Hometown:

Holland, Michigan, United States

Major:

Exercise Science

Why did you choose to attend Grand Valley?

I'm a Marine Corps veteran and I looked at a lot of different schools when I came back from tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Grand Valley is a really good school that is really convenient for me to live where I live and attend here. While I was in the infantry in the Marines I saw a lot of people get hurt and hope to get into the physical therapy program to help people like them get well.

What do you like best about Grand Valley?

I like that it's centered on strong principles and offers and all-around education. It's important to be a well-rounded person.

How have you benefited from Grand Valley's liberal education foundation?

I feel like I've learned a lot in my General Education classes. I feel like I can contribute more depth to almost any conversation I have now. I haven't been here long, but I've learned a lot.

How will Grand Valley help you meet your future goals?

Grand Valley has a great name in the physical therapy field which will really help me complete my goal of becoming a successful physical therapist.

How has Grand Valley's faculty made a difference in your college experience?

The faculty is great. They're all very helpful and really know their stuff. I feel very confident in their abilities. They're very approachable and able and eager to answer questions or help me in any way they can.

What advice would you give to prospective students?

Put studying before most anything. Study hard and study great

Nontraditional Student, Carrie Uthe, graduated in 2010 with a Liberal Studies Degree.  

Name: Carrie Uthe

Degree/Major: Bachelor of Arts in liberal studies

Class Year: 2010

Hometown: Spring Lake, MI

Current Employer/Position: Lakeshore Health Network Affiliated with Mercy HealthPartners; MSO/Provider Relations Specialist

What campus did you attend? What drew you to the liberal studies major there?

Holland. I was looking for an opportunity to go back to school. I have 4 children, am married, and was working so it could be complicated. I got a letter from Grand Valley that was looking for new, nontraditional students and the letter really hit home. They worked with me and we were able to develop a curriculum around my passions and interests, so that really sold me on the program. I had already started a second degree in business and marketing years before and had stopped to have a family. This provided me the opportunity to go back.

What did you like most about the program?

The collaboration that brings the different entities together. In liberal studies you take in everyone’s perspective in order to take in a new idea. For me, in my personal life, I do that everyday. It is about considering different ideas, cultures, forms of education, and perceptions. No longer is there just one way to look at something.

What was your emphasis area and how did you choose the courses to complete it?

I took the courses that I already had with business and marketing and integrated them with my health care experience. So I have it in business and health care administration.

How did your liberal studies degree and emphasis area prepare you for your current career?

My education really was more of an enhancement for me. It took a skill set I had, bringing groups together for collaboration and integration, and reinforced that. I already had a job when I went back to school, but it reinforced what I knew and helped me build upon it to be more successful.

What post-graduation accomplishment are you especially proud of?

I would say the Muskegon Area Medication Disposal Program. During my last semester at school we had to put together a program, I took the idea and brought it to fruition. At that time there was nowhere in the area for people to return their medication safely. This program incinerates the drugs so they don’t simply get flushed down the toilet or left in the trash. This process creates steam and produces electricity so it is very environmentally sustainable as well. The program is very rewarding and successful. Initially, after the first collection event, we came up with idea to do five events in 2010. But, the response was so great we realized there needed to be daily programming. Seven retail pharmacies in Muskegon counties take back meds now through our organization.

Would you recommend a liberal studies major to prospective GVSU students? Why?

Most certainly. It is a study that encompasses many different areas. I think that other curriculums could look at liberal studies and learn from it. For example, doctors or engineers never take a business class or a marketing class, but these areas will impact their daily lives after school. With liberal studies you get the bigger picture about what to expect when you are done with school. It broadens your vision and lessons the shock value when out of school. I’ve been very pleased with my education, especially coming back at this time in my life. I would encourage anyone to go to school. It is doable. I did it.

Nontraditional students at Grand Valley sometimes stand out in their classes because they are older than their classmates. Sherri Slater stands out for other reasons: the liberal studies major is a force for change in her community.

Slater was one of four recipients of the Lakeshore Athena Scholarship, an award for nontraditional students pursuing college degrees. “The great thing about the Athena people is they keep tabs on your progress after you win the scholarship,” Slater said. “So it shows they have an vested interest in you.”    

Among her accolades, Slater has worked on projects to increase the reach of the arts in her Muskegon community. She is an actor and playwright, having written one play and currently at work on another play and a performance lecture.  

Slater’s first play on Dorothy Parker raised money for the Woman’s Club, Howmet Theatre and Every Woman’s Place. She was the first Arts Project Coordinator  for the Muskegon Area Arts and Humanities Festival. She founded the Intensive Theatre Training Program, which gives Muskegon Community College and Grand Valley students, and the public, increased access to professional theater training.   

Slater helped initiate a dedicated committee to organize an interracial choir group in Muskegon shortly after the 2001 terrorists attacks. Aptly named “Community Connects,” the choir evolved from a gospel workshop and was perhaps the first of its kind, according to Slater.  

“It was an incredible mix of gospel and traditional music with excellent conductors of both genres that brought our very segregated communities together in a very healing way,” she said.

Her efforts in the classroom are equally stellar. Slater organized a group of her classmates to help her with a project for the Hume Home Assisted Living facility that shed light on issues impacting the elderly in Muskegon.  

“She is so fun, creative, full of ideas and engaged,” said Judy Whipps, professor of liberal studies and philosophy.

Slater shows no signs of stopping; she is currently working on a one-woman performance lecture, “Dorothy Parker and Other Loud Mouths for Social Justice,” about women who have worked for social reform in what Slater called a passionate and articulate way.

“Every class I have taken at GVSU has brought to light a new female activist who intrigues me and I want to add their voice to this work. It’s an exciting project for me and I love working on it!” Slater said.

Marine veteran reflects on transition to life at GV



By Jeff Mc George

GVL Staff Writer

2/17/2010



At 27, Daniel Waddell does not look like a Marine veteran. Some might say he does not look old enough to be a Marine.



Outgoing and accommodating, Waddell comes off as a confident, easy-going college student. There is a hint of physical strength in the broad shoulders beneath his winter jacket, but he is by no means the butch-haircut, linebacker stereotype of a Marine vet.



He is genuinely willing to discuss anything about himself and his experiences unless they make him feel as if he is bragging in even the smallest way.



"I don't look at it like I'm sacrificing, like I'm giving this to be here," Waddell said of his service. "I kind of get embarrassed some times when word gets out that I'm a Marine and people come up to me and thank me for my service. I kind of brush it off. I guess you're welcome to, but it kind of makes me feel awkward."



However, the truth remains, Waddell has experienced a lot, and it is the kind of experience to which few can truly relate.



The Grand Valley State University student is a Marine veteran, a demolition combat engineer whose job meant hunting down and sometimes destroying what everyone else was trying to avoid -- namely improvised explosive devices.



Waddell is an encyclopedia of acronyms, most of which spell death: RC-IED's, SVB's, PETN, C4, TNT. The veteran said spotting the devices was often impossible.



He said he would scan the road for trip wires or someone with a remote device, but the most deadly explosives were difficult to spot. Triggered by a "pressure plate" buried beneath the ground, these were often found the hard way.



"And those weren't the worst either," he said. "The secondary is the one you have to watch out for."



"Secondaries" are explosives meant to detonate after the initial blast when Marines exit their vehicles. Waddell said this was the most dangerous time for the Marines because they have to secure the surrounding area on foot to protect civilians.



"The enemy is constantly adapting, that is what they were doing while I was there, I have no idea what's going on now," he said.



The young Marine spent the seven months of his second tour of duty in Anbar province in the west of Iraq. Anbar is widely accepted as the most dangerous province in Iraq and was considered the center of the insurgency. Major confrontations were centered in the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, the capitol of the province.



Waddell's unit spent most of its time near Ramadi.



"Mortar attacks, pop shots, IED's ¿ I'm not gonna sit here and talk like I'm all salty," he said. "To me what I think I've seen is nothing, minimal. I have some friends who, on the other note, they were just at a different location at a different time and it was just, you know, so much worse."



Waddell said he always knew he was in danger, but he never felt as if the situation was out of control or he was unprepared. He said he learned to not spend too much time thinking about it and to rather focus on what they learned in training and staying aware.



"You just start hearing booms," he said of the mortar attacks. "Obviously you can tell how close or how far away they are, but you just go inside your protective bunkers or barriers or whatever and kind of ride it out."



Waddell was reluctant to exaggerate any of the combat, often dismissing it as part of the job and definitely not anything about which to brag.



He got most excited when talking about the positive affect the U.S. military has had on the lives of Iraqis and some of the humanitarian work his unit did. Waddell said his unit spent a good deal of its time working for the community's benefit.



"Sometimes it's as simple as cleaning up a section of town," he said. "Doing little things to just bring back the day-to-day life ... like repairing a building or building a soccer field."



He also had a lot to say about Iraqis in general and the spectacular scenery.



"The thing that I don't know if you'll get, if you talk to other vets, I saw a lot of beautiful stuff over there," Waddell said. "That's something you'll never hear about. There are other things that are amazing to see, too, like a sense of pride and community that is overwhelming ... overwhelming, like they really love who they are and where they're from.



"Imagine driving down the street here and seeing every 10, 15, 20 feet just flag after flag after flag."



Waddell added he is extremely proud of his service and credits the Marines with helping to provide some stability and normalcy for people who had not experienced it in a long time. However, he was reluctant to say he was responsible for any part of helping it happen.



Also, he said the transition back to school was not seamless.



Waddell studies supply chain management at GVSU and lives in Grand Rapids with his wife Sarah, who works for a pharmaceutical company.



He is on the dean's list and said he enjoys his classes and is impressed overall by GVSU. Yet, he struggles to relate to the younger students who do not seem to want to be there.



Waddell is also one of the founding members of GVSU's student-veteran's organization. Officially recognized in January, the group has more than 20 members and is growing.



"Dan has been involved in the organization since before its inception," said John Koch from the GVSU's veteran network. "He was one of the first students to contact me and helped push the creation of the organization."



Koch said the veteran's group is collaborating with faculty to organize a 5k "Fun Run" for Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Day, which is March 28.



Waddell said he is enthusiastic about how the idea has been received and looks forward to the event.



These days, he tries, often in vain, to stay in contact with his "boys," most of whom are now in Afghanistan. Waddell said they are simply too busy, and there is not the communication infrastructure he was used to in Iraq.



Waddell is solemn when he talks of his friends overseas and is concerned for their safety.



He is familiar with military funerals, and his eyes grow watery when reminiscing.



"Those that paid the ultimate price, they paid the greatest sacrifice of them all, regardless of what people think or how they believe," Waddell said. "To me, that's my definition of a hero. They made the absolute, greatest sacrifice. That's the most unselfish thing anyone can do."



Waddell does not consider himself on the same level of heroics.



Regardless of how he sees himself, Waddell did volunteer to put himself in the same line of fire as these men and could have met the same result.



His answer to this idea was characteristic: no bravado.



"Yeah, it's heads or tails ..." he said.