适应性、韧性
对于一个自称“善于交际的人”来说,” 约拿Kotzen ’24 has spent a lot of the last year examining fish skeletons. 从2022年秋天开始, the biology and classical studies double major has worked as a research assistant for Associate Professor of the Practice of Biology Christopher Kenaley, studying different species of centrarchids—known as sunfish—to better understand how their jaws have evolved to help them survive in different habitats.
乍一看, this research might seem unrelated to Kotzen’s role as the president of the Undergraduate Government of 电子游戏软件 (UGBC), 是关于和BC学生一起工作的吗, 教师, 和管理员. 但对于Kotzen来说，共同的主线是适应性.
“我的生活经历了很多变化, 这让我变得适应能力强,Kotzen解释道. “Just as that helps me connect with people and be a good advocate, it also makes me appreciate how other animals have evolved to fit the environments around them.”
科岑在佛罗里达州棕榈滩县长大.他是七个同父异母兄弟姐妹中的第五个. 他的父母都有稳定的事业, but they moved often and he split time between their houses, never living in a single place for more than four years. 在这些变化中, he was also learning to support his brother Jonathan, who has a genetic disorder called Fragile X syndrome.
In 2015, 当Kotzen还在读中学的时候, 他被诊断出患有史蒂文斯-约翰逊综合症, a rare autoimmune condition that affects the skin and the eyes. He nearly lost his vision, but thanks to medical care, he made a full recovery. 就是这段经历, 尽管它具有挑战性, 这激发了他对医学和生物学的兴趣.
“The autoimmunity I’ve faced propelled me to become interested in the field of medicine,” he said. “我想知道我正在经历什么, but I also wanted to be able to help others who were going through similar things.”
在电子游戏软件, 他很快就找到了回报的方法, 无论是在医学界还是在校园里. 在第一年, he started volunteering with an organization called Boston Community Pediatrics, coordinating weekly online reading sessions for underserved children in the Boston area. 他还赢得了UGBC参议员的选举, 大二的时候, he joined the senate’s Council for Students with Disabilities (CSD).
“It was through disability advocacy that I really found my voice,Kotzen说. “I grew up educating my 朋友 about my brother’s condition and his needs, so to play a role in doing that for others at BC is incredibly important to me.”
During his time as the CSD’s policy coordinator and chair of the UGBC’s Intersectionality Committee, Kotzen worked with administrators to expand Eagle Escort’s services and the number of wheelchair-accessible vans on campus. He also collaborated with BC Athletics to add closed captioning to the videos that play at football games, so students with hearing impairments could follow along.
约拿Kotzen和UGBC副总裁Meghan Heckleman.
He was proud of these achievements, but he wondered if he could do more. 在他大三的秋天, 他找到了25岁的梅根·海克尔曼, 然后是UGBC学生计划的负责人, to ask if she’d run alongside him for the vice presidency.
“Meghan had a lot of experience on the programming side, 我在政策方面也有经验,Kotzen说. “I think we’ve made a good duo because we know what it takes on both sides.”
在四柱平台上运行-验收, 学者, 活动, and adjustment—Kotzen and Heckelman won election as president and vice president in April 2023. 从那时起, they’ve accomplished several of the goals they campaigned on, including the integration of LGBTQ+ support services into the Thea Bowman AHANA and Intercultural Center, the distribution of funding for laundry costs to 100 students in the Montserrat Program, and a partnership with BC Libraries Digital Scholarship to create a campus navigation app for students with disabilities.
从一开始, 我们的座右铭之一是“中等规模”, 务实的步骤,’”海克尔曼说, a Lynch School of Education and Human Development student. “这不是最吸引人的口号, but it’s because of our persistence and willingness to collaborate that we’ve been able to secure these resources.”
在像BC这样的大大学, effecting change involves steady relationship building, Heckelman认为这是Kotzen的强项之一.
“One of Jonah’s biggest strengths is his ability to connect and build bridges between people from different backgrounds, both within UGBC and with students 和管理员 outside of it,赫克曼说.
Part of the reason Kotzen is so involved may have to do with the breadth of his academic and extracurricular interests. UGBC之外, 他是不列颠哥伦比亚省首个古典俱乐部的创始人, co-chair of the Resident Hall Association’s Student Programming Council, 也是Alpha Sigma Nu荣誉协会的成员. He is also actively involved in 电子游戏软件’s Hillel chapter and the Jewish community on campus.
“I’m leaving college more literate in so many different things,Kotzen说, reflecting on his extracurriculars and his double major. “I feel like I’ve become more well-rounded not only academically, but as a person. And ideally, that’s what a liberal arts education does.”
毕业后, Kotzen plans to take at least two years to pursue research in organismal biology before he applies to medical school. As the end of his presidency and his BC experience approaches, he is grateful to have found a place that feels like home. At the same time, he’s excited to see what the next change brings.
“真的是人们——ugbc的成员, 朋友, 教师, administrators—who have defined my experience at BC and made it possible,Kotzen说. “我非常感谢我所得到的一切, and I’m ready to use the lessons this community has taught me to continue to grow and evolve.”