Q) What is your favorite leisure activity on the weekends?
A) I enjoy walking or biking during the day and watching a movie one night (usually on Netflix) – nothing scary, however, or I have to leave the room and let Carl keep track of the plot until it’s safe to come back.
Q) Tell us about how you met Dr. Strikwerda, and when you knew that he was the person you’d like to spend your life with.
A) I met Carl in a small honors sociology class when I was a freshman and he was a sophomore. It wasn’t a great class, so it was easy to think about things other than sociology. There was no sudden revelation that he was the one; it was more an ongoing evolution of finding out that we shared a lot of values and interests, including history, and even historical sociology.
Q) If money were no object in your life, what would you do with your days?
A) Even if money were no object, I don’t think Carl is ready to retire. So I imagine for the time being, we would still be in Etown doing some of the same things that we do now. However, I would enjoy travelling to places that I’ve never been able to visit, and I would like to be able to spend more time and money supporting people and causes that are doing great things to help people.
Q) What has had the most influence on you throughout your life?
A) I’d like to think that it is a combined sense of justice and compassion that owes much to my upbringing, education, friends, family and spiritual life. But I may be more driven by some of the less favorable aspects of our materialistic culture than I care to admit.
Q) If you could only give one piece of advice to college students, what would it be?
A) Be true to yourself, but be flexible. Does that count as one or two pieces? Find out what interests you and don’t be afraid to plunge into it and pursue it, because you’ll feel more satisfied with life if you do. At the same time, be open to reconsidering your options. Sometimes life demands compromises or changes in course, and if they are seen as opportunities rather than failures, you might develop inner resources or other talents that you didn’t know that you had.
Q) Is there anything you regret in your life?
A) Some serious health issues that we have faced as a family.
Q) If you were to choose a motto for yourself, what would it be?
A) Patience and persistence. Now every time I get upset, I can hear Carl telling me. . . .
Q) What do you think is the most pressing issue that college students face today?
A) I’m not sure the issue is that different from the one that students have faced in the past: how can I use my education to create a meaningful life? That said, our society is changing very quickly, but longstanding prejudices still exist, and socio-economic differences seem to be widening recently. Hopefully students blessed with resources can find a way to help others who are less fortunate, and those who are struggling in whatever way will acquire skills during college that will allow them to face challenges successfully. The individualism of American society is a cause for concern. The less that we see education as a private possession that entitles us, or some of us, to a higher standard of living and the more that we see education as something that enriches society as a whole, the better off we will be.
Q) What are you fearful of?
A) The power of hatred. It makes people want to hurt others, divides communities, and fosters the desire for revenge.
Q) What are you most hopeful for in the future?
A) Given that I am a pessimist, it’s not easy sometimes to be hopeful. I can pick up the paper every morning and read about yet another problem or disaster. However, I can also step outside and meet people who are performing acts of kindness, compassion and caring in the face of danger, injustice and discrimination. So long as I keep meeting, or reading about, these people, I have hope.
