Writing the Writer
When I asked Ali Doswell’s family, friends, coaches and professors to describe her, the most common word was not “athletic” or “talented” or any of the typical superlatives you would expect for the reigning Division III Player of the Year for women’s basketball. Instead, the common trait attributed to the Richmond, Virginia native was “grace.”
Niyi Odewade is a standout on the gridiron, a brilliant scientist poised to excel in medical school and a leader in all of his endeavors at Amherst. Through his excellence in multiple fields and the charisma he conveys in his interactions with everyone he meets, Odewade has used his passion for medicine and his football career to leave an impact on the Amherst community beyond wins and admission to medical school.
New Schools, New Challenges
Amir Denzel Hall writes the way he speaks. Regardless of his medium, his voice always carries warmth, humor and vulnerability. With a gift for storytelling, he has the ability to make any person feel comfortable.
Anthony Spina inspires enthusiasm in everyone that he meets. In the classroom, Spina brings an earnestness that professors and classmates alike find magnetic. On the baseball diamond, he brings lightning-quick bat speed and an equally quick ability to put his teammates at ease in the clubhouse. In Amherst Christian Fellowship (ACF), he speaks and reads with a presence and wisdom that belie his youth. This enthusiasm is simply a mirror image of his own approach to life.
Many students will remember the stressful days spent looking at colleges during junior and senior year of high school — but not Bonnie Drake. For her, the process began much earlier.
“I was that weird kid in eighth grade who started looking at colleges,” Drake said. “[Attending Amherst] was my goal since eighth grade.”
Drake’s parents both attended Amherst. “They never pressured me into coming here or anything, but … since I knew that they went here, I included that in my search. And I just fell in love with Amherst all on my own,” Drake said.
Following a leadership transition of the college-affiliated Book & Plow Farm from founders Pete McLean and Tobin Porter-Brown to former assistant manager Maida Ives at the end of last semester, the farm has undergone some changes and has new plans for the future.
The changes and transition to “Book & Plow 2.0,” along with letters outlining the farm’s previous history and future goals by Tobin, Porter-Brown, Ives and Director of Sustainability Laura Draucker, were published on the college’s website.
