N A T A L I E . S. K A R A S '9 8

The following feature story appeared in the campus publication MOSAIC in January, 1998.

Natalie S. Karas '98

Pushing beyond the limits in volleyball and history

On the volleyball court, California native Natalie S. Karas '98, who stands a mere 5'3'', really measures up. Captain of this year's women's volleyball team, Karas is also a three-year letterwinner and was a member of the 1997 NESCAC All-Tournament Team. She racked up 259 digs this year and led her team to a 17-12 season. Her prowess does not end with athletics. Whether studying abroad, serving an internship in the office of members of Congress from California or Connecticut, or working in the College¹s admissions office, Karas has always tried to push herself to her limits and experience more of life.

"I've learned a lot about my competitive side and about my willingness to give 100 percent from playing volleyball," Karas says. "Volleyball has also made me look at my possibilities, rather than my limitations."

A graduate of the Chadwick School in Palos Verdes, CA, Karas hoped to find the same sort of small, private academic atmosphere in college that she had enjoyed in high school. Knowing that most small liberal arts schools are on the east coast, she began searching there. When Trinity was suggested by a friend, Karas applied. "They tell you that when you walk onto the campus of the school for you, you'll just 'know,'" she says. "As soon as I saw Trinity, I knew."

Guided Studies
Part of getting to know Trinity meant enrolling in the Guided Studies Program, an interdisciplinary honors program devoted to the study of Western civilization from antiquity to the present. The program cemented her love of history, and also motivated her even further. "Guided Studies students and professors are among the cream of the crop," she asserts. "The energy and motivation of the people I was working with drove me to improve upon my own skills." She credits the program not only with improving her passion for the material, but also for strengthening her writing skills and her ability to articulate her opinions.

As her love of history deepened, Karas integrated what she was learning within her major and in the Guided Studies Program into the broader scope of her education and spent her junior spring semester abroad in Italy, at Trinity's Rome Campus. "Rome was amazing," she notes. "Going abroad opens up your mind and your world. Rome, for me, was about learning, exploring, and independence."

A thesis on education
Now a senior and a history major, Karas is writing a thesis that explores the origins of historically Black American colleges. Her adviser, Associate Academic Dean J. Ronald Spencer, says of Karas, "Many things have impressed me about Natalie, but perhaps most impressive is that she is invariably enthusiastic about her work and her life. She has a splendid seriousness of purpose without being pretentious about her dedication."

Last semester, in support of her senior thesis work, Karas enrolled in Associate Professor of History Jack Chatfield's senior seminar in history, "Slavery, the South, and the Nation" "Professor Chatfield is so passionate about the subject of slavery," Karas says. "The class really motivated me to do well and to keep digging for material for my thesis." Her professor has high praise for Karas: "Natalie has a sophisticated kind of mind, a combination of boundless curiosity and a vibrancy of intellect that are nearly unique in my experience," he said. "She has a rare spirit."

This year Karas has also devoted time to the admissions office as a senior admissions associate, interviewing prospective students. "It's great to have a voice in the incoming Class of 2002," she says."It's also a privilege to be trusted by the school to evaluate candidates for admission."

As Karas turns her sights to life after Trinity, she is applying to law schools, though not with an eye to becoming a practicing attorney. She says her experience working as an intern in the offices of two different members of Congress, U.S. Rep. Barbara B. Kennelly (D-CT) and U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), shed light on the career opportunitities that exist in law and politics. "I'm really interested in learning the law," she notes. "It's a universal degree that can take you pretty much anywhere you want to go." Karas also has thoughts of teaching history in high school someday.

­Jenica Parker Rogers ¹98