Preferred Name: Everyone calls me A-A-Ron, but Aaron works too!

Major(s) & Minor(s): I’m not going to lie, I’ve been jumping around in the Biology field quite a bit, but I’m currently majoring in microbiology pre-medicine.

Where are you from? And why did you choose to come to KU? 

I’m from El Paso, Texas originally, but as a child we moved quite a bit and settled in Newton, Kansas. My mother wanted me to stay in state and study Engineering. KU had all of those and the distance from home made it the best fit.

Speaking to Korbin Painter, you are instantly struck by his love for learning about the past. He's curious about how and why people lived, and the ways they were affected by seismic political changes. These interests led Korbin to a honors thesis researching the lives of lesbian women living under the Nazi regime in Germany, investigating their struggles and resistance. How and why did he pursue this topic? Korbin always wants to gain a deep understanding of the worlds he studies, and takes an entrepreneurial approach to his research. When he encounters new questions, he seeks the classes needed to answer them from across the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

As a first-generation college student and a single parent earning minimum wage, Alyssa Cole was stressed and frustrated. At the end of her rope, she decided to write a letter to the one person she thought could help, President Barack Obama. “Writing to him was basically a last resort,” Cole, a Garden City senior, said. “If anyone could help me it would be him. … At least I can make him aware of the issues single parents are facing when they are trying to get their education and take care of their families as well.” A few years later, Cole received a phone call from the White House.

Leaving her home on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota to study at KU changed Jordyn Gunville’s life in more ways than she ever imagined. Her move to Lawrence led her down an eye-opening path to her future in community health. Gunville grew up in Eagle Butte, South Dakota in the poorest county in the United States. A county where the suicide rate is double the national average and where the life expectancy is 45. This served as motivation to get a great education. “I was surrounded by oppression. I wanted to change the cycle of oppression, the cycle of hopelessness,” said Gunville, a senior in applied behavioral sciences. Regardless of the poverty surrounding her childhood, she believes that growing up in those conditions fuel her drive to be a catalyst for change. Gunville immediately fell in love with campus when she first visited.

Waiting with bated breath for the results to be posted, the excitement in the room was palpable. After a moment of silent scanning, a single shout goes up and the team erupts. Jumping up and down, the cheers from the crowd signal that the team of Jyleesa Hampton and Quaram Robinson made it to the final round of a national circuit debate tournament for their first time. “Debate is just very fun. It’s very exciting. You get a rush, win or lose, for the love of the game,” Hampton, an Overland Park senior, said. “I just felt such community and such love from the KU Debate team.”

Marcus Florez, B.S. in chemistry, Class of 2015 

Katherine Gwynn, B.A. in English and women, gender & sexuality studies, Class of 2015 A

Vashti Goracke, B.F.A. in dance, Class of 2015

Vashti Goracke has a bittersweet relationship with dance. Some days are good, some days are bad. There can be lots of pain. But she wouldn’t trade anything for the ability to tell stories and say whatever she’s thinking and feeling through dance.

Marquise Paige, B.S. in geology, Class of 2015 The student carrying the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences’ banner at graduation this year is not the same student he was as a freshman four years ago. Student senator. Geology major. Camper. Researcher. None of these were experiences Marquise Paige, a Wichita senior, had envisioned when he first enrolled at the University of Kansas. He described himself as a shy student who was planning to keep his head down, get good grades, and graduate with a degree in petroleum engineering. Yet, within a few months of arriving at KU, he was running for Student Senate and soon after, headed for a new major. “When I first started KU, I was really introverted. I didn’t really talk to people a lot and kept to myself. I didn’t know a lot about myself because I didn’t have a lot of experiences,” Paige said.

Getting a job is often as much about who you know as it is what you know. For students looking to enter the technology field after graduation, the Jayhawk network has opened new doors in California’s Silicon Valley.  This January, a group of about 20 KU students made the 2,000-mile trip from Lawrence to Silicon Valley for the inaugural Tech Trek.

  Liberal arts and sciences graduates go on to successful and sometimes unconventional careers. They combine personal passion with the flexibility of their degree to build careers that are both fulfilling and challenging.

Film & Media Studies interns raise profile of The Nature Conservancy efforts through films A new initiative between KU Film & Media Studies, The Nature Conservancy and ITC served as an opportunity for two talented students and an alumnus to create four informational videos that raise awareness of conservation issues in Kansas. Over the course of 2014, the students completed 10 location shoots at Conservancy properties and project areas around the state and logged more than 50 hours of video footage.