’t belong here.” Nicholls said. “I learned that in high school, and it’s stuck with me ever since.”

Nicholls said that she was drawn to math in high school, and her passion for the subject only flourished once she got to Wake Forest.

“I like how, in the beginning of a math problem, there is a very clear right and wrong,” Nicholls said. “That kind of logical thinking is something I am drawn to.”

Within the math department, Nicholls also felt herself drawn to one professor in particular: Dr. Jason Parsley. While working with him in his knot theory lab, the two cultivated a close relationship.

“Sarah Ruth Nicholls has enthusiastically dived into undergraduate research in topology, studying petal knots (knots shaped like a flower) with me.”

Parsley said. “She is highly charismatic and intelligent, and she has been a leader in mathematical outreach — through groups like our AWM (Association for Women in Mathematics), she strives to make mathematics more inclusive.”

As the founder and president of AWM, Nicholls is passionate about making mathematics both accessible and fun for female students.

“We have weekly meetings, informal research talks, social events and trivia nights.” Nicholls said. “I especially loved our discussion with the chair of the math department Dr. Sarah Raynor because she talked about how she struggles with imposter syndrome in her math career. It was so

comforting to hear a woman as accomplished as her talk about her own doubts about her capabilities — it’s something we all struggle with.”

Nicholls also worked closely with Dr. John Gemmer, who recalled Nicholls fondly.

“As an instructor, I strongly believe in the philosophy that a rising tide lifts all boats,” Gemmer said. “No student more embodies this ideal than Sarah Ruth. She is exceptionally intelligent and creative, but at the same time, she is humble and supportive of all students around her. She is very generous with her time and works closely with other students so that all can achieve success. This is a rare trait amongst undergraduate students, who often focus on the pursuit of individual accomplishment.”

Gemmer also praised Nicholls’ love of learning and teaching.

“Sarah Ruth clearly has the maturity to realize that she is a highly successful studen,t but at the same time wants all of her classmates to not only achieve success but enjoy learning.”

After graduating, Nicholls is planning to pursue a Ph.D. in Mathematics at Rice University. She said that in the future, she hopes to be a professor.

“In the Wake Forest math department, teamwork is really emphasized,” Nicholls said. “I was often put in groups of four or six people that I would work with for an entire semester, and some of those people are now my closest friends. Part of my inspiration for wanting to be a professor comes from my experiences here. I hope I get to talk to people and help them work through problems, like I got to do in my classes at Wake Forest.”

As she looked back on her time at Wake Forest, she recalled advice that helped her persevere in challenging times.

“It’s more important to feel like you worked hard in a class than to do well in that class,” Nicholls said. “Since grading is so objective in math, it’s easy to feel crushed when you don’t earn an A on a test. But, getting a C means that you know 70% of the material. When you think about it, that’s a lot of math!”

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Old Gold & Black | Graduation

MUSIC IN LIBERAL ARTS

ERIC ROSS

MARYAM KHANUM Opinion Editor

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“The early periods of music, such as when Gregorian chant gave way to Organum and then to polyphony, are fascinating,” Eric Ross said of his interest in music. “Just seeing the formulations and foundations of modern western music is absolutely enthralling, especially to see how it has evolved over time.”

Ross hails from Pfafftown, NC. Although he is a distinguished major in music in liberal arts, Ross did not come into college interested in music. However, upon taking a First Year Seminar with Dr. David Levy, who taught him about Wagner’s Ring Cycle of operas, he became interested in the history and theory of music.

“Eric Ross is one of the most curious students I have ever taught,” Levy said. “His interests are diverse, both in musical scholarship and performance.”

Since then, Ross has greatly developed his involvement in musicology, studying the “Lord of the Rings” films for the summer 2021 Richter scholarship, supervised by Dr. David Geary.

“I was reading the books and thought back to the film scores and noticed some similarities which I thought were too on-the-nose to be purely coincidental,” Ross said. “I went back, did scores study, watched the films, took copious notes about the music I was hearing and distilled that into a paper about the music and its extra-musical associations for the villains.”

This project allowed him to pursue the study of music as associated with narrative-building and storytelling. He is particularly taken by the ability of music in film to convey events contributing to the plot which aren’t actively seen on screen or mentioned by the characters, as well as its ability to create an atmosphere

and change the dynamic of a given scene and play a significant role in “world-building”.

“I taught Eric for three classes (Music Theory I, II, and IV) and supervised his summer 2021 Richter Scholarship research project (analyzing the villainous themes in Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy),” Geary said.

“In all of these settings, Eric showed a deep passion and knowledge about music and history. I believe these attributes, among others, will lead him to continue flourishing next year while he pursues a Master’s in Musicology degree in at Indiana University.”

Ross hopes to develop this project further post-graduation, aiming to continue it into graduate school and expand into the entire cast of characters in “Lord of The Rings”. Besides this, his ultimate goal following graduation is to become a distinguished professor of musicology. He aims to learn more about the professional field of music and gain a clearer idea of how it functions, and how the profession is carried out.

The study of music has largely shaped Ross’ academic journey, allowing him to improve his research and critical thinking skills regarding music and extra-musical meaning and associations. In particular, musicology has taught him the value of patience.

“You’re trying to plot a course through all of the material you’ve been given to find a deeper meaning within,” Ross said. “It takes a while to be able to do that.”

In tandem with his deep interests in musical theory and history, Ross has maintained a significant appreciation for playing music, an appreciation which he attributes to his flute professor, Dr. Katheryn Levy.

“Eric’s inquisitive mind and intellect, combined with his fine performance skills, touched all of us in the Department of Music,” Katheryn Levy said.

MUSIC PERFORMANCE

KATARINA SAMS CHRISTA DUTTON News Editor

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Katarina Sams’ love for music began at a young age. Born in Croatia and raised in Switzerland, she attended an elementary school where she was required to play a band instrument. Sams chose the flute and has dedicated her life to learning that instrument ever since.

Sams moved to the United States in 2018 to begin her undergraduate studies at Wake Forest. She entered her freshman year thinking she might want to study music performance but wanted to keep her options open. Once she began taking classes in the music department, however, her decision was solidified.

“Once I started my music lessons, doing wind ensemble and orchestra and private lessons with the flute, that’s when I knew that I wanted to be a music performance major,” Sams said.

Despite her years of experience, Sams still describes performing on stage as “nerve-racking”.

Through the nerves, however, she still enjoys gifting her music to other people.

“My only goal is to make people happy when they see me perform,” Sams said. “If people like what they see, that’s enough for me.”

Sams’ mother played piano and also wanted her daughter to have music in her life. Sams inherited that same desire to share music with others, and that’s why she loves teaching music.

In her later high school years, she began helping her flute teacher teach younger students. She described an instance where one student made tremendous progress, and that’s what made her fall in love with teaching music to other people and inspired her to teach flute to students in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School District while at Wake Forest.

“It’s fun, and I like to have that relationship with students because I like to help and inspire other people,” Sams said.

After graduation, Sams will be attending the

Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA, where she will be working on her Master’s in Flute Performance. Before she moves there in the fall, she will be participating in two major music performance projects over the summer.

She will be performing in wind youth orchestra projects in Austria and Czech Republic. She also has her first gig this summer in Croatia playing alongside a Croatian city’s chamber orchestra.

Sams is excited that her future holds many performance opportunities, and she hopes to begin working on her long-term plan of having a private lesson business.

Reflecting on her time as a music performance major, Sams remembered the joy she found in finally perfecting a challenging piece.

“The best days are whenever I play something right after getting it wrong so many times,” Sams said.

Assistant Professor of Music Dr. David Geary had Sams in his music theory courses for three semesters. He cited her dedication to the department and meaningful involvement as a tutor and member of multiple ensembles.

“Among her excellence as a performer, she is also just an excellent student, and she is a very versatile musician,” Geary said.

Geary is confident that Sams will be highly successful in her post-graduation plans.

“Graduate students require a great deal of selfdirection, and I think she possesses that,” Geary said. “She sees opportunities and pursues them, and I think this will help her professionally.”

While Sams has certainly sharpened her musical performance skills during her time at Wake Forest, she says her most valuable lesson is not musical in nature. When asked the most significant thing she’s learned as a music performance major, she answered: “Patience.”

“My mom always said that patience is a requirement in life, and I never believed her until getting into this major,” Sams said.

When asked what she still has left to learn?

“Patience.”

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Thursday, April 28, 2022 | Page 23

PHILOSOPHY

LIAT KLOPOUH MARYAM KHANUM Opinion Editor Although she is now an accomplished philosophy major, Liat Klopouh didn’t know she wanted to major in philosophy until she attended college. Hailing from Baltimore, MD, Klopough initially intended to follow in the footsteps of her parents and major in biology.

Although she decided that that academic path wasn’t for her, she loved the analytical nature of science, and wanted to be able to apply that to writing. This led her to try out a plethora of classes at Wake Forest.

Klopouh’s first academic exposure to philosophy was in a class she took with Dr. Adam Kadlac. This class was what solidified her decision to major in philosophy, and she worked with Kadlac on her honors thesis.

“I have been very lucky to have Liat in three classes and to supervise her honors thesis this year,” Kadlac said. “It has been a privilege to watch her intellectual development over the last four years. I’m sure that she will be successful in whatever she decides to do.”

Klopouh’s interest in philosophy was also initially sparked by a love for writing. Her parents, who immigrated to the United States from Russia, always emphasized the importance of writing well and being grammatically correct.

She recalls her father sitting with her as she did her homework and helping her write correctly and speak correctly. These memories stuck with her and impacted her time at college.

The appreciation she has developed for philosophy has transcended into external aspects of her life. As a student ambassador for the Program for Leadership and Character, Klopouh is able to see how philosophy permeates the program’s ideals. Moreover, as an economics minor, she has noticed how many theoretical

concepts are applicable when looking at the world through an economic lens, or from a perspective of individual character. In particular, the ethical aspect of philosophy has impacted Klopouh most.

“I’m big on character and virtue, and understanding those concepts, and ethics helped me frame that,” Klopouh said. “That stemmed out into Kantian ethics and ancient Greek philosophy.”

Klopouh expressed gratitude to Dr. Emily Austin, with whom she took classes on ancient Greek philosophy.

“Liat combines intellectual rigor with a remarkably elegant writing style, a mixture rare even in professionals,” Austin said.

Klopouh credits her understanding of ethics to classes she took on the subject with Dr. Christian Miller. She said she can apply concepts learned from these classes to aspects of her everyday life, such as her on campus relationships with both peers and professors.

“Liat was one of my favorite students these past four years,” Miller said. “She has a deep interest in ethics and social justice, and that carried over to my ethics course ... She is one of the most hard-working students I have had, as well as being so conscientious and kind.”

After graduation, Klopouh plans to work in Washington D.C. at Wiley Rein Law Firm as a paralegal. She also intends to further her interests in philosophy, particularly ancient Greek philosophy. She is fascinated by how philosophy allows her to uncover answers to questions as she hits different stages in her life, and she discerns how she would answer a lot of the philosophical questions she was asked as a freshman very differently now.

“Philosophy can go on for so long, and I think that’s the beauty of it,” Klopouh said. “I don’t ever want to stop with it or stop thinking about these things.”

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PHYSICS

WILLIAM CAULKINS SELINNA TRAN Print Managing Editor Will Caulkins didn’t have the firmest idea as to what he wanted to do when coming to Wake Forest — but his interests aligned him with a science, math, engineering and technology (STEM)-related discipline. Physics provided Caulkins with an intuitive way to learn and an understanding of problem-solving that he resonated with. It was a subject that he continued to love during his time at Wake Forest.

“When I came to Wake Forest, I had no idea what I wanted to do,” Caulkins said. “I knew I had a propensity towards science and math, so I thought I wanted to do something related to that. I started out taking an engineering class thinking that I wanted to build something, but it didn’t strike a chord the way that physics did.”

Despite a primary intention to pursue engineering and switch his focus to physics, Caulkins will be jump-starting his post-graduate career with an engineering position.

“In the fall, I am going to be starting a job at the company Peraton in D.C.,” Caulkins said.

“I am going to be doing satellite communication systems engineering. I did an internship for them this past summer and absolutely loved it. I worked with all different types of engineering — electrical, software, mechanical, 3D printing, drones.”

Even though Caulkins’ job will have a primary focus on engineering, his experience and studies in physics have given him the tools to be prepared for the field.

“Physics gives you exposure to a lot of engineering disciplines,” Caulkins said. “I took an electronics class that taught me how to wire up systems. I’ve taken a computational physics class that has taught me software engineering.

More generally, [physics] has taught me how things work. There’s an intuition about what

to do if I do things this way.”

Caulkins described the close relationships that he built with professors during his time a Wake Forest.

“Don’t let professors intimidate you,” Caulkins said. “They are some of the smartest people that you have ever met — but don’t let that intimidate you because you will learn a lot from these professors.”

Dr. Keith Bonin, professor of Physics and vice provost for research & scholarly inquiry, was the advisor for Caulkins’ honors thesis.

“Will has worked on research with me since the spring of his sophomore year,” Bonin said.

“Initially interrupted by the pandemic in Spring 2020, the following two years were fruitful, as Will and I worked on an National Institutes of Health project to track microscopic objects in 3D. Will learned many different skills, including Atomic Force Microscopy, plasma etching, spin-coating, fluorescence optical microscopy, data analysis in Matlab, and how to automate a state-of-the-art microscope and camera by programming python-based software.”

Bonin continued: “Will also worked closely with a co-advisor, Dr. Stephen Baker, who is a Teacher-Scholar Postdoctoral Fellow in the Physics Department. Finally, Will presented his work as part of a Physics Department seminar on April 14, and he also wrote an honors thesis based on his laboratory work on 3D microscopy. Both Dr. Baker and I thoroughly enjoyed conducting research with Will, and we will miss his hard work and intelligence, his good humor, and his fun attitude in the lab.”

Caulkins also participated in a successful “hackathon” last spring, in which his team developed a project that won the competition. The success prompted the sponsor of the hackathon to approach the team to further develop the project into a completed product. Caulkins’ team worked to develop an application that logs and tracks the provenance of artifacts.

Katie Fox/Old Gold & Black

Page 24 | Thursday, April 28, 2022

Old Gold & Black | Graduation

POLITICS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

MAGGIE FOX

EMILY TORO News Editor

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Maggie Fox always wanted to go to law school, and her experiences at Wake Forest only reinforced that aspiration.

“I think especially after the 2016 election, I really got more interested in political affairs,” Fox said. “And so I thought that was going to be that my law school path was something more related to workings of government, and policy reform, that kind of thing. It was honestly over the last two years that I really got a more specific focus into criminal justice reform.”

Growing up in Conway, SC, Fox’s parents helped inspire her passions, as they both pursued careers as public attorneys.

“My parents have definitely been a huge influence, especially in pursuing a liberal arts education as they’re both public attorneys,” Fox said. “They’ve always been really encouraging of exploring different disciplines like English, history and sociology and that definitely guided my choice of wanting to go to a smaller liberal arts school like Wake Forest.”

Fox received a Stamps Scholarship to attend Wake Forest, a scholarship that “is awarded to entering firstyear students who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement, a high degree of intellectual curiosity and scholarship, exceptional promise in leadership, service and social responsibility, perseverance, character, integrity, and innovation,” according to the Stamps Scholarship website.

Fox has embodied the character of a Stamps Scholar through her exemplary drive in her classes. During her time in college, Fox excelled in classes on constitutional law, civil rights and civil liberties; and judicial politics, a class that encouraged her to pursue a minor in sociology.

“I was able to pick up a sociology minor, where I became especially interested in abolition work and criminal justice reform,” Fox said. “One thing I’ve loved about the politics major is that it’s given me the flexibility to take classes in a lot of different departments as well.”

Fox took a class related to race, racism and racial capitalism from one of her favorite professors, Dr. Hana Brown, who praises Maggie for being an exemplary student and scholar.

“Maggie is such a strong student that I knew her name from other faculty and students long before she ever enrolled in one of my classes,” Brown said. “In class, she has routinely surpassed my already high expecta-

tions. She is sharp, intellectually curious, and always one step, or more, ahead of the research we read and debate in class. She embraces challenges and is deeply motivated to use her social science background to advance social justice.”

Fox also excelled in her Division II English course, taught by professor Meredith Farmer, in which she received the D.A. Brown Award for Excellence in writing.

“It ended up being a class I really loved ... it was on detectives and detective fiction,” Fox said. “I think [Professor Farmer] was a professor who really believed in me and my writing abilities, That was a class that really strengthened my writing more than anything else.

I think it’s a class that taught me more than anything else at Wake Forest.”

Farmer praised Fox’s excellence in the classroom.

“Maggie is a wonderful student who wrote a beautiful essay about Herman Melville’s ‘Benito Cereno’ and its layered way of calling out racism in the antebellum United States — and in readers today,” Farmer said. “Her paper was impressively researched, carefully crafted, and genuinely compelling. But what matters even more is that Maggie knows how to build not just an argument, but also a mood, which I hope will serve her well as she starts her career.”

In addition to being a dedicated student, Fox spent all of her years at Wake Forest tutoring with organizations like Voices and the Student Association for the Advancement for Refugees (SAFAR).

At the beginning of her sophomore year, Fox also had the opportunity to develop her own research project through a Richter Fellowship. She centered her research on the Dutch criminal justice system. Although she did not have the opportunity to go to Amsterdam to pursue this research due to the pandemic, she completed the project online.

“They have a system that is just really focused around rehabilitation and completely centered away from detaining people for long periods of time in prison, which is entirely different from what we do here in the United States,” Fox said. “I developed a project where I would go to Amsterdam, and talk with different people in the criminal justice system, like judges, attorneys, people who worked at the prisons and academics ... and see what lessons we can learn from that here in the United States.”

After college, Fox will attend the University of Virginia for law school and plans to pursue criminal law.

“I really want to do abolition work,” Fox said. “I don’t know whether that looks like doing advocacy work and working as a public defender or working with more community organizing as a litigator. I don’t have it all laid out, but those are definitely things that I’m still interested in pursuing.”

PSYCHOLOGY

AMBER ADKINS SOPHIE GUYMON Opinion Editor

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Amber Adkins’ first exposure to psychology was at a high school summer camp in her home state of Kentucky.

“I had never taken a psychology class before Wake Forest but I did a camp at one point in high school where we were split into different subject areas for the summer, and I got randomly assigned to psychology,” Adkins said. “It was [less the] academic side of it, and more ‘here are problems that people are facing — and what psychologists are saying about that.’ That was probably the first point where psychology sparked my interest.”

Taking Introductory Psychology (PSY 151) her freshman fall confirmed Adkins’ interest in the subject — she described it as the most engaging subject that she had taken. From there, Adkins went on to do summer research and started the honors program her junior year.

“My freshman summer, I did research in Kentucky on child sexual abuse at a child advocacy center there and really enjoyed it — it’s really important,” Adkins said. “But I figured out through some volunteer opportunities that I really enjoy working with the older adult population. This past summer, I did research with a professor looking at mild cognitive impairment in older adults and cognitive psychology stuff.”

Throughout her time at Wake Forest, Adkins has built positive relationships with many of her professors, finding that they have been very supportive of her passions and aspirations.

“All the professors that I’ve had have been very engaging, very willing to help me and meet with me outside of class,” Adkins said. “They’ve helped push me academically in all the different semesters but they’ve [also] been so willing to meet me where I am, to learn what my passions are and to help me get wherever I want to go.”

One professor that stood out to Adkins in particular was Dr. Janine Jennings, with whom she did research this past summer. Adkins noted that Jennings has been incredibly helpful in helping her figure out her postgraduation plans, as well as offering support and advice.

Jennings has been touched by her time working with Amber, as well.

“Amber is something of a quiet powerhouse,” Jennings said. “She is intellectually talented, can juggle

multiple research projects with a heavy course load while also pursuing her study of the violin yet is one of the most modest, humble and gentle individuals I have ever met.”

As a psychology major, Adkins has come to recognize the power of underlying influences and processes on our everyday lives, noting that little things affect our lives in a big way. She has enjoyed being able to point out the little manifestations of what she’s learned in her day-to-day life. “[I’ve learned] that we have a lot less control over our thoughts and our beliefs than we think that we do — we’re just influenced by so much,” Adkins said.

“Unconsciously, on an everyday basis we don’t really know why we think the way that we do or why we believe the way that we believe — everything that we take in is biased in some way.”

Adkins noted that her time in the department has been somewhat of a learning curve — while some of the classes she took were initially difficult, she’s been able to connect concepts back to them as she’s advanced.

This growth has been aided not only by support from professors such as Jennings, but also by the collaborative and engaging nature of the classes Adkins has taken.

She has found many friends in the department, noting that she has not perceived the competition culture that people often worry about at Wake Forest.

“People [in the department] don’t want to compete, they’re just there to learn,” Adkins said. “[We’re] just trying to pursue [our] best, without being concerned about how other people might be better.”

In her final year as an undergraduate, Adkins has been doing part-time research at the medical school for the U.S. Quaker Study, examining the effects of a lifestyle intervention program on the cognition of people at risk for dementia. She has also been working on her honors thesis, studying the emotional well-being of older adults in the COVID-19 pandemic.

After graduation, Adkins will be continuing her research for the U.S. Quaker Study. Her long-term goals include going to graduate school for clinical psychology and expanding on her passion for the well-being of older adults by working with the geriatric population — a demographic that she feels is often overlooked.

As for her other plans, Adkins glowed when discussing her engagement to classmate Noah Edwards-Thro (page 20), whom she has been dating since sophomore year, and their upcoming wedding this summer.

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Thursday, April 28, 2022 | Page 25

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

LEILANI FLETCHER SOPHIE GUYMON Opinion Editor Like many freshmen at Wake Forest, Leilani Fletcher started out on the pre-medicine track. However, after taking an introductory chemistry class Fletcher realized that this track was not for them.

“I was a stereotypical freshman who thought I was going to do pre-medicine,” Fletcher said. “I thought, ‘yeah, [I’ll] be a neurosurgeon … make all the bucks.’

I thought I [would be] a [Chemistry] major or a [Biochemistry] major. And then I did [horribly] in General Chemistry.”

They continued: “I also got exposed to more activism on campus and involved with [incredible] faculty — I was involved in a lot of anti-racism [and] equity efforts, spearheaded by the anti-racism coalition at the time. I realized to not engage in subjects [in which] I thought, ‘okay, I have to do this.’ I thought I was really interested in psychology for a while, but it felt more like external pressures rather than something I was internally motivated to do. So that’s kind of what made that switch happen.”

It was Fletcher’s activism efforts that introduced them to Religious Studies, a subject in which they had little interest coming into college. Growing up in New York City with a family that was somewhat spiritual but not religious, Fletcher described their relationship with religion in childhood as casual. When they came to Wake Forest, they assumed that the Religious Studies major was just a pathway for students hoping to enter divinity school.

However, after meeting Dr. Tanisha Ramachandran, Fletcher was encouraged to take classes in the department. Fletcher’s first Religious Studies class, Social Justice in Islam, had a powerful impact. By their sophomore fall, they were “enamored” with the department and knew that they had to stick with it.

“The perspective [these classes] took of analyzing systems of oppression through sociological lenses … that recognize religion [as] an institution was so unique,” Fletcher said. “[The department] was fascinating. It also gave [me] space to explore the existential questions that people think about.”

Through Religious Studies, Fletcher has not only learned about the reach and impact of religion as an institution, but also come into contact with people of incredibly different backgrounds — people who they wouldn’t have met otherwise.

“The department is a space where I’m engaging with so many different people,” Fletcher said. “It’s interesting

seeing how our different positionality [affects] how we view the subjects. New classes can [often] be an echo chamber [of ] the same thoughts [where] everyone is afraid to rock the boat. It’s nice being in a very collaborative environment [with] a bunch of different, fun perspectives.”

Fletcher’s experience in the department has been incredibly positive. When asked to pick a favorite class they had taken, they were unable to choose just one, citing both Gender, Sexuality and Religion and Theoretical Approaches to Religious Studies as favorites. These classes allowed Fletcher to exercise their passion for social justice and advocacy and think about religion in ways that they never had before.

“I cannot separate any social construction or institution from religion … [it is exciting] to [put] on extra goggles and see all the internal layers of what’s happening in society,” Fletcher said. “[I’ve been] able to intertwine my passion for social justice, helping and uplifting people in a field that has oppressed me as an individual. My personal relationships [have allowed me to] flip the script and realize [that] religion can be a source of empowerment.”

Fletcher’s experience has also been defined by their close relationship with Ramachandran, who they described as their mom on campus.

“Dr. Ramachandran has been a rock for me since my first year at Wake Forest. I can break down in their office, I can share a laugh with them,” Fletcher said. “It’s a very genuine, authentic relationship — I feel honored and grateful because this person is so invested in my success. She also appreciates my words of wisdom, the mentorship is reciprocal.”

Ramachandran had similarly glowing things to say about Fletcher.

“I [have] witnessed Leilani’s dedication to social justice through their unique writing voice and commitment to activism,” Ramachandran said. “While I am proud of their progress and transformation throughout their years here, I am even more proud of the manner in which they challenged racist and heteronormative practices at Wake Forest… I have no doubt that Leilani will continue to affect change throughout their post college life.”

Fletcher would like to see continued growth from the department and a more diverse faculty. After graduation, Fletcher plans to work at the LGBTQ Victory Institute in Washington D.C. as a programs associate, building on their previous experience as a congressional intern, as well as their work at the LGBTQ Center at Wake Forest. Fletcher looks forward to taking on a mentorship role and continuing to advocate for inclusive programming for queer students.

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SOCIOLOGY

HANNAH E. DEMAIONEWTON KATIE FOX Photography Editor Hannah DeMaioNewton decided to pursue a medical career at a young age, spending her upbringing close to the treatment side of medicine as her family dealt with chronic Lyme disease. She moved to Raleigh, NC from a small town in Massachusetts at age 14 and came to Wake Forest with her sights set on becoming the first in her family to go into the field of healthcare. Upon her arrival, DeMaioNewton realized that her science course curriculum felt divorced from her perception of how the material should have related to real patients, which is what drew her to medicine in the first place.

“One of the hardest things about coming to college and being a part of science is that you’re not learning how to take care of people,” DeMaioNewton said.

“There’s nobody to take care of except for yourself, you know?”

Rather than majoring in a hard science like many other pre-medicine students, she felt that she had, “always been really interested in the more human aspects of medicine and how they impact people.”

Sociology bridged this disconnect for DeMaioNewton. She will graduate with a sociology major with a concentration in the social determinants of health and well-being, as well as a biology and chemistry double minor.

DeMaioNewton declared her major after taking one sociology class, but she said she was glad to have taken the leap of faith because her coursework in health-related sociology classes consistently related to her premed classes. Topics ranging from sickle cell anemia to cancer or even cystic fibrosis overlapped across disciplines. DeMaioNewton described how these connections between the scientific explanation and the social implications of under or overfunded research satisfied her desire to identify how medicine can better serve communities.

Over the summer before DeMaioNewton’s junior year, Dr. Alexandra Brewer joined the sociology faculty at Wake Forest, and Hannah immediately reached out to meet the new medical sociologist and ask to do research with her. DeMaioNewton has been Brewer’s research assistant ever since.

“Hannah is the kind of student every professor dreams of having in class — she is brilliant, creative, and kind,” Brewer said. “I felt so lucky to have her in three classes my first year at Wake Forest, especially as I was navigating being a professor for the first time and teaching online.”

Brewer’s research studies how physicians make decisions about pain treatment during the opioid crisis. She praised DeMaioNewton’s contributions to that research.

“As a research assistant, [DeMaioNewton] was a lightning-quick learner, picking up the skill of indepth interviewing after only a few training sessions,” Brewer said. “Working with her was like working with a Ph.D. student. I can’t wait to see the wonderful things she does with her career.”

During the summer of 2021, DeMaioNewton was granted a Wake Forest Research Fellowship to complete her own independent project, which she will be defending in May. Compiling interviews with 23 physicians, DeMaioNewton’s research paired well with Brewer’s in a study on how pain specialists conceptualize pain and how these perceptions change their treatment of patients.

“That’s probably been the best experience I’ve had at Wake Forest,” she said. “Being able to connect everything that I’ve learned in science and sociology, and then to write a thesis on it … I feel very lucky to have had that opportunity.”

In addition to her academic achievements, DeMaioNewton is also a member of Alpha Kappa Delta, the international honors society of sociology, and Deacons for Neurodiversity. She is an ambassador for the Z. Smith Reynolds Library and the Center for Learning, Access and Student Success (CLASS) and works as a tutor in the CLASS office peer tutoring initiative, as well as for Kaplan, Inc. mentoring high school students in a heart medicine course.

Since her freshman year, DeMaioNewton has enjoyed working as a gallery assistant at the Hanes Art Gallery and now the stArt Gallery. She has also been volunteering at a COVID-19 vaccine clinic since the summer of 2021.

After graduation, DeMaioNewton will be going into a full-time research position before applying to medical school.

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Old Gold & Black | Graduation

SPANISH

LESLIE MORALES-NOYOLA CHRISTINA DENOVIO Sports Editor

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Leslie Morales-Noyola is a double major in Spanish and political science from Winston-Salem, NC. When she first arrived at Wake Forest her freshman year, Morales-Noyola had no intention of majoring in Spanish and instead just wanted to satisfy the language division requirement by taking a Spanish class.

She soon discovered that her desire to interact with the Hispanic and Latino community would drive her to study Spanish and eventually grow a passion for the language. Morales-Noyola’s interest in studying Spanish at Wake Forest also stemmed from her background, as her family roots are Mexican.

“When I first came to Wake Forest, I really wanted to be an immigration lawyer,” Morales-Noyola said, “I actually have been working in an immigration law firm for the past few years. She continued, “In that field, I interacted with a lot of Spanish speakers, so I thought it was really important for me to really improve that communication that I have with others, especially if I want to help them with their problems.”

Morales-Noyola’s intended career path then shifted, but the importance of Spanish in her life remained.

“I became more interested in immigration policy, but not necessarily being a lawyer,” Morales-Noyola said, “and so I started getting more involved in education policy — specifically bilingual education policy.

Another reason why I thought studying Spanish would be really important is because there’s a lot of programs that need to be developed to help heritage speakers like me.”

Over her time at Wake Forest, Spanish developed into a more interesting and exciting topic of study for Morales-Noyola. She discovered that though she came from a family of Spanish speakers, there was still much about the language that she did not know.

“At first, [studying Spanish] was just for me to gain more skills, but now, I’m genuinely interested in the subject. I really like learning more about Spanish beyond just the grammatical rules and everything.”

Morales-Noyola even had the opportunity to share

her own culture in the classroom, which she describes as one of her favorite experiences as a Spanish major.

“During the fall of my sophomore year, my professor invited me to do a presentation on my family’s culture back in Mexico,” Morales-Noyola said, “They’re from Guerrero — a really tiny area that they call “La Cosa Chica” (The small thing).

They have a really specific culture there. There’s a lot of dances and like, all these traditions that are part of that.”

Morales-Noyola expressed why that day was her favorite in her major over the course of her college experience: “That was a really special moment for me. I got the opportunity to share a part of my culture that a lot of people — even some Latino people — don’t know about the culture.”

Morales-Noyola describes professor Dr. Lauren Miller as an inspiration and mentor during her time at Wake Forest. Miller was particularly impressed with Morales-Noyola’s performance and personality in her classroom.

Miller wrote: “Leslie is extremely reliable, fastidious, talented, and is a beautiful woman, inside and out. I had her in three classes, and her performance was outstanding in all of them.”

Miller observed that Morales-Noyola was always well-prepared and put forth lots of effort and care into every project she took on.

Miller continued: “I’ve really grown to view Leslie as a collaborator, friend, and colleague who I respect. She is a tireless civil servant who will no doubt improve her community through her passion, intelligence, and hard work. Her love for others, especially marginalized populations, is so pure and selfless that she makes me want to be a better person.”

While Morales-Noyola described Miller as an outstanding teacher and role model, Miller explained that the admiration was mutual.

“She is a student who has taught me as much as I have taught her and will surely continue to inspire me,” Miller said.

As Morales-Noyola prepares to graduate, she looks ahead to making a difference in the world. With the help of her Wake Forest education, she strives to help and support the Hispanic community in Winston-Salem and beyond.

STUDIO ART

QUYNH NHU-VU SELINNA TRAN Print Managing Editor

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Quynh Nhu-Vu entered Wake Forest knowing that art was a discipline that she wanted to pursue, but it wasn’t exactly easy to translate this passion due in part to her background as a child of immigrant parents.

“Since being a sperm cell, I knew I wanted to draw pictures and make art, but given that I am a child of immigrants, I have always felt pressure from my parents and extended family to view art as a hobby and a side hustle,” Nhu-Vu said. “I remember during my college application times, I was desperate to find a different academic interest … Art always came back to me.”

Nhu-Vu acted on what felt natural to her, and art was what she resonated with. Nhu-Vu draws on her lived experiences and aspects of her identity in the art that she creates.

“Sometimes I like drawing because they’re cool to me, but I [also] feel like everytime anybody draws anything, it has to do with what they’ve lived through — no matter how little,” Nhu-Vu said. “No matter how unintentional or intentional it is, they are telling people about the world that they lived in.”

Currently, Nhu-Vu’s art has shifted from exploring an angsty source of decolonizing herself as she describes it — where she researches and reflects on imperial and cultural influences — to her art reflecting domestic and shared spaces, alongside intimate events of her life.

When reflecting on her time at Wake Forest, Nhu-Vu spoke fondly of the intimacy of the Art Department and the relationships that resulted from that.

“The art department is pretty small and the classes are relatively small, and I like that because your professors — a lot of the time — are more like mentors to you,” said Nhu-Vu. In particular, Nhu-Vu credited Professor Leigh Ann Hallberg as a source of mentorship and guidance. Nhu-Vu says Hallberg’s classes shifted the way that she approached drawing.

Hallberg expresses similar sentiments towards Nhu-Vu. “I remember meeting Quynh as a first-year and thinking that she was already a very self-contained, interesting and open person,” Hallberg said.

Hallberg continues, “When she told me she was off to Copenhagen, I was disappointed not to be able to work with her in her first year. On her return, she was energized and clearly ready to engage in creating work. Her shift to functioning as an artist came as she committed to spending more concentrated time working. Currently, Quynh is showing in professional venues and her work is getting lots of attention.She will be working with the Mint Museum for an exhibition in the fall.

Quynh has the ‘art bug’, i.e. a real love of art, and my hope is that she will continue to direct all her energies toward art.”

During her time at Wake Forest, Nhu-Vu did not always feel comfortable with the environment of the campus community and felt a stronger connection to the Winston-Salem community.

“It wasn’t until last semester that I felt comfortable here — especially coming from the neighborhoods of Charlotte … where it’s really rare to walk into an art space in which white people are the majority,” said Nhu-Vu. Despite this, Nhu-Vu’s relationship with the academic staff and professors of Wake Forest made her feel a sense of belonging.

“I think what really helped was [having] that relationship with the professors,” Nhu-Vu said, “that’s what made me feel included, knowing that my professors supported my work.”

Looking towards the future, Nhu-Vu’s main point of excitement is the prospect of being an adult with lived experiences — similar to many of the people that she is surrounded by in the art scene.

“I’m excited to be 30,” she said. “A lot of my colleagues and my friends in art are around [that age] and older. The art scene in Charlotte is a lot of people several years deep in their career.”

Nhu-Vu hopes to gain the wisdom that she describes her colleagues having and has many shows planned for the next two years with an art residency lined up in Charlotte at Goodyear Arts.

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Thursday, April 28, 2022 | Page 27

THEATRE

FUYUAN (FREYA) ZHENG AINE PIERRE Online Managing Editor Through COVID-19, through feelings of inferiority, through four long years of college, the show must go on.

That seems to be what drives Fuyuan, or Freya Zheng, a Theatre major from Tianjin, China. In her four years at Wake Forest, she has directed and stage-managed productions; won research awards and founded a club and excelled academically.

Zheng was first drawn to theatre through a First Year Seminar on communication in the fine arts.

“We got to read poems and look at sculptures, pictures, paintings and other artwork,” Zheng said of the class. “We also went to the Theatre Department production. I think it was ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’ that they did that semester.”

She continued: “That was my first real involvement with the Theatre and Dance Department.

And I just found it interesting. I have always been a theatre lover, but I didn’t really expect myself to do theatre as a job or as a major. But that semester, I actually kind of felt like ‘oh, it’s really fun to do theatre.’ I think also that semester that there was a theater or musical wave in China, and everyone kind of like get interested in theater and those kind of things.”

Now officially interested in being a theatre major, Zheng took THE 150 — an intro class — for her art divisional. It ended up being one of her favorite classes from her time at Wake Forest.

“It’s kind of a huge workload, but it’s really interesting, and it actually gives you a great insight of what theatre looks like,” Zheng said.

Zheng said because her two majors, theatre and anthropology, are not popular among Chinese students, she sometimes felt isolated. However, she also said that she has had no problems finding other communities.

“Most of my days were spent in Scales, and everybody was really nice in the lobby during the day,” Zheng said. “Also, you can literally see all the art students, like either from studio arts or theatre just hanging out in that lobby talking with each other.”

Zheng also began to get involved with productions. In the spring of her junior year, she stage-managed “The Gentleman From Verona”, a Shakespeare comedy that the Theatre Department staged outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also stage-managed “The Normal Heart” last fall.

“It was just a lot for everybody involved,” Zheng said of “The Normal Heart”. “Not only for the actors and directors, but also for the people working backstage. I remember like when I was in the rehearsals because I was the stage manager, I had to be there every night, and there were so many nights that I ended up having tears in my eyes.”

Zheng’s involvement in theatre is not limited to the department, however. She also founded the BiMoo Theatre Group, which produces Mandarin plays, and directed the group’s most recent production, ”Same Caged”. Zheng praised BiMoo’s adviser and theatre professor Dr. Brook Davis for her help.

“She helped me so much along the way in just giving me suggestions and networks and helping me to put everything together,” Zheng said.

Davis, who also taught Zheng in one of her classes, praised Zheng’s efforts to create a space for Chinese theatre on campus.

“She has worked tirelessly to foster a creative space for students who are interested in delving into Chinese theatre,” Davis said. “She directed a lovely production of ‘Kinderszenen’ in the fall — both English and non-English speakers were excited by her work. Freya will leave big shoes to fill when she graduates in May, and we will miss her in our department.”

Zheng will begin classes at Columbia this fall to obtain a Master’s of Fine Arts in Stage Management degree.

Katie Fox/Old Gold & Black

Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies

OLIVIA THONSON

MARYAM KHANUM Opinion Editor Hailing from Los Angeles, CA, Olivia Thonson’s interest in Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies began at a young age, when her grandmother told her stories of how difficult it was to navigate high school as a woman in the 1950s. One story in particular stood out to Thonson, how her grandmother wanted to take the auto-shop class her high school offered but was not allowed to do so due to the fact that no other women had signed up for the class.

“She found three other girls and they all forced the instructor of the class to let them enroll,” Thonson said. “She ended up being the only person in that whole class able to take apart a car engine and put it back together.”

Since then, Thonson has become a prolific activist. In her sophomore year of high school, she started a club called “This Means W.A.R (Women Against Assault and Rape)” along with a few of her friends. They instituted both self-defense and sexual education classes on campus for free, and were invited to the “Girls Build L.A.” conference in which high school students from all over Los Angeles County were asked to present their ideas on how to improve their respective high school campuses. Thonson believes that the opportunity to work with all of those women in that setting served as a building block for her to become involved with activism later on in her academic career.

In her freshman year at Wake Forest, Thonson started the Intersectional Feminist Collective with the help of Dr. Jieun Lee, who sponsored events for the organization.

“Olivia’s thoughts and actions have always reflected a sense of altruism which will undoubtedly lead her to make a positive difference in society,” Lee said. “She has tirelessly promoted critical engagements on campus through multiple successful events related to gender and sexuality topics she organized. It was my great joy to have met Olivia, and I will take immense pleasure in following her future accomplishments on her life path as an

intersectional feminist leader after graduation.”

Thonson harbors a deep appreciation for Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies and believes it has significantly shaped her experiences throughout her academic journey. As a double major in WGSS and Politics & International Affairs and a minor in Bioethics, Thonson is able to take her knowledge from WGSS and apply it to her other classes, noticing how that foundational knowledge from her major classes has enabled her to have a more complex understanding of international issues.

“As a woman, feminism is so applicable to every part of my life and every decision I make,” Thonson said. “No matter what, there will always be some theory or some form of feminism that I can apply.”

Thonson has been working on her honors thesis, advised by Dr. Kristina Gupta, and works at the Office of Wellbeing as the Health Promotions Assistant. Her responsibilities include managing the university’s sexual health portfolio, training sexual health ambassadors, contributing to organizing sex week and conducting educational workshops.

“Olivia is an outstanding student and completed a number of excellent projects in the courses she took with me,” Gupta said. “She recently finished a truly impressive joint WGSS honors project with another WGSS major, Leilani Fletcher. For the project, they created a series of zines [selfpublished magazines] exploring student activism at Wake Forest from an anti-racist feminist perspective. We have been truly lucky to have her as a WGSS major!”

Thonson aims to further these efforts postgraduation, intending to achieve a dual Master’s in Public Health and Public Policy. Before she engages in this pursuit, however, Thonson plans to travel to Europe and Southeast Asia for six months — and also work briefly as a snowboarding instructor. Her ultimate goal is specifically to work around global health, maternal and child health and men’s reproductive health in the context of comprehensive sexual education.

“I want to feel like what I’m doing is actually making an impact. I would love to work with grassroots community organizations on a global scale,” Thonson said.

Katie Fox/Old Gold & Black

Page 28 | Thursday, April 28, 2022

Old Gold & Black | Graduation