Spotlight on Students

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Man of the people - Michael Mitchell II ’10 (CLAS)

In pursuit of excellence on and off the field - Jennifer Kleinhans ’09 (ENG)

Man of the people

Washington, D.C., internship moves Mike Mitchell to helping others

This summer I fell in love with Guatemala, its people and the work we did as part of a two-month UConn internship program, entitled Social Entrepreneurship.

Photo by Derek Dudek

“My dream job would be working on policies that provide every person with a chance to make it economically,” says Michael Mitchell II ’10 (CLAS). “I think the incubation of ideas, which is one thing, is important – implementation is another.”

As a junior, Mitchell is on the fast track to learning how to make his dreams a reality. An Honors student with a double major in economics and political science, he spent this past summer in Washington, D.C., interning for U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts.

He was one of 24 students selected nationally by the Institute for Responsible Citizenship, a nonprofit organization that brings together America’s most promising black male college sophomores to develop in them a lifetime commitment to public service.

As part of the internship program, Mitchell attended three-hour classes three evenings a week, after working full days. One was a seminar on professionalism in the work world, another focused on federalism and politics and a third dealt with economic theory.

“I’m even more interested in public service now than I was before the internship,” he says. “It was great being with a bunch of students my age who want to be a part of changing things. I would love to work somewhere to influence economic policies, particularly as they affect minorities, women and urban areas.”

Among the people he met during his time in Washington were interns at two think tanks, the Brookings Institution and The Heritage Foundation, with different ideological perspectives.

“A think tank could be a great place to work,” Mitchell says, “not because they lean left or right politically, but because they’re venues where you can work to effect change.”

In Storrs, Mitchell has made the most of this enthusiasm for bringing about change. An active member of UConn’s Sophomore Honors Community Council, he spent two semesters working on a service project to raise awareness of the disparity between educational achievement in wealthy versus impoverished areas, particularly within Connecticut. He also received the University’s Emerging Leaders Award after he launched and edited the Sophomore Honors Community Newsletter, which covers the achievement gap and other local, state and national education topics.

“It was more rigorous than I expected, yet fun and rewarding,” he says of the newsletter, which he published twice monthly throughout the academic year.

With a year left before graduation, Mitchell continues to seek valuable experiences outside the classroom. He returned this spring to Washington, D.C., to serve as an intern for Congressman Jim Himes, the newly elected representative from Connecticut’s 4th district, through both UConn’s Honors Congressional Internship and the Institute for Responsible Citizenship program.

“I want to educate myself so that not only am I knowledgeable regarding ideas for helping people – but also how to go about doing it,” says Mitchell, whose future plans include pursuing a master’s degree in public policy while earning a law degree.

— Lauren D. Lalancette

In pursuit of excellence on and off the field

Jennifer Kleinhans ‘09 (ENG) in the senior engineering laboratory in the School of Engineering. Photo by Peter Morenus

Jennifer Kleinhans ’09 (ENG) rarely lets things get past her. As a three-time All-American in field hockey, Big East Defensive Player of the Year and Big East Academic All-Star, she is the last line of defense before the UConn goalie.

But Kleinhans also doesn’t let opportunity pass her by in the classroom or in life.

That’s why the biomedical engineering student jumped at the chance to spend a semester at the National University of Singapore, where she continued her studies as one of seven students selected to study there as part of a UConn Study Abroad program.

“Everyone I talked to said ‘do it.’ It didn’t take much pressure for me to apply,” she says.

Kleinhans calls the experience “probably the most interesting thing I’ve ever done,” and described the program as a unique opportunity to go to Asia, study and continue progress toward her engineering degree, while speaking English.

“I was able to see the country from the inside as a student, take classes, live with locals and be part of their world,” she explains. “When you come back you see things differently. Some of the things in America are always here and you never think of how great they are.”

Interested in engineering, physics and math, Kleinhans always knew she would pursue studies related to technology. She chose biomedical engineering because “there’s a human component and you can help people.”

Born and raised in Germany, Kleinhans grew up playing soccer, but when she joined two friends who took up field hockey, she was hooked. “At first it’s quite difficult because you’re trying to hit a ball with a stick – and that’s kind of an odd concept right there,” she says.

Overcoming that challenge may have seemed easy compared with competing with the time demands of an elite student-athlete while also pursuing one of the most rigorous programs in engineering. “When you walk around as an athlete saying you want to be an engineer, some people question your sanity,” Kleinhans says with a smile.

“Jennifer has balanced her excellence in academics with a star role on the UConn field hockey team,” says her advisor John Enderle, who is program director and professor of biomedical engineering. “She is an amazing person.”

Adds UConn Hall of Fame field hockey coach Nancy Stevens: “Jennifer exemplifies the very best qualities of the scholar-athlete. Everyone associated with our program respects Jennifer’s commitment to excellence in everything she does.”

After graduating in May, Kleinhans expects to conduct motor control research in graduate school, which will be aided by the $4,000 scholarship she won being named the 2008-09 Big East Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

“Researchers are trying to build robotic hands and it turns out it’s a lot more difficult than they thought.” she says. “There’s a load of questions that haven’t been answered yet – or haven’t even been asked – and I just find that exciting.”

— Craig Burdick ’96 (CLAS), ’01 (ENG)