Alan Harris '77

Some of the most enjoyable and rewarding work of the Alumni Association Board (AAB) is interviewing and selecting recipients of the Alumni Association Student Leader Scholarship, which provides loan-reducing scholarships to student leaders and encourages them to remain involved with CC after graduation. The scholarship is funded by alumni donations directed to it and receipts from the affinity credit card program. This year’s applicant pool was exceptionally large and well qualified. The recipients were Kelsey Elwood ’12, Dirk Rasmussen ’13, and Roxanne Tuchton ’13 (graduating early).

The Alumni Association Student Leader Scholarship program helps other students have their own CC experience. All CC students receive financial aid, since even payment of full tuition covers only 70 percent of the cost of a CC education. Your gift to CC helps pay forward the financial benefits we received from others who generously made our CC education possible.

Below are excerpts from writings by an AAB member and a scholarship recipient that highlight how meaningful the AAB Student Leader Scholarship program is.

Helping CC Students and Renewing Ourselves

By Molly Magdalain ’01

After several years of making my way in the world, I’ve recently come back to CC, first by coordinating alumni events in New York City, and now by joining the Alumni Association Board. I attended the Alumni Leadership Forum in April and everyone worked hard as we spent our days in Palmer Hall in small think-tank groups, even though the sun on the quad was calling us home.

One assignment was to interview finalists for the Student Leader Scholarship. All of these students were sincere and inspiring representatives of CC, and it is our honor to be able to help them move forward in life as so many others have helped us. The special qualities of CC students are exemplified by Roxanne Tuchton ’13 — a cellist and physicist. As part of an independent study project, Roxanne created an electric distortion pedal for her cello — from scratch — and it really works! She had an internship last summer with the Kennedy Space Center. She is studying the relationship between the fields of physics and music and is even working on developing inter-departmental relationships. The two other recipients, Dirk Rasmussen ’13 and Kelsey Elwood ’12, have made very different but equally important and creative contributions to CC. Their determination and imagination are what makes CC students so special. We wish them the best and can’t wait to learn more about the things they’re creating out in the world!

A Personal Note

From Roxanne Tuchton ’13

“When I arrived at CC, there were things I knew I wanted to do before I left. I knew that I wanted to study physics; I knew that I wanted to play music; and I knew that I wanted to learn as much as possible, not only from my classes, but also from the people I would meet and the experiences I would have. I am glad to be able to say that I have not been disappointed with any moment I have spent at this school, and I have the generosity of people like you to thank for that.

My time at CC has gone by quickly, though it feels like an impossibly long time since my first day. Since then I have learned how to prove that the earth goes around the sun and identify differences between Javanese and Balinese music. I’ve studied Buddhist mandalas and quantum tunneling. I can solder electrical circuits and write imitative counterpoint. I have felt the thrill of performing with an orchestra as a member of the cello section, as well as the intimacy of playing with a piano and violin in a piano trio. These experiences have changed me, and I hope they have become part of who I will be.

This year is my last at CC. The Student Leader Scholarship has helped make it possible for me to finish my degree. I cannot thank you enough for selecting me as a recipient of this award. I am truly honored and immeasurably grateful.”