Wednesday, April 15, 2015 // The Statement
4B
W
hen students reflect on their
time on campus, many will
remember game days, the
Ann Arbor winter, and long study hours.
LSA senior Keya Patel, however, will
remember the many hours she spent
working with communities around the
world.
Since her freshman year, Patel has
worked with the Better Living Using
Engineering
Laboratory,
a
student
organization guiding nine team proj-
ects using a human-centered sustain-
able design process to collaborate with
communities both local and around the
world to work on an identified need.
Some of the groups’ previous projects
include providing nighttime lighting,
organizing education engineering work-
shops and irrigating fields and farm-
lands.
Six of the teams are based abroad in
communities in Nicaragua, Guatemala,
Jamaica, Mexico, India, and El Salvador.
The teams travel to their partner com-
munities over class breaks throughout
the year to help implement their proj-
ects.
As BLUElab president this past year,
Patel is one of a few team members not
studying engineering — she’s earning
dual degrees in International Studies
and Biology with a minor in Business.
Though she was originally a little intim-
idated, she said collaborating with stu-
dents from different fields of study has
been an important experience.
“Working with the engineers and
L
SA senior Natasha Dabrowski’s face
turned red from “talking about herself”
and her nomination for Student of the
Year.
“I’m truly humbled by this,” she said. “I do feel
like I’ve been a really hard worker on campus, but
I know that there are a lot of people that put in a
lot of time and energy and effort into making this
campus a better place.”
Dabrowski is LSA Student Government presi-
dent and an active member of the Michigan Club
Tennis team and Delta Gamma sorority. But she
was more than willing to take time out of her busy
schedule to discuss her nomination.
Throughout the conversation, Dabrowski speaks
expressively, but cautiously about her achievements
on campus — modest about her role in impacting
her larger campus community and never failing to
give credit to those who have helped her in achiev-
ing her goals.
Dabrowski served as a student representative
on the Race and Ethnicity Subcommittee respon-
sible for updating the requirement for the coming
school year. She was also responsible for creating
a religion minor through the University’s History
department, which she was the first student to
complete.
“I did this not without the help of many other
students on LSA student government and adminis-
trators,” Dabrowski said. “I came to campus recog-
nizing a lack of an overarching major or minor or
program where students could learn about a lot of
different things rather than study one specific eth-
nic studies or religious studies course.”
Diversity is important to Dabrowski. Her family,
she said, hosted a foreign exchange student almost
every year while she was in high school, and, while
she valued the international exposure, she still
found it limiting.
“Here on campus I’ve been able to work with
I
t’s suggested that those who grow
up in the Midwest are forever sub-
scribed to the region’s wholesome
values — an admirable work ethic con-
trasted by modesty, along with the desire
to help others. If there’s a student who
embodies the favorable, friendly and
hard-working Midwestern archetype, its
Ford school junior Hannah Lee.
Between her extroverted nature and
her glass-half-full mentality, it’s clear
why Lee is regarded as a positive influ-
ence within both the classroom and
her extensive extracurriculars. She’s a
socializer through and through — outgo-
ing and outspoken, radiating optimism
when she speaks of her causes of concern,
mainly social justice and equality. With
accolades including her 2014 Freshman
of The Year award, it’s clear she’s been
and continues to be on track to pursue
her goals as a catalyst of social change.
Along with pursuing a degree in public
policy focused on inequalities in health
and the environment coupled with a
minor in community action and social
change, Lee is also employed at the Life
Sciences Institute, is a recently elected
member of Central Student Government,
is involved in Common Ground through
the program on Intergroup Relations,
and is captain of the women’s club soccer
team.
“I think through all of my organiza-
PAUL SHERMAN/Daily
LUNA ANNA ARCHEY/Daily
BRIAN BECKWITH/Daily