Lawrence Today - Lawrence University

the Class of 2010
Looking Back, Moving forward
By Kaleesha rajamantri ’10
Lawrence Today asked senior Kaleesha Rajamantri, who spent the past two terms as an
intern in the Office of Communications, to interview a few of her classmates. Our aim?
A first-person account of what the Lawrence experience means to students who are
about to embark on life after Lawrence.
Seven very different individuals — with varying backgrounds, majors, interests and talents
— and yet all seven of them characterize the Class of 2010. We have seen Lawrence
change in ways that other classes have not — the creation of Hurvis Crossing, the median
on College Avenue, a new academic calendar and the opening of the Warch Campus
Center. And like the graduating classes that have come before us, we can say we left
Lawrence a different place than how we found it.
I had the pleasure of interviewing my classmates about their unique Lawrence experiences,
and what I discovered was that if there is something Lawrence succeeded in doing, it is
equipping us with skills, honing our talents and preparing us to handle bursting the bubble
post graduation.
Being a student at Lawrence is an exciting and unpredictable experience, but Renske
Hoedemaker, from Rotterdam, Holland has had an extremely unorthodox Lawrence
career. She entered as a one-year exchange student on her gap year and had a glorious
freshman year taking “really interesting and cool classes such as Latin and Modern
Dance.” She returned to Holland and found out that she missed the liberal arts approach
to education and Lawrence itself. So she transferred back for her junior and senior year.
During her time at Lawrence, Renske danced with the Mêlée dance troupe, rowed with
Lawrence crew, has been involved with Lawrence International, served on Hall Council,
won the Phi Beta Kappa junior award and was a co-recipient of the Lewis Prize, awarded
to the senior with the highest grade point average. This fall Renske will be moving to North
Carolina to pursue a Ph.D. in psycholinguistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. Despite Renske’s future plans,
she wanted to “stay at Lawrence
forever or take the people at
Lawrence to UNC.”
20 summer 2010
Another success story of the Class
of 2010 is Ken Weinlander, from
Greenville, Wis., who is heading to
the Medical College of Wisconsin
this fall. This gentleman has had
a most extraordinary academic
adventure, having published two
papers prior to the completion
of his senior year. Ken also won
both Phi Beta Kappa awards — for
freshmen and juniors — during
his time at Lawrence. Along with
Ken Weinlander
Renske Hoedemaker
Renske, Ken was named co-recipient of
the Lewis Prize, awarded to the senior
with the highest grade point average.
Ken was an active member of Beta
Theta Pi and served as vice president his
senior year, chaired the judicial board,
was a member of LU’s fencing team and
served as a student representative on
faculty committees. While doing all this,
he managed to find time to study abroad
in London as a sophomore. While in
London he took an art history class — 19th
Century Art, Design, and Society in Britain,
which he said showed him a method
of art appreciation to which he had not
received prior exposure. Ken epitomized
a Lawrence student who made full use of
the opportunities provided at Lawrence.