Keene State College's 2015 Graduates Put Their Public Liberal Arts Education to Work

KEENE, N.H., June 8, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Keene State College's Class of 2015, with its 1,086 graduates, is engaged in a wide range of higher education and career opportunities, from the pursuit of a PhD in chemistry to work as a mechanical engineer to service with AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps. This class was also part of a civic-minded student body at Keene State that provided more than 104,000 hours of student volunteer service during the 2013-14 academic year.

Just a few examples of the pursuits of Keene State's newest graduates, include:

Kelly Christianson, who earned two degrees in elementary education and sociology, and Holocaust and Genocide Studies, volunteered her time to help people in Rwanda and South Africa through service-learning trips. She will go back to Rwanda this fall with the Peace Corps. "I connected with the people and I promised them I would go back," said Christianson.

Krystal Bunnell, a psychology major with minors in communications and health science/substance abuse, begins a graduate program in K-12 school counseling this summer at Plymouth State University. She'll work as a summer conference crew worker there and also as a resident assistant.

Blake Holton, an environmental studies major, and safety and occupational health minor, has landed a job as a health and safety engineer with Moretrench American Corporation in Yonkers, NY.

Shaun Filiault, a political science major with minors in biology and international studies, will be attending the Boston University School of Law to undertake a Master's of Law in Intellectual Property.

Sustainable product design and innovation (SPDI) major Meghan Shaw will join Raytheon as an entry level mechanical engineer. She'll apply the skills she developed at Keene State to the planning, design, development and testing of mechanical and/or electro-mechanical systems, instruments, controls, and/or machines.

John Fanning, a SPDI major, will spend the summer as a manufacturing engineering intern at Karl Storz in North Attleboro, MA. The company produces endoscopes for use in the field including medicine and aerospace. He'll be focused on CNC practices, lean manufacturing, flow manufacturing and machining.

A number of Keene State students will spend the coming year as volunteers in the AmeriCorps Vista City Year program. They are:

• English literature major Ashley DeFilippo, heading to Miami
• Secondary education major Devon Coletta, Columbia, SC
• English literature major Christine Pitino, Boston
• Psychology major Alyson Schaffrick, Boston
• Psychology major Chelsea Day, Boston
• Psychology major Jacob Margolis, New York
• Sociology major Allison Picone, San Antonio, TX
• Elementary education major Kelsey Sobestanovich, San Antonio, TX

Kaley Mientkiewicz, a chemistry major, will be attending Tufts University this fall, where she will be working on a master's degree in chemistry.

Biology major Maggie Kelly has been accepted to the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine in West Lafayette, IN.

Music performance major Lauren Weiner, a vocalist, is heading to graduate school in the UK at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. She is also the first student ever to complete a music degree and receive a certificate from the Keene State Morris-August Honors Program.

Graphic design major Sean Crater has been hired as a designer at MicroArts, an agency in Greenland, NH. He'll join two earlier Keene State graphic design graduates at the firm.

Nicole Baker, a management and psychology double-major, has been accepted to the doctoral program in developmental psychology at the University of Rhode Island. Nicole was awarded a Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship last summer to research the connection between media exposure and body image satisfaction in young women.

About Keene State College
Keene State College is a preeminent public liberal arts college that ensures student access to world-class academic programs.  Integrating academics with real-world application and active community and civic engagement, Keene State College prepares graduates to meet society's challenges by thinking critically, acting creatively, and serving the greater good. To learn more about Keene State College, visit www.keene.edu.

Keene State College: Wisdom to make a difference.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20141118/159318LOGO

SOURCE Keene State College

Related Links

http://www.keene.edu