Our seniors are an incredible, tenacious, and eclectic bunch. Studying economics, computer science, politics, biology, languages, statistics, communications, and mathematics in addition to all things artistic, they embody the engaged liberal arts experience at Wake Forest. Below are just a handful of these brilliant seniors who we've been privileged to see regularly in Scales Fine Arts Center—see what they've been doing, and what's coming next.
Meet the future (we're in good hands).
Amber Adkins
Major: Psychology; Minors: Neuroscience, French Studies
“All the professors have been very engaging, very willing to help me and meet with me outside of class. They’ve been so willing to meet me where I am, to learn what my passions are and to help me get wherever I want to go.”
You may have seen (and heard) Amber Adkins in performance mode. In addition to her violin virtuosity, Amber has been a driven psychology researcher as well as the Student Organizations Council Co-Chair. After graduation, Adkins will be continuing her research with the Alzheimer's Association. Her long-term goals include going to graduate school for clinical psychology and expanding on her passion for the well-being of older adults by working with the geriatric population — a demographic that she feels is often overlooked.
Maddy Barnick
Major: Art History
“If you have passion for it, just go with it. It is scary, but the art department is like a family here and no one is going to let anyone else fail.”
After graduation, Maddy is moving to London to obtain her Master’s degree in Art Business from Sotheby’s through the University of Manchester. She hopes to work in a gallery for a few years and then return to the university system to help inspire other students to pursue their art dreams.
Kaylah Bozkurtian
Major: Studio Art; Minors: Creative Writing, Theatre, History
"It wasn’t until I realized that each of the disciplines approaches the art of storytelling from a unique and necessary perspective that the metaphorical puzzle pieces fell into place."
After graduating Summa Cum Laude, Kaylah will continue as the Fellow in the Office of Personal and Career Development here at Wake before going on to pursue a creative career merging her love of visual art with her love of literary, visual, and theatrical storytelling.
Lauren DeMarco
Major: English, Studio Art; Minor: Spanish
"[The three disciplines are] all different forms of communication, visual, foreign language, written weaving together."
Looking ahead to her post-grad career, DeMarco is excited to be applying the skills she gained from this intersectional approach in her future work — which will begin with a one-year Master’s program in engaged public humanities at Georgetown University.
Lainey Drake
Majors: Physics, Theatre
Lainey was a Presidential Scholar in theatre. She will work as an aerospace engineer on the Systems Engineering, Integration and Test team at Virgin Orbit.
Katherine Finch
Major: Philosophy; Minors: Political Science (International Affairs), Dance
"I will always be grateful for the times I spent backstage with friends getting ready for performances or in student choreography rehearsals. It is so wonderful to be in a dance environment that is so loving and collaborative."
A Presidential Scholar in Dance, Katherine graduated Summa Cum Laude. She's headed to Dallas, Texas to work as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs.
caroline kernell
Majors: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology; Minor: Religion
The arts have been essential to Caroline's life at Wake Forest. An active member of the Wake Forest Chamber Choir for all four years, she was part of the choir’s recent tour of the East Coast.
Caroline is moving back home to Texas to attend UT Southwestern Medical School to train to become a surgeon.
Renate Ma
Majors: Chemistry, Classical Studies
“It’s nice to have a different type of intellectual involvement. It keeps me interested and sane.”
Renate found ways to apply chemistry to creative pursuits through researching dyes, in addition to being involved in the Wake Forest Dance Company and the Ballroom Dancing Club (of which she was president). She graduated Summa Cum Laude and is preparing to attend the Wake Forest School of Medicine.
Quynh Nhu-Vu
Major: Studio Art
"The art department is pretty small and the classes are relatively small, and I like that because your professors — a lot of the time — are more like mentors to you."
Quynh has many shows planned for the next two years with an art residency lined up in Charlotte at Goodyear Arts. Her honors exhibition "Closed Sundays" was recently displayed at stArt Gallery.
Molly Olson
Major: Communication (Media Studies); Minor: Writing
After serving as President of AAP, Molly now transitions to her role as the Wake Forest Fellow in the Office of the President. She graduated Summa Cum Laude.
Eric Ross
Music in Liberal Arts
"Just seeing the formulations and foundations of modern western music is absolutely enthralling, especially to see how it has evolved over time."
Eric's pursuit of musical understanding led him to research the scores to the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. He's looking forward to pursuing a Master’s in Musicology degree at Indiana University.
Katarina Sams
Major: Music Performance
“My only goal is to make people happy when they see me perform. If people like what they see, that’s enough for me.”
After graduation, Sams will be attending the Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, VA, where she will be working on her Master’s in Flute Performance. Before she moves there in the fall, she will be participating in two major music performance projects over the summer—performing in wind youth orchestra projects in Austria and Czech Republic. She also has her first gig this summer in Croatia playing alongside a Croatian city’s chamber orchestra.
Mark Taylor
Major: Communications
Mark Taylor was part of the Chi Rho a capella group and he just moved to Nashville to continue climbing the music charts. With many accomplishments already under his belt, including a Top 15 hit and placement on Spotify's "Fresh Finds: County" Playlist, Mark is one to watch for as he takes the country music scene by storm.
Jacob Thomas
Majors: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology; Minors: Studio Art, Spanish
Jacob was president of the Black Student Alliance and organized the exhibition "Black Joy" at stArt Gallery. After graduation, Jacob will further explore his passion for diversity and equity through work as the WFU Presidential Fellow in the CEO Office of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist.
Brae Troutman
Major: Chinese Language & Culture
"Music and arts are a way of connecting and communicating emotionally, language is [communicating] ideas and computer science is communicating information. I find that that connection is the way that I engage the most."
Outside of his many academic pursuits, Brae has taken advantage of the different art spaces on campus — whether that be music or visual art — including Innuendo, a co-ed acapella group.
SJ WILLIS
Majors: Studio Art, Communications
"The natural world inspires my art. Focusing on utilizing my hands has offered catharsis, a return to self, and maturation of my identity."
S.J.'s evocative artwork also informs their work in Communications, where S.J. plans to utilize their work in video and storytelling.
Fuyuan "Freya" Zheng
Majors: Theatre, Anthropology
"I have always been a theatre lover, but I didn’t really expect myself to do theatre as a job or as a major. But that semester, I actually kind of felt like 'oh, it’s really fun to do theatre.'"
An incredible stage manager, Freya was also instrumental in founding the BiMoo Theatre Group, which produces Mandarin plays, and directed the group’s most recent production, "Same Caged." She also studied flute for all four years and regularly played in the orchestra and wind ensemble. After graduating Summa Cum Laude, she'll continue this work at the MFA Stage Management program at Columbia University School of the Arts.
Credits:
Katie Fox, Ken Bennett