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The Great Eight of 08

March 7, 2008

by Josh Aschheim, Molly Posner, and Eliza Walters

In a university that has changed so much over the past four years, seniors run the risk of being lost in the dust. But how many Tufts students can claim to have interned at a professional baseball franchise, fashioned their own handicrafts and started their own jewelry company, and been the first white president of the Japanese Culture Club? Although Grad Schools might focus on GPA and test scores, many graduating seniors like the ones featured here are performing captivating research, playing obscure sports, traveling to seldom-heard-of countries, and cultivating outlandish hobbies. Too often these students, who are literally extraordinary, graduate without being recognized. To publicize the exploits of these students in our midst, The Observer asked members of the Tufts community to nominate members of the class of 2008 who they felt stood out for their remarkable interests, circumstances, achievements, and pursuits. After reviewing numerous applications, The Observer chose the following Great Eight of ‘08:

Peter Bendix

Peter Bendix, to put it simply, is a baseball fanatic. He has dedicated the majority of his college career to the sport and is now trying to pursue the nearly impossible — a career working for a professional baseball team. This American Studies major said that he has “always been a big fan of sports,” but doesn’t want to work for a baseball team simply because of his fandom. Instead, he seeks to explore the business and analytical side of the sport.

“One of the things I’ve learned at Tufts,” Bendix noted, “is how my mind works.” This knowledge of the self is the connecting thread through all of the different interests Bendix has explored throughout his time at Tufts. Specifically, he explained, he has come to realize that his strength lies in analyzing information, synthesizing it, and applying distinct types of knowledge towards one goal. In this way, it is possible to see how both his concentration on race and education under the interdisciplinary major of American Studies and his love for all aspects of baseball can be related.

But how did Bendix transform from your average Cleveland Indians fan to a critical student of the quintessentially American industry? It all started during an Ex-College class he took during his freshman year, called “Statistics of Baseball.” This highly sought-after class has a research component, which ended up changing the course of Bendix’s experience here at Tufts. His research, which investigated whether or not Leo Mazzone is actually the best pitching coach in baseball, was featured in a New York Times article and allowed him to travel to Toronto the summer after his freshman year to present the findings at the Social American Baseball Research conference.

After the course, Bendix was hooked. He started the club Baseball Analysis at Tufts (BAT), which now boasts about 50 members and holds events such as lectures from sports writers and business professionals of the field. Bendix has also interned in the corporate sponsorships department of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and co-taught a freshman Explorations class called “The Business of Baseball.” Inspired by his own studies, Bendix examined this topic through an interdisciplinary lens, focusing on issues such as globalization, economics, and the media.

Even though Bendix wears multiple caps while at Tufts, he wishes to pursue a career as part of the operations of a professional baseball team. “It is a balance,” he said cautiously, “between pursuing my dreams and being realistic.”

Kristen Dorsey

While other students are studying for organic chemistry or writing political science papers, Kristen Dorsey toils on the forge, twisting and reshaping metal. She is a dual-degree student and takes classes both at Tufts and at the SMFA. Although she majors in American Studies here and focuses her attention on jewelry making at the museum school, she does not see her two degrees as unrelated. Rather, Dorsey said, “I use my academics to inspire my art.”

Dorsey is a member of the Chickasaw Nation, which is a Native American tribe of southeastern origin that is now located in Oklahoma. Inspired by her heritage, interest in jewelry making, and academic concentration in Native American studies, Dorsey’s thesis project involves an apprenticeship program for young Chickasaw artists. This project seeks to teach the young artists how to create contemporary jewelry by utilizing ancient Chickasaw techniques.

The program centers on the visual culture of the Chickasaw nation, which is central to the traditions of the tribe. This aspect of the culture, according to Dorsey, has been neglected and forgotten due to the oppression that the tribe has undergone throughout its tumultuous history. By creating the apprenticeship program, Dorsey “wanted to bring back pieces of culture that were not lost, but forgotten because of the trauma,” she explained. The program will reach out to thousands of Chickasaw youth with the aim of closing the opportunity gap that exists for young artists who have had oppressed backgrounds. Currently, the Chickasaw nation is experiencing a “cultural renaissance” as more young people are reconnecting with their cultural heritage. In conjunction with this movement, Dorsey hopes her internship project will reeducate disconnected tribe members about the cultural significance behind the traditional designs.

When Dorsey isn’t reaching out to the Chickasaw Nation’s youth, she shapes pieces for her own jewelry line, Neria Designs. The line, which takes its name from the Greek mythology term for sea nymphs, is comprised of organic-looking jewelry and seeks to spread awareness about environmental issues. Dorsey, a Californian surfer who loves the ocean, has partnered with the non-profit organization Heal the Bay to help raise money for environmental causes.

So, how does it all connect? Dorsey said, “Everything is related for me. Everything is a practice in design and helps me grow as an artist.”

Ketan Gajria

Five years from now, Ketan Gajria might be working for the U.S. government in the Middle East…officially or otherwise. Gajria has always wanted to pursue a career in government. One might then wonder why the psychology major, Arabic minor isn’t a political science or an IR major. To that, Gajria said, “It would be naïve for me as a freshman to say I want to model my life around getting [a specific] job. The hope is that I can do the job I want while doing what I enjoy. It’s more important to develop skills and then see where you fit in, rather than decide on one single path.”

Gajria’s passion is for the Arabic language, which he finds intriguing and exciting. He started taking Arabic his freshman year, and it clicked. “It’s an amazing thing in terms of studies when you find a subject in which you are learning and having fun at the same time,” said Gajria.

Since beginning Arabic his freshman year, Gajria has studied abroad in Jordan and has done professional translation work for the past two summers. Gajria said that living in Jordan for a semester really bolstered what his professors call his unusual ability to speak the language so fluently. He said, “I really encouraged [my home stay family] to have an Arabic-only rule. Upon going to another country you realize how little you know, but also you’re encouraged to learn more.”

Gajria will again be living abroad next year — he plans to move to Syria to complete a language program in Damascus. After that Gajria hopes to secure a government job through which he can apply his Arabic skills.

However, Arabic isn’t Gajria’s only interest, and working for the government isn’t the only thing he could see himself doing. He is a traveler, a member of the wind ensemble, and an amateur photographer. “What I always thought was that I had a good visual sense of things — a good eye for things that are visually interesting. Photography is something that I can do myself. I got a cheap film camera my freshman year, brought it to Barcelona, and got very interested in photography,” Gajria said.

And should his plans to work for the government change or fall through, Gajria said, “If I had the natural talent, I would love to be a movie director.” He also thinks that being a foreign correspondent for National Public Radio would be a great way to use his Arabic to help others. He said, “Language is a way to bring different cultures here to America; language is a way to connect.” Wherever Gajria may end up in the future, rest assured he will be enjoying himself. “When you find something you like, it opens up a world of possibilities.”

Mark Leekoff

Mark Leekoff was born deaf in both ears, but was not actually diagnosed with the disability until he was 17 months old. “It wasn’t until my grandparents [accidentally] dropped a pot next to me and I didn’t respond that anybody suspected something was wrong,” Leekoff recalled. When he was four years old, the National Institutes of Health, a medical research center, chose Leekoff to be a test subject for one of the earliest childhood cochlear implants, a surgical device that simulates a human ear by collecting sound waves through a microphone. The device then magnetically sends this information to a magnetic receiver on the inside of the head, which then stimulates nerves for the brain to interpret. Leekoff recalls the procedure as “extremely scary. When the implant was first activated I kept on turning it off because it just sounded like loud static.” Over time, his nerves became accustomed to the sound signals, and the noises turned into clear sounds. Though the pioneering procedure was successful, the implant is not hassle free. “I always carry two spare sets of batteries with me just in case something goes wrong,” he explained, pulling out a pack of spare silver batteries from his back pocket. Leekoff goes through about 300 of the small batteries each year, but enjoys some of the piece’s perks. He explains that the coolest part of his artificial ear is that it has a telecoil that can pick up the sound waves of iPod headphones or cell phone speakers. This information is then transmitted directly to his nerves, allowing him to hear digital signals in a crowded area. The only problem: “It’s usually so loud that the other person can’t hear me because there is so much extra noise.”

Despite his condition, Leekoff is an accomplished student. Since childhood he has attended hearing schools, in deference to his doctor’s order to “get him into a sign school [for the deaf] as soon as possible.” He has been honored on the Dean’s List during every semester that he has been at Tufts, and has won the Alexander Graham Bell 75 Stars Award, Alexander Graham Bell College Scholarship, Cochlear Americas Graeme Clark Scholarship, and the Optimist Club Oratorical Contest.

An early and intimate appreciation for the benefits of modern medicine fueled Leekoff’s passion for medicine. He currently volunteers as a patient escort at Massachusetts General Hospital every week. “As a senior, I have a little bit of extra time…I just love interacting with people,” he noted. He is also an organic chemistry tutor and a teaching assistant for Biology 14. “I love it. People here think I’m crazy for loving it, but [organic chemistry] is just a passion of mine,” he said. Leekoff has shadowed doctors, conducted research, and been involved in the clinical environment since high school. “While it is true that Mark is also deaf, that is only a small component of what makes Mark one of the unique people I have encountered, and one of my best friends,” said his housemate Matthew Diffey.

Marissa Maren

Despite the rigors of the requirement-heavy engineering major, Marissa Maren, a Bhangra dancer and marathon runner, has found the time to discover her passions and make a difference. And surprisingly, her plans for the future don’t include working for an engineering firm.

Rather, with a minor in entrepreneurial leadership, she plans to work in finance next year. Maren said, “As [my coursework] progressed, I realized solving business problems is more interesting to me because those problems are al about people. I love working through those challenges, as opposed to solving technical problems. Finance is a hybrid of my studies — business but still mathematical.”

But Maren is by no means all business. She has found ways to develop her other interests, study abroad, and make a difference across the world. Maren is a member of the Ghana Gold Colloquium, a study program devoted to learning about the gold mining industry in Ghana. The group traveled to Ghana on what she calls a two-week “multifaceted visit,” learning about corporate responsibility as it relates to the gold mining industry. Maren welcomed the opportunity the trip presented. “Academically, since I’m an engineering major, the opportunity to take a class like that is more difficult, she said.

She also traveled to China and India, where she exchanged in a cross-cultural exchange, through the Tufts Initiative for Leadership & International Perspective (TILIP). Additionally, she studied abroad through the Tufts in Talloires program. Maren said that traveling and seeing the world have become two of her greatest passions, and have positively influenced her experience at Tufts.

She explained, “Traveling makes my learning more meaningful. It has planted in me a seed of curiosity, engaging the world around me, and learning about different cultures and people, which is something I feel has become one of my passions. I find myself going to different cultural events that I wouldn’t have tried otherwise. It has really helped me understand where other people are coming from.”

And though Maren plans to pursue finance in New York City next year, she said noted that she can also see herself doing “non-profit, on the ground development” or teaching in the more distant future. In addition to professional aspirations, Maren is determined to continue her world travels. “One thing I do know is that I want to live in as many places as possible,” she said.

Charlie McClean

Charlie McClean’s passion for Japan does not come from a childhood dream or family traditions. It was sparked by a trip he took with two friends to Tokyo after their high school graduation. Although McClean did not know it at the time, this trip would influence him in a very fundamental way. Now a senior at Tufts, he is writing a thesis on Japanese foreign aid and Indonesia, and is a finalist for a Fulbright grant in Japan for next year. So how did he get from Point A, a trip halfway across the world with some friends, to Point B, a dedicated student of Japanese language, culture and history?

When McClean first came to Tufts, he, like many other freshmen, didn’t have a plan. Inspired by his summer trip, he enrolled in international relations and Japanese language classes. From there, a budding passion burst into full bloom as McClean became ever more dedicated to his studies of Japanese culture. On campus, he joined the Japanese Culture Club (JCC) and became the first white president. A large part of his experience here, McClean noted, has been characterized by “being involved in the Asian community at Tufts and not being Asian.” McClean, however, didn’t let the usual racial boundaries stand in his way. He studied abroad for a semester in Japan and was able to stay for the summer afterward as well, winning a Columbia research grant to work with a Japanese NGO and help the non-profit organization with translating and event planning.

What’s next for this San Francisco native? To start, he has already been accepted into a masters program at Harvard University to focus on East Asian studies. He has considered deferring enrollment for a year, however, because of the possibility of receiving a Fulbright Award, which would allow him to conduct a year long research project on foreign aid and civil society in Japan. McClean refuses to map out too much beyond than his “three-year” plan, though. “I think really differently now than I did three years ago, and in three years I know I’ll think really differently than I do now,” he mused. And although he admitted, “It’s funny that a trip I took in high school is determining what I do now,” McClean has certainly evolved from a high school tourist.

Nicki Sobecki

How do you combine art, politics, and international studies? Nicki Sobecki has found a way to pull it off. As a political science major, as well as a five-year dual degree student with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA), Sobecki hasn’t lost touch with her creative side. Rather, she has found ways to fuse all of her interests through international journalism, including written, photo, and video. She hopes to work in the field of journalism after graduation. “Journalism has been a theme throughout my time at Tufts,” she recalled.

Through journalism, Sobecki has had the opportunity to “interpret things for the general public” while developing her intellectual and creative sides. At Tufts, Sobecki is a member of EXPOSURE, which advocates human rights through photojournalism and documentary studies. “The experiences I’ve had through EXPOSURE have been pivotal to my experience at Tufts,” she said. “It has given me the chance to expand upon what I’ve learned in the classroom through an exploration of the realities on the ground. It’s also a way to meet students with similar interests.”

Sobecki has also done much in the way of journalism off campus and abroad. Last spring, she took a semester off and lived abroad in Lebanon while working for the Beirut Daily Star. She found this particular experience especially rewarding. “Lebanon is a nexus of so many issues the Middle East is facing. Since it was the summer of a refugee crisis I was trying to tell the story as it was occurring at the time,” she explained.

Sobecki has also traveled to Rwanda, Cambodia, and Uganda to study social justice issues and perform interesting research through her journalism lens. She has made a difference while pursuing her dreams and has even been able to obtain a significant amount of research money to fund her various endeavors. Sobecki has taken advantage of all of the resources that Tufts has to offer, and her passion for social change will not stop upon graduation. She said, “A lot of people underestimate the resources at Tufts. Make your ideas a reality.”

Kendall Swett

Kendall Swett, a transfer student and museum studies major, faced a dilemma when she considered coming to Tufts. An accomplished diver, Swett was torn between her wish to study at Tufts and her longtime, sometimes bitter, rivalry with a member of Tufts’ swimming team.

Described by her teammates as “an amazing person, an incredible teammate, and an even more incredible friend,” Swett came to Tufts from Lake Forest University in Illinois in the fall of her junior year. Although she was happy at Lake Forest, “they only had two art history professors. I simply couldn’t take enough art classes,” she explained. During her search for a college that offered more options for prospective art students, Swett stumbled upon Tufts. Although she had never visited the school, Tufts was a clear choice with its 17 art history professors and its close affiliation with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (SMFA). When she discusses her post-graduate plans, her passion for the arts is unwavering. “I definitely want to work in a museum, but first I am going to get a museum studies masters’ degree,” she said.

Academically, transferring to Tufts was an obvious choice. For Swett’s diving career, however, it “was a huge transition.” Swett’s life has revolved around competitive diving every since she was eight years old; she first started competing in junior nationals at the age of 11. For an impressive four years of her high school career, Swett earned the title of All-American Diver. As a freshman attending the NCAA national championships, Swett came in second to her arch rival, Doria Holbrook of MIT. However, as a sophomore, Swett pulled off an upset, earning the prestigious title of NCAA national diving champion. By transferring to Tufts, whose diving team practices with the MIT diving team, Swett was agreeing to spend a good deal of time in close quarters with her long-time adversary. “When I first came to Tufts she was not too excited to have me around. It was like going to a meet every night,” Swett recalled. “She would jump high, and I would jump higer.” But, as time went on, the competitors learned to accept that they had to practice with each other, and Swett’s own diving career continued to flourish. Most recently, she won “Diver of the Meet” and broke her personal record both twice within the same day. “It was an amazing meet,” she remembered. “Diving at Tufts has taught me so much about who I am. I’m just so glad I found it.”.