Looking back, looking ahead

Nursing. Finance. Chemistry. Public administration. Political science. Sociology.

The Corridor's outstanding spring college graduates of 2011 have followed diverse interests during their academic careers, just as they have pursued a wide array of activities outside the classroom.

But those things are behind them now. Diplomas in hand, they look to the future.

Sarah Anciaux mixes classes and sports

CEDAR RAPIDS - Sarah Anciaux was dead set on becoming a veterinarian while she was growing up in Iowa City. Today she's still working with animals, but not in the way she had imagined - she studies sea worms.

Now a 22-year-old recent graduate of Coe College with a degree in chemistry and a minor in Spanish, Anciaux has spent many hours in the lab, studying sea worms that make cement, and researching the effect of silver nanoparticles on plants.

A top student in her 2007 City High School graduating class, Anciaux credits falling in love with chemistry to her City High School science teacher, Bruce Wilson.

“His passion rubbed off on me, and once I got to college, it was reaffirmed that I wanted to go into chemistry,” Anciaux said.

Over the past four years Anciaux also has been a key figure in Kohawk athletics. Anciaux earned multiple honors for her performance on the basketball court and earned the title of being an All-American track athlete in shot put. [Read more]

Kelsey Hansen's days full of activities

CEDAR RAPIDS - Kelsey Hansen's days usually consist of running to class, doing homework and participating in a slew of activities from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day.

She doesn't complain. Instead, she finds enjoyment in the mild chaos that has been her day-to-day life over the past four years while pursuing a nursing degree at Mount Mercy University.

“Being dedicated and having confidence in myself has allowed me to do everything I have,” said Hansen, 21, of Alton in western Iowa. “But it hasn't necessarily been easy - you have to be really organized and always work ahead.”

Hansen enjoys nursing because she is able to help people in their times of need. Hansen describes her experiences as a nursing intern at St. Luke's Hospital Heart Center and the Hospice House of Mercy as being “eye opening” and “really rewarding.” [Read more]

Sean Anderson plans to travel world, make a positive impact

DECORAH - Sean Anderson has always been interested in how language can open the door into culture.

“If you understand someone's culture, you'll be able to gain greater insights into what's important to them,” said the Luther College senior from New Ulm, Minn., who will graduate this month with degrees in both political science and Spanish.

In addition to speaking Spanish fluently, Anderson, 22, speaks intermediate Norwegian and French, and a dash of Mandarin (which he said barely warrants mention).

A Nobel Peace Prize Forum Scholar, Anderson spent last summer in Oslo, Norway, where he completed an individual research project focused on the Norwegian Refugee Council's alternative education programs for internally displaced people within Columbia. Upon his return, he presented his research at the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Forum at Luther.

He hopes to continue that research next year, where he will teach English in Colombia through a Fulbright Fellowship. He plans to volunteer with internally displaced people through a non-governmental organization. [Read more]

Wes Harrington takes unusual career path

IOWA CITY - From computer science to home building and now to finance may seem an unusual career path, but Wes Harrington says each past experience has helped him in the next.

“If you look at my resume, it may look disjointed,” he said. “But I see it as moving from the best opportunity to the next best opportunity.”

Harrington, 34, was one of thousands of students to graduate from the University of Iowa this weekend. The Urbandale native earned his master of business administration degree from the Tippie College of Business and will move to Chicago to become an investment banking associate with BMO Capital Markets.

He graduated from Urbandale High in 1995 and studied computer science at MIT. After college, he launched an online sales site before becoming an IT consultant with a Texas company, working in Texas, California and Boston. [Read more]

Volunteering inspires Ian Watt

Ian Watt has always been surrounded and influenced by the beauty of sound.

As the son of parents with master's degrees in music, the St. Paul, Minn., native began playing trumpet in sixth grade. Since then, Watt, a 22-year-old graduating senior at Cornell College in Mount Vernon has worked tirelessly to spread his love of music through volunteering at Taylor Elementary in Cedar Rapids.

“When I was growing up I had a lot of privileges and had the opportunity to make music,” Watt said. “It's great being able to help teach kids that wouldn't otherwise have the opportunity to play (an instrument).”

Watt also has been an extremely active volunteer for youth programs offered through Cornell, taking on responsibilities as a “lunch buddy” for a student at Washington Elementary school in Mount Vernon and mentoring middle school students. Watt has also helped with local flood recovery projects. [Read more]

Jeffrey Tourdot beats odds to succeed

A school dropout who tried to overdose on prescription drugs at age 16, Jeffrey Tourdot beat his odds at success and earned a master's degree in public administration this spring from Upper Iowa University.

It was determined when he was a child in Madison, Wis., that Tourdot had a learning disability. From the fourth grade, he attended special education classes. He moved to Oelwein and was repeating his sophomore year of school when his grandfather died. Tourdot, ready to give up, overdosed.

Then he was noticed by teacher Nancy Miller.

“She told me, ‘you will not fail. You will be something in this world,'” said Tourdot, 33, of Cedar Rapids. [Read more]

Family boosts Monica Schirmer

CEDAR RAPIDS - Monica Schirmer took her four sons - ages 19, 17, 8 and 5 - out for dinner Tuesday night to say thanks for all their support along the way as she worked on a nursing degree at Kirkwood Community College in recent years.

“With the older boys, many times they had to take the little ones to school or take them to the park to play so I could study,” Schirmer, 39, said. “I told them it's ‘we did this, not I did this.'”

Schirmer, of Robins, graduated from Kirkwood with an associate degree in nursing Saturday, after years of perseverance. She took Kirkwood classes online and on nights and weekends while she worked - sometimes full time and sometimes part time - and raised four sons.

“You just have to be very organized,” she said. [Read more]