Summer Plans

Although good old Berrien Springs continues to sprinkle snow on our hopes for spring, hang in there! Within two weeks, most of us will be finished with finals, ready to welcome summer regardless of the weather outside. I am especially looking forward to the break since it’s going to be my first summer somewhat free from Covid restrictions since I started college. Although it will mostly be spent studying biochemistry and other MCAT subjects, I have some fun events planned–including an Alec Benjamin concert–and I am pretty excited!

I have interviewed various Andrews students and faculty to see what they have planned for the summer of 2022.

Ms. Maxine Umana, Honors Administrative Assistant, shared her plans about attending the concerts of Coldplay and the Backstreet Boys at the end of May. She showed her excitement by saying, “They’re finally back!” She will continue to stay busy throughout summer, as she plans to visit Morocco in June and explore more places in Berrien Springs (especially restaurants) in the meantime.

Dr. Monique Pittman, Professor of English and Director of the Honors program, plans to spend a productive yet relaxing summer with her friends and family. She will be pottering in her vegetable garden, coediting a book with Dr. Vanessa Corredera in her study, and co-authoring an article about “West Side Story.” But most importantly, she will “hang out with the amazing Paul Smith Junior,” her dear partner!

Dr. Rahel Wells, Associate Professor of Biblical studies, also has many activities planned out for her summer. This includes a couple of backpacking trips with her father (80 miles in California) and her husband (150 miles in North Dakota). She will also be taking her Pathfinders on a camping trip and officiating a wedding for her former student at Wyoming–and she will still find time to write a commentary on Deuteronomy and work on other small projects!

Professor Davide Sciarabba, Assistant Professor of Religion, also plans to travel with his family members to visit their relatives and close friends in Europe. He plans to enjoy nature and also focus on finishing his dissertation in the remaining time.

Students also shared plans for their summer.

Graduating Seniors
Chaelynn Lee (business administration)
“I am planning on traveling to a couple different countries before heading off to medical school. It will be really nice to see my extended family in Korea. With Covid, traveling has been extremely difficult.”

Lisiane Umuhire (Spanish and psychology)
“The day after graduation, I will go on the Europe study tour for a month. Two weeks later [I will] go back to my home country of Rwanda for a month, then work for the last few weeks of July. After that, I’ll go to Bolivia for a year of student missions.”

Elianna Srikureja (English literature)
“My plans for the summer are to do a road trip and hike with my mom, get my research published, and move to Loma Linda to get ready for Dental School in August.”

Tyler Braithwaite (computer science and math)
“Plans for the summer probably will revolve around planning the rest of my life as well as chilling and taking a trip out west to the Grand Canyon.”

Hugo Qin (biology)
“My plans for this summer are to study for the MCAT and [then] do research in Hong Kong.”

Juniors
Jessica Bowen (animal science)
“I’ll mostly be working at the vet clinic while taking summer Biochemistry. My internship will be held where I work, so I’ll just be doing additional tasks there.”

Elena Petrie (nursing)
I will be spending my summer at home in Montana, where I’m looking forward to relaxing and spending time with my family. I will also be working part time as a veterinary assistant.

Ashley Kim, Kwesi Tuffour, and Enlai Wang (biology)
Ashley: “My plan for this summer is to study for the MCAT. I am planning on applying to medical schools this cycle, so hopefully I get a good score!”
Kwesi: “I’m also going to study [for the] MCAT and apply to medical school. For the latter parts I will be binge watching Netflix.” 
Enlai: “Same.”

Amber Engle (pre-physical therapy)
“I plan to study for the GRE and prepare for my Student Missionary year. I am also planning on working at a summer camp for a few weeks.”

Sophomores
Gabriella Srikureja (biochemistry)
“This summer, my plan is to help my parents pack up their house to move. If I have time in addition to that, my plan is to get a job or volunteer.”

Nora Martin (psychology and English)
“My plans for the summer are to stay at home and just relax. Maybe I’ll read a book. Who knows? I have options.”

​​Jakob Kwon (accounting)
“My plans for the summer are to work. I have a couple of jobs lined up, but I'll decide when I get home. I will also prepare for next semester, as I plan for my next classes in the upcoming weeks.”

Freshmen
Ian Neidigh (chemistry)
“I’m going to be working as an intern at a pharmaceutical company to further my skills in chemistry.”

Melissa Moore (nutrition science)
“I'm taking General Physics I in May and then volunteering at the General Conference for a week. After that I am planning to work at summer camp for a month and spend the remaining month visiting family in Brazil. We haven't seen my mom's side of the family in six years, so we are planning to go to Brazil this summer.”

Kamillie Hernandes (biochemistry)
“This summer, I plan on spending as much time as possible with my family and possibly traveling to somewhere peaceful. I will also catch up with friends who I haven’t seen all year.”