To explore the world through the lens of one’s most intense passion is an exceptional gift. On their own, with only a rough sketch of a road map, Watson Fellows often experience a raw moment of truth that shapes the rest of their lives.
The Cherry Trees
Two very different strangers came up to speak to Scott Higashi '91. He was taking part in two separate events to honor Puget Sound's 36 Japanese American students who were sent to internment camps in 1942, following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
In 1989, he and fellow students were planting cherry trees in front of the Student Union Building—a ceremony of remembrance and regret that replaced the trees first planted in 1940 as a gift from the Japanese Student Club—when a woman approached.
Beyond Billie
Sam Faustine ’13 likes to say he has four feet. A freelance musician based in San Francisco, he uses the metaphor to explain how he juggles his varied interests as a musician. “I have one foot in the choral community, one in sacred music, one in musical theater, and one in the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera,” he says.
The Science of Being Lazy
This summer, in the lab and in the greenhouse on the roof of Thompson Hall, Maya Sealander ’20 studied the genes of tomato plants to find out what makes some lazier than others. As one of more than 80 Puget Sound students completing summer research projects in the sciences and humanities this year, she is getting her first real research experience in the field.
Finding Balance
He could feel the taught fabric swaying under his toes, threatening to knock him off balance. More than 100 feet below, onlookers watched, rapt, as he stopped walking, lifted one foot off of the webbing and held it out to the side, before placing it back on the length of fabric and continuing across the expanse.
