Senior Reilly Taylor was working with Associate Professor of Geosciences Jeanette Pope when she offered him an opportunity-to do summer research with her.
Taylor was not a part of SRF, but he found it to be a great opportunity, especially since it was paid and he lives in Bloomington. Taylor, an environmental geoscience major, worked primarily in the Walnut Creek watershed.
“I’ve always been interested in doing water quality research, so the project was right up my alley,” Taylor said.
While living on campus, Taylor was grouped among other DePauw students in Rector Village. Taylor observes that while students might not have been grouped with their best friends, they got to meet a lot of new people they may not have otherwise.
Though Taylor enjoyed getting to know the town of Greencastle better and spending time with kids in his class playing games around the apartment, he said that it got lonely sometimes.
“You can walk outside when you’re on campus and not see a face for half an hour,” Taylor said of the “desolate” side of DePauw.
Even so, Taylor recommends that other students spend a summer on campus, but only if they find an opportunity they really want to take advantage of and if they are willing to find other things to do to occupy the time.
While his perspective of Greencastle as not only the town that houses DePauw changed, his view on the university itself also matured.
“DePauw is nothing without the students,” Taylor said, since he was not able to socialize with people he normally hangs out with during the school year.
Kati Lear, another senior who remained on DePauw’s campus this summer, worked with a psychology professor, Matt Hertenstein, on a science research project.
“It was interesting,” she said. “It was a lot of research and writing for eight hours a day, which was at first a little bit of a rough transition.”
Since Lear is from South Carolina, she didn’t consider herself to be very familiar with the Greencastle area prior to this summer. She was surprised by how many things happen in Greencastle during the summer, including a summer concert series that took place every Tuesday and featured local artists that played everything from folk to jazz. There is also a community pool opened to the public and a festival in July.
She realized that it was very easy for her not to pay attention to Greencastle while enrolled in classes, so during the summer, she was happy to have the opportunity to cultivate a relationship between the town and university.
“I think my roots here are more firmly established…it really helped ground me in Indiana,” Lear said.
For DePauw student and Greencastle resident Jordan Hickam, his experience while working for Public Safety was different.
“I just kind of stayed away from the town,” Hickam said. “It was mainly that DePauw bubble I was really used to [that I spent time in].
Still, Hickam had the opportunity to explore places on campus that he did not normally get to see, especially since his job required him to check various buildings.
Though it was difficult for him not to be home, he adapted to the campus well and enjoyed his time there with other students. He recommends that other DePauw students try staying on campus during the summer as well.
“It’d be nice for everyone,” Hickam said. “They could work for the school, they could explore Greencastle without actually having homework to worry about, or sports.”
Patrick Ledwidge, a senior who was also working in Greencastle this summer recommends that DePauw students spend at least one summer on campus.
“I think people may be hesitant to because it’s not a vivacious place in the summer,” he said.
Even so, Ledwidge noted that in the summer, students have the opportunity to appreciate the great institution for what it is, since they can relax and spend time at DePauw without a hectic academic schedule.
“That’s a new perspective I was able to get, and hopefully I can share that with my peers this semester because it’s something I really took for granted.”
