Jason Konz had family ties to Buena Vista University (BVU) before he visited campus as a high school student. Now, as a sophomore, Jason spends hours each week with 2020 Wythe Award winner Dr. Shawn Stone, Professor of Physics and Computer Science. Stone serves as advisor for BVU’s first Robotics Club, which made history on campus in November as it hosted its first sumo-bot competition. More.

A native of Moweaqua, Illinois, Olivia Jordan is earning her degree in secondary education and English literature. She is among 55 top students from across the state being honored during the 46th annual Lincoln Academy Student Laureate ceremony. Student Laureates are honored for their “leadership and service in the pursuit of the betterment of humanity and for overall excellence in curricular and extracurricular activities.” More.

At two-years-old, when most kids were busy trying to decide between their favorite action figures or dolls, Grayson Wickel, a Lees-McRae College junior cyclist and Business Administration major from Asheville, North Carolina, was establishing the passion for music that led him to becoming a fiddler in the bluegrass band known as Another Country. More.

Arianah Bell ’21 spent her summer as an intern with Winning Strategies Washington in Washington DC. A TRIO SSS student with a passion for politics, Bell is part of “America Needs You,” an organization committed to fighting for economic mobility for ambitious, low-income college students by providing intensive career development, mentorship, and more. More.

Driven by a love of being outdoors and on the water, environmental science major Bernadette Badamo contacted assistant biology professor Dr. Patrick Kelly last year about assisting him with his research on aquatic ecosystems. As a result, she has spent this summer in a canoe measuring sources of organic carbon in Mid-South area lakes to analyze how these lakes store and release carbon and how they cycle nutrients. More.