Ted Parker ’22 fully intended to finish his bachelor’s degree when he first enrolled at University of Puget Sound in the fall of 1974. But after four years—and three majors—he had a wife, he had a job, and he was ready to begin the next chapter of his life. The only thing he didn’t have was a bachelor’s degree.
“I simply ran out of time,” Parker says. “By 1978, life was moving on.”
Alanna Volk ’22 is on a mission to end sexual assaults and promote healthy relationships through the power of sex education. Growing up in Oregon, she was taught a science-backed sex education and was surprised to learn that not everyone in the country benefits from the same curriculum.
On a typical weeknight, you can find Capriana Jiang ’23 at the Neighborhood Clinic in Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood. Each night, the free clinic sees about a dozen patients. Jiang is a clinical support volunteer, helping clients fill out their intake forms, checking their vitals, and keeping exam rooms clean and well stocked.
Nola Thury ’22 was a first-year student when they attended their first event at the Northwest Detention Center. Surprised to learn that there was a detention facility holding immigrants only a few miles from University of Puget Sound’s campus in Tacoma, Wash., Thury was determined to raise awareness of the plight of detainees and undocumented immigrants among fellow students.
For Alden Robert ’23, creating an environmentally sustainable campus involves a lot more than recycling, but it’s a place to start. The religious studies and international political economy major is the student manager for Sustainability Services and oversees the students who collect, sort, and transport all of Puget Sound’s recycling output.
As a first-year student in Ann Putnam’s Introduction to Creative Writing course, English major Daniel Pollock ’22 was given an assignment to write about a memory or a moment he thought he had forgotten. Not only had the memory he chose stayed with him, but three years later, it would inspire an independent research project exploring identity and belonging, and help Pollock reshape the narrative of his own life.
They work with a faculty member in the spring to craft a proposal and then, if the proposal is approved, they spend 10 weeks working full time on their projects, supported by research funding and a stipend to cover living expenses. Here, we spotlight seven of the students who took on research projects last summer.
