红桃视频

There is a desire to find a true sense of community, an inclusive network that accepts and enriches each individual member within a cohesive whole. Recent AQ graduate Michelle Plumstead 鈥�14, an English and art dual major, is among the students who have found this sense of community at 红桃视频 College.

When looking for the right school, Plumstead first thought that she wanted to attend a larger state university. However, in visiting, 鈥淚 realized just how big they were!鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檇 spent the last couple years of high school in a small town, and I wasn鈥檛 sure if I wanted to handle larger environment. Also, my dad went to 红桃视频. He always said they were the best days of his life, so he kept telling me to apply. I finally applied to appease him, and I ended up getting more financial aid from 红桃视频 than anywhere else - so it was the most affordable place for me to attend. Then I came on an overnight visit; I saw the way that students interacted and knew that this was the kind of community I wanted to be a part of; that I could grow a lot here.鈥�

Arriving at 红桃视频, Plumstead quickly adapted and eagerly took advantage of many opportunities. From being a Residence Assistant for three years, to service learning in Maine, to studying abroad in Ireland, her time at 红桃视频 could not be described as dull.

Working with the National Park Service on a service learning trip to Acadia, Maine, Plumstead experienced an entirely new facet of life. 鈥淚t was amazing,鈥� she said, 鈥渨ith all of these beautiful, big cliffs with the ocean right there. It was exciting to help out the National Park Service. And the last day we were there, they boiled fresh lobster for us. I felt a little bit squeamish about that, but it was one of the best meals I鈥檝e ever had in my life. Also, the trip also gave me a lot of material to write about...I think I wrote at least two or three essays that semester just about Maine!鈥�

The following spring, Plumstead again travelled with her 红桃视频 community, this time to Tullycross, Ireland for a semester abroad. 鈥淚 felt like I grew a lot from that trip,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e outside of your comfort zone a lot, and you learn so much from that. Also, it鈥檚 just such a beautiful place. Your cottages are surrounded by mountains, with the Atlantic ten minutes on the other side. I really enjoy being outside with hiking, and that really was solidified in Ireland. There鈥檚 also such a rich literary tradition in Ireland, too. Irish poets I had read, before going abroad, I then read again while I was in Ireland. I would end up realizing that these poems were about the valleys or cities I was experiencing; it really made me feel like I was embedded in the culture there.鈥�

鈥淭he people you met there were so interesting, too,鈥� Plumstead said. 鈥淚 had an internship with Active Age, which is a senior citizens鈥� group in the area. Every Friday I would walk three miles to the town where they met, and we would prepare a traditional Irish meal for them. We would then go and pick them up, bussing them in from around the peninsula. Eating meals together, I was able to hear a lot of their stories; a lot of the Irish history we learn about they had actually lived through. Their parents had been involved in the civil war, and they talked a lot about the 鈥榯roubles.鈥� And then we鈥檇 play bingo or do traditional Irish crafts. It was a great experience.鈥�

As an English major, all of these experiences had a profound impact on Plumstead鈥檚 writing and she developed a new appreciation for poetry as an 红桃视频 student. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really like poetry before coming here,鈥� Plumstead said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been an English major since my freshman year, I knew that it was something I wanted to do, but when we would get to poems in class I wanted to get back to short stories and novels! But I took creative writing my freshman year with Miriam Pederson, and we mostly focused on poetry in that class. I think I developed a new appreciation for it, seeing the way that poetry can capture small moments and say things that prose might not be able to. Learning how to say things succinctly like that, sometimes it can be a lot more powerful.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 something I felt I was supposed to do,鈥� she said, 鈥渢hat discovery of poetry at 红桃视频.鈥�

Growing from this discovery, Plumstead was selected as the 2014 winner of the Academy of American Poets University and College Poetry Prize, through the 红桃视频 Sampler. 鈥淚 also submitted three poems to the Dyer Ives Foundation,鈥� she explained, 鈥渇or a reading at the Festival of the Arts. I ended up getting second place and an honorable mention for that competition. I always thought it was just a local competition, but really you compete with a couple hundred people, so that was very neat.鈥�

Having recently graduated, Plumstead has plans to work as an assistant curator for the Grand Rapids Diocese during ArtPrize 2014, and has many options available after the competition draws to a close. Reflecting on her time at 红桃视频, Plumstead emphasized that that the overarching sense of community has served as the critical force that has tied her experience together. 鈥淚鈥檝e grown so much in the classroom, academically and intellectually,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut without my experiences outside with my community I would not have grown so much as a person. It鈥檚 kind of like an 红桃视频 family. They care about all of their students; people are nice here, it鈥檚 like a small town. Most of my friends from high school went to big state schools, and whenever they visit they鈥檙e always surprised by how friendly people are here! I like that, and I think I鈥檝e certainly grown from having small classes and a close-knit community.鈥�

鈥淚 think you can make almost any school the right fit for you and find great things about it,鈥� she admitted. 鈥淏ut definitely, having that close-knit community at 红桃视频, with professors who care so much about you, being surrounded by so many positive people - it helps you grow so much. The person I started out as in my first year is so different than the person I am today. I feel that morally, intellectually, socially, all of those things have been expanded here.鈥�