Ben’s Journey

Why Grinnell?

I’m from Bettendorf, Iowa, in the Quad Cities — not a small town, but not a massive metro hub, either. I went to a public school with around 1,600 students. 

I had a good high school experience. I was very involved in the arts in high school — I sang in the choir and acted in some theatre productions, musicals, and plays. I was also in band for my whole four years. Music was a big part of my high school experience. 

In my college search process, I cast a broad net. I applied to big research universities and small liberal arts schools and everything in between. 

As the decision came closer, some of what I valued in a school became more clear to me. I ended up making my final decision between Grinnell and St. Olaf — obviously both small Midwestern liberal arts schools.

My mom and I drove up to Grinnell for a very abridged visit, all outside. Because of COVID, students weren’t really on campus, and we couldn’t go in any of the buildings. But I still got a sense for the campus, and the tour guide gave me a really positive impression of what campus would be like.

I remember, a day or two before the final decision deadline, I woke up and thought, “I think that Grinnell feels like the right choice.” It was a gut feeling, to be honest. 

Looking back, I had such positive interactions with the admission staff I talked to and the students I had Zoom calls with. They all felt very authentic. Maybe I couldn’t label it at the time, but I think that is what motivated my gut feeling: “I feel like I could be happy here,” I thought to myself. I thought that I could consider this place to be my home. 

First-Year Experiences

Reflecting on my first-year experience, there were some challenges socially for me. But now, coming out on the other side of it, I’m honestly very grateful for those challenges because the process of moving through them has made me more aware of myself, and has given me lots of confidence.

I remember arriving on campus and being pretty nervous. It was all so new to me. I’m the kind of person who values close connections and friendships — and now I’m in this new environment where I don’t know people and people don’t know me. 

At least in large group settings, I tend to be a little bit more on the quieter, more reserved side. But I faced it head on. It definitely took a bit of time for me to adjust. 

I think now I’ve learned to trust the process and know that that type of thing takes time. I’ve gained a lot of social confidence. I think I’ve done a good job at being kind to myself, even when I was having a hard time, but also taking active steps to work through it. 

Now I absolutely feel like I’m in a good place socially, knowing people and having really close relationships. And I have a great support system and social circle. 

For anyone who feels nervous about fitting in socially at college, I would tell them — and I know this is easier said than done — to be authentic and to be earnest and to be yourself. Trust the process, and the right people will come.

Music at Grinnell

My love of music was definitely a factor in my college search. I wanted to be sure I wouldn’t be sacrificing that if I came to Grinnell. I remember talking to a Grinnell student about what music was like here. I’m so glad that I talked to her and that I came here, because I’ve never been so musically fulfilled.

One thing she told me about was Freesound, the student-run music space. There are drums, keys, guitars, amps, mics — anything you needed to play music with people. And that sounded so cool to me. 

I was also in contact with Professor John Rommereim, the Grinnell Singers choir conductor, and I was confident that, oh yeah, music could be a huge part of my life at Grinnell. And it absolutely has been. I auditioned for the Grinnell Singers my first semester and got in. I’ve been in Singers for four years. The past two years, I’ve been the tenor section leader. It’s been a fantastic grounding organization for me throughout my four years. 

I also wanted to do a cappella because in high school I was in the a cappella jazz choir. So I went to the Org Fair, where you can learn about all the student organizations you can join. That’s where I discovered Con Brio, the a cappella group on campus. I auditioned and was accepted. Now I’ve been in Con Brio for four years and am currently a leader of a group. 

With my extracurriculars in a cappella and Grinnell Singers, I was having a ton of fun musically during my first year. 

Academics 

Coming into Grinnell, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. I’ve always been more interested in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, and I think that’s generally stayed true. But in terms of specifically what I wanted to pursue, I didn’t fully have that parsed out. I had taken an AP government class in high school that made me think maybe political science would be something I’d be interested in. 

I ended up taking an Intro to Sociology course with Professor Susan Ferguson my first semester. I’m so glad I did. Professor Ferguson is my adviser now. She’s fantastic, and my relationship with her has been one of the most important throughout my time at Grinnell. 

Sociology is the study of our social world, and it can be as broad or specific as you want it to be. It’s good at grounding you in things that you’re actually observing. My Intro to Sociology course with Professor Ferguson as a challenging course, but I learned so much. I was like, “Wow, so this is what college courses are like! Then I will really, really enjoy this.” And I ended up taking another class with Professor Ferguson the next semester, Sociology of Health and Illness, which looked at the institution of medicine.

When I saw all the interesting courses offered in sociology, I thought, “I want to take all of these classes. Why would I not major in it?” 

Up until the end of my second year, I was pretty confident that I wanted to double major in sociology and political science. I got so far, actually, as to ask Professor Peter Hanson in political science to be my adviser. He agreed, but he also asked me to think about what it would be like to open up some time to take more STEM classes or music classes. 

After considering his advice and looking at my four-year plan, I realized there were actually a lot of classes I wanted to take that I might not have time for if I pursued the double major. That advice allowed me to take classes in psychology, music, religion, and more. 

My Best Friend

Speaking of music classes, I met some people through an Intro to Music Studies class my first semester. We started playing music together — I play drums, another one plays keys, and another one plays bass and guitar. We call our band My Best Friend because my name’s Ben, and the two other people are Maya and Franny. So MBF — Maya, Ben, Franny — my best friend.

The three of us have such a strong musical connection – one that we’ve cultivated through several years of playing together. We’ve played so many shows at Grinnell — we’ve really established ourselves as an on-campus band. To classify the genre, we usually call it “Midwest Folk Rock.” 

It’s been such an amazing experience. We started out doing a lot of covers, but as we spent more time together, we started to write our own music. Now, we spend almost all of our time writing and performing original music. Recently, we won a grant from the College’s Wilson Center to professionally record our music and release an EP at the end of the year.

This past fall, I joined another on-campus student music group, a bluegrass band — 8th Avenue Newgrass. We do traditional bluegrass, but also a bluegrass fusion–type thing with more modern music. People have really latched on to the bluegrass genre – I didn’t know there would be such a demand for it!

Theatre and Musicals

In my second year, a senior I knew, Lucy Polyak, wanted to direct a musical for her theatre MAP (or Mentored Advanced Project, Grinnell’s term for faculty-student research). She put on the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. It’s kind of goofy, but also really sweet. I auditioned and ended up playing one of the spellers, Leaf Coneybear. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience performing in a theatre production at Grinnell.

In my third year, I joined the Neverland Players, the student theatre group on campus that takes stories written by local kids and turns them into a series of skits. There’s a more potent improv element to it, which has really helped me grow as an artist. And, more importantly, it is the best feeling to see the kids so excited to see their stories come to life.

I keep pretty busy with my music and theatre, but I know I’m so much happier with it than without it. It is genuinely fulfilling to me.

Research

This past summer, I did historical research with my adviser, Professor Ferguson, on the life of a Grinnell professor, Laetitia Moon Conard. Professor Ferguson studied her life around 20 years ago and recently decided to bring the project back. When the sociology department was emerging at Grinnell in the early 1900s, Professor Conard was one of the founding members.

She also ran for office numerous times on the Socialist ticket – for the governor of Iowa, the U.S. House, and the U.S. Senate. She was an amazing person who lived a fascinating life. Throughout the summer I became so immersed in her life. It was fantastic. We were even able to interview one of her last living relatives, a granddaughter who lives in Illinois. It was a fun process of uncovering, peeling back the layers, finding out more about her. And I’m going to continue that Mentored Advanced Project (MAP) research this coming semester. 

Study Abroad

I went to Dublin, Ireland, where I enrolled directly at Trinity College Dublin, the premier school in Ireland. I remember walking on the campus for the first time and seeing this beautiful architecture and scenery and thinking, “I can’t believe that I am going to be studying here.” It was so cool and inspiring. It was such a great experience academically to study at this world-renowned school for a semester and to get a style of education that is very different from Grinnell. 

I was lucky to get into this music seminar with nine students, but a lot of the classes I took were bigger, with maybe a hundred students. When there are that many people in the class, there’s not the opportunity to know your professors in the same way you do when you’re in a 20-person class. 

It was enjoyable for what it was, but it also reaffirmed my happiness of being at Grinnell and being in liberal arts. 

While I was abroad, I also had the opportunity to travel all across Europe. Dublin is a highly connected air-travel hub, so I would regularly take quick weekend trips to amazing destinations in Europe. Amongst many, I met up with my friends in Copenhagen, hiked in Switzerland, and enjoyed the warmth in Dubrovnik. 

Internships

In the summer after my second year, I got an internship at Americans for the Arts, an arts advocacy nonprofit in Washington, D.C. Actually, there’s a Grinnell grad who works there, and I think he likes hiring Grinnell students. My friend and I actually both got internships there. It was unpaid, but I was able to get funding from Grinnell’s Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS), which was fantastic and so helpful. 

I was able to do my internship remotely, eight hours a day. I worked specifically for the Arts Action Fund, a PAC that encourages support of the arts. I was able to get a taste of what working for a nonprofit in D.C. would be like. It was helpful to see how meetings are led, the best way to send emails, how to communicate professionally, and getting a sense of how to operate in those environments.

I was able to do my internship remotely, eight hours a day. I worked specifically for the Arts Action Fund, a nonprofit that encourages and mobilizes grassroots support of the arts. I was able to get a taste of what working for a nonprofit in D.C. would be like, and it was helpful to learn some of the professional rules of the game: seeing how meetings are led, the best way to send emails, how to communicate professionally. Overall, I got a thorough sense of how to operate in a professional, post-graduate working environment, while fusing together my interest in politics and love for the arts.

Jobs

Since the start of my second year, I’ve been a writing mentor with the Writing, Reading, and Speaking Center. I’ve partnered with a lot of classes. Last semester, I worked with the Mindfulness tutorial, and during the fall of 2023, I was with Mark Laver’s Intro to Music Studies. 

One of my coolest experiences as a writing mentor was for Professor Eiren Shea and her Intro to Art History class. I ended up going to a lot of the classes, and it was almost like I got to audit the class. Every other week, we would go over to her house and have tea. And we would talk about how the class was going and share tips for the assignments and that type of thing. That was maybe my favorite writing mentor experience — getting to enjoy a class that I had not actually taken.

I’m also currently working as a senior interviewer in the Office of Admission. It’s been a fantastic job to close out my Grinnell journey – I feel that I’m leaving a positive impact by welcoming in the next class of students.

Activities

I’m on the Sociology Student Educational Policy Committee, or SEPC. It’s so cool. We’re currently doing a tenure track search right now, so we’re meeting with candidates. We’re having lunch — just the students and the candidate. I didn’t know that students were so involved in the faculty hiring process.

I do also take advantage of the Bear, Grinnell’s recreation and athletic center. I love going there and working out, and I play basketball with my friends quite often. That’s really fun. 

I also love to cook. Since living abroad in Dublin, I’ve gotten used to cooking all my meals, and I’ve really embraced it. I regularly experiment with new recipes either by myself or with friends, and I’m sure it’s a skill that will prove valuable long into the future.

Friends and Fun

One of the most meaningful and grounding relationships I’ve had at Grinnell has been my relationship with my girlfriend. I met her pretty early on, really liked her as a person, and now we’ve been together for a little over three years. It means a lot to have a go-to person, even through busy schedules and commitments to balance.

I also have a great group of friends that I’ve met through a bunch of different circumstances. I live with a group of four other people in a house off campus; we hang out all the time, cook together, watch movies. I consider them to be my closest friends. I also have my friends that I’ve met through playing music, friends from studying abroad, or friends I’ve met through other people. Socially, I am really happy with where I’m at. 

Hopes and Plans for the Future

I haven’t got it all figured out yet, but I’m working on it! I just had a post-grad meeting with my CLS adviser. 

For a while, I thought I was going to do a poli sci and sociology double major and go on to law school, which would have made a logical next step. But I don’t know if I want to invest the time and the money into three years of law school and LSAT prep without more assurance that I actually want to be a lawyer. 

Law school is a safe choice in a way, but I think it’s the right call to not rush into that. It’s still on my radar, though. After graduating, I think I want to get some work experience, just to see what is out there for me. Maybe I will come to the conclusion that getting some type of master’s degree or a law degree would further enable me to do what I want to do. But maybe it won’t. 

I’m also in the process of talking to lots of people. I’m planning to do the Mentor Grinnell program where you connect with an alum in a field that you’re interested in.

I’ve been updating my resume, updating my LinkedIn, and getting the wheels turning to make myself presentable after college. I’ll find a job where I feel fulfilled and my writing skills and communication skills are utilized to their fullest extent. All of my experiences at Grinnell – the classes, the music, the internship, studying abroad, the relationships – have made me into a well-rounded person who could work and succeed just about anywhere.