Experiential Learner of the Year Spotlight: Jen Bush
Written on November 12th, 2008 at 10:20 am by Pete Bekisz.
About Jen
What you see isn’t always what you get, but in the case of Jen Bush it is.
Bush, a sophomore education major from Endwell, was an outstanding student in high school, boasting a 93 average. She was a member of National Honor Society and received scholar-athlete awards in lacrosse and field hockey. She served as an English and social studies tutor and donated her time and talents to the After Prom Chem-Free Committee and Homecoming Float Committee.
She was also active in her community, serving her church as a Eucharistic minister, lector, altar server, and member of the choir. She was a volunteer for the Town of Union’s Haunted Hayride, took part in the annual river bank clean-up, and volunteered at a food pantry.
That resume helped her win the Experiential Learner of the Year Award for 2007, which carries a full fellowship. That was important to Bush and her family from a financial standpoint because her twin sister, Jessica, is also a sophomore in college.
The Experiential Learner of the Year Award does come with certain expectations, including a minimum of 25 hours of community service per semester. That hasn’t been a problem for Bush, who has donated her time and talents to the Angel Tree Project (which provides holiday gifts for needy children), Make a Difference Day, Celebrate Service… Celebrate Yates (community service day in Yates County), and many others.
Oh, and about those two other things she excelled at in high school—academics and athletics? Bush hasn’t skipped a beat. She made the Dean’s List with a 3.8 GPA and is a member of the lacrosse team. In fact, Coach Alena Krug was so impressed with Bush’s work ethic and leadership skills that she asked her to run the team’s off-season conditioning program.
The admissions folks and Experiential Learner of the Year committee figured Bush would be an asset to Keuka College and they were right. On the flip side, Bush figured Keuka was the perfect college for her and nothing has changed that opinion.
“The moment I stepped on campus it felt right to me,” said Bush. “My family is my priority and Keuka is a family-oriented college.”
