Senior Profile: Marielle Rando ’14

Marielle Rando ’14 spent much of her time at Randolph learning about leadership. Serving as the Student Government president for the last half of her senior year was the perfect capstone.

Rando initially did not run for the president position because she was studying abroad in Spain when elections took place, and she did not want to commit to a demanding position during her fall soccer season. But last October, Jim Kwon ‘14, who was serving as the Student Government president, announced that he would graduate one semester early and would therefore step down from that role. Rando offered her name for the position and was elected.

As Student Government president, Marielle Rando ’14 spoke at the
Inauguration of Randolph College President Bradley W. Bateman.

This semester, she has been able to work with students, the College’s faculty and staff, and the Board of Trustees to make some significant changes. The experience has helped her see some of the ways she has grown in her time at Randolph.

“I’ve become more of a critical thinker. I’ve become a lot smarter, and I've become a successful leader,” she said. “I’ve learned that I have to put in the work for the things I want to achieve, and sometimes it’s going to be a lot of work.”

As Student Government president, Rando worked to reorganize the Social Violations Hearing Board, which now functions more like the student-run Judicial Committee in responding to social breaches of the College’s honor code.

She also helped to organize successful and memorable activities. In April, students packaged 10,000 meals for an organization called Stop Hunger Now. Later, Student Government sponsored a concert by the DJ and music producer Kap Slap. The success of that concert has prompted an alumna to donate funds to host similar high-profile concerts over the next several years.

Rando’s involvement in leadership and athletic activities caught the attention of the NCAA, and she has been awarded an NCAA Women’s Enhancement Program Postgraduate Scholarship for Careers in Athletics. She will use the $7,500 scholarship to attend Virginia Commonwealth University, where she has been accepted into a sports management program.

After graduate school, Rando hopes to work in university athletics and perhaps become an athletic director. She said that the many experiences she has had at Randolph have prepared her for success in graduate school and a career.

“At Randolph, it’s a really small school, but there is just as much opportunity here as there is a big school,” she said. “You can take the opportunities in.”

Senior Profile: Shuang Li ’14

Photography had nothing to do with her major or the job description for her first internship, but Shuang Li ’14 saw an opportunity to apply her interest in the art to her work for a jewelry store. Her determination to do that led to a job offer before she graduated.

After Li’s graduation from Randolph College this weekend, she will begin a full-time job at Bowen Jewelry Company in Lynchburg, where she has had an internship for more than a year.

Shuang Li ’14 looks over jewelry advertising ideas with Biff Bowen, president of
Bowen Jewelry Company, during her internship with the company in 2013.

Coming from Beijing, China, Li majored in business at Randolph. In her junior year, she heard that Bowen Jewelry wanted a student for a marketing internship. Li began working there for a few hours on two days each week.

“When I first came in, they just needed me to do social media,” Li said. “They had never had a person to manage all their social media and keep it active.”

Li noticed that pictures on Facebook tended to drive more engagement than text updates did. So she started focusing more of her time on creating more stunning images of the jewelry.

“The jewelry industry is very image based,” Li said. “People don’t go into different stores and look at a lot of products and then decide. They decide what they want before they leave their house. They decide online.”

Taking a picture of jewelry is more complicated than it might seem. Li did a lot of research about settings on her camera, how to position jewelry so that it seems to be suspended in mid-air, and how to arrange lights around the setting. She convinced her employers to purchase some equipment. Soon, she had an image that they liked and used in a print ad, which turned out to be very successful.

Last summer, Li was working for the College’s summer paint crew and continuing the internship two days a week. Then her internship supervisors offered to hire her full-time to work on marketing for them.

Biff Bowen, President of Bowen Jewelry Company, said he was impressed by Li’s determination to master jewelry photography. When she encountered obstacles, she saw them as learning opportunities and kept trying until she could create the images she was after.

When her senior year started, Li continued working in a part-time internship at the jewelry shop, but the store offered to hire her full-time upon graduation.

Li said one reason behind her success is the advice she heard from Maryam Brown ’02, Randolph’s internship coordinator, about being professional and making a good impression: “Your job is to make your boss's job easier.”

“I've been trying to reach that,” Li said. “I will do as much as I can do to make their job easier and to save them time.”

“It is my responsibility to just finish and get that job done, no matter what,” she added. “I’m learning and growing, and I hope I can bring more to Bowen Jewelry.”

Senior Profile: Mike Ehilegbu ’14

When Mike Ehilegbu ’14 wants to improve on something, he knows how to put in the time.

As a result, he has improved as both a student and a basketball player during his four years at Randolph College.

Clay Nunley, head men’s basketball coach, pointed out recently that Ehilegbu’s best grades have come even as his classes have gotten harder. Also, his time spent working on basketball skills outside of regular practice time has paid off, making him one of the most dependable players on the team. Meanwhile, Ehilegbu also became more outspoken as a team leader.

At Randolph, Ehilegbu became interested in writing and he majored in communication studies. He decided to combine that with his interest in athletics, and he plans to pursue a career in sports journalism. “I hope I can develop a voice in sports so I can state a strong opinion and people will listen,” he said.

Ehilegbu was featured in this recent Randolph magazine story that followed up on several students who had been featured when they first arrived at Randolph. Since then, he continued to dominate on the basketball court. Ehilegbu led Randolph in minutes, points, rebounds and assists this season. His 158 defensive rebounds this year were third in the league and the most of any guard. He scored his 1,000th career point this season, too. The Old Dominion Athletic Conference named him to the All ODAC Men’s Basketball second team.

Senior Profile: Amy Jacobs ’14

When Amy Jacobs ’14 was in high school, she took the initiative to start her own equestrian photography business. When she came to Randolph, she continued to show initiative by becoming involved in many leadership opportunities.

Jacobs, who will graduate magna cum laude on Sunday, has served on the Macon Activities Council for four years, and she was the organization’s president this year. She also studied abroad, completed internships, rode on the equestrian team, tutored business students, and gave tours of campus as a Gold Key Guide.

At the Academic and Leadership Awards ceremony this spring, Jacobs was honored with the Initiative Award, Student Volunteer Award, the Stan Marshall Award for Excellence in Business, and the Ambassador Award from the Admissions department.

“I was honored to be recognized by the various organizations to which I had given my time,” Jacobs said. “However, I know that my achievements would not have been possible without the overwhelming support of the Randolph College community.”

Jacobs plans to pursue a career in human resources, marketing, or event planning. Her work at Randolph makes her confident in her ability to succeed in any of those fields. “I look forward to graduation, and I’m excited about the challenges I will face beyond the red brick wall,” she said.

You can read a recent feature on Jacobs from Randolph magazine here.

Senior Profile: John Grundy ’14

John Grundy ’14 was recruited to Randolph to play lacrosse, but he was determined to do much more. When he began college, he wanted to focus on learning more than he had in the past.

John Grundy ’14 receives the Scholar Athlete of the Year
award from Randolph English professor Dan Stiffler.

“In high school, I didn’t push myself; I never studied,” he said. “In college, I was determined not to let that happen. I wanted to push myself and see how well I could do.”

He did do more. In addition to excelling in the classroom, Grundy served as a resident assistant, participated in the Davenport Leadership Institute, and worked as a learning strategies tutor. He also served on a civility task force that helped identify ways that the community could increase respect for diversity.

His hard work paid off and was noticed. At the athletic awards banquet in April, he was given the Scholar Athlete of the year award, which honors the graduating student-athlete with the highest grade point average. Then at the academic and leadership awards ceremony the next day, Grundy was surprised with the Student of the Year Award.

This year, Grundy has had extra motivation for all that he has been involved with: he became a father last fall.

“I had to do everything for my daughter so she has a better life in the future,” he said. “Working and going to class and going to lacrosse, she made it all worthwhile.

“She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me,” Grundy continued. “When I see her smile,that makes me happy.”

His fiancée, Casey, and daughter, Isabelle, plan to move from Northern Virginia to Lynchburg, where Grundy plans to continue working at a YMCA gym. His work there started as an unpaid internship two years ago and then turned into a part-time job that includes working with personal training clients. A sport and exercise studies major, he hopes to eventually run a gym of his own, applying lessons he has learned outside his major in classes in psychology, multicultural education, sociology, communication studies, and more.

Grundy added that the most important thing he has learned has been the value of being a leader. “Coming into college, I wanted to be this all ODAC player recognized for individual accomplishments. Now I’m just happy about the impact I’ve had on my teammates, and how I’ve changed their attitudes,” he said. “That makes a much bigger impact than individual awards.”

Senior Profile: Kelsey Abell ’14

Kelsey Abell ’14 started college thinking she would become an elementary school teacher. But for her, part of the beauty of the liberal arts curriculum was that she discovered a talent and interest in art that she had not realized before.

Abell was one of several members of the Class of 2014 featured in Randolph magazine during her first semester at Randolph. We recently followed up with her to learn about her artwork and her new plans to become a college art professor. You can read that story here.

Much of Abell’s senior year was spent in the art studio, where she was preparing works for the senior art exhibition, which opened earlier this month and is on display at the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College until Sunday. That was one of her favorite moments of the year.

“The exhibition was what I was working towards all year, and it was an absolute blast,” she said. “I got to share the experience with six other senior studio art majors and my family. It has been an amazing experience with a group of people I call family and amazing to see my own art work on the walls of a museum.”