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| Ecology Student Honored |
| (07-23-2010) |
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| Waubonsee Community College has named Allison Willman, of Geneva, its Featured Student for July. Seen here in the college’s wetlands, Willman took several biology courses at Waubonsee and is transferring to the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point this fall to major in wildlife ecology. |
Sugar Grove – Just as a seed needs time to grow into a plant, Waubonsee Community College student Allison Willman, of Geneva, wanted some time to grow and mature after graduating from high school. During her time at Waubonsee, Willman has not just grown — she has flourished. In recognition of the dedicated college student and community member she has become, Waubonsee is proud to name her its Featured Student for July.
“I did not feel ready to go away to school, and I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do,” said Willman, describing her state of mind upon her 2008 graduation from Geneva High School. “I wanted to have some time for soul searching.”
She knew she’d have the time at Waubonsee, and after earning a prestigious Lucile Gustafson scholarship, she also had the funding; the scholarship covers up to 64 semester hours of tuition at the college.
The scholarship’s service requirement gave Willman another reason to continue her volunteer work at the Geneva Park District, Kane County Forest Preserve and FermiLab, where she has helped collect and plant seeds and eradicate non-native invasive plants.
Willman’s involvement with and concern for the environment started at a young age when her grandmother starting telling her stories about a fictional wolf named Charlie.
“After that, I started drawing wolves and reading about them and their habitat disturbances,” Willman said.
That love of both nature and art continues to this day, as Willman enrolled in several Waubonsee biology courses while serving as president of the college’s Art Club. Willman took three courses from Biology Professor Dan Ward, including Principles of Biology II, Ecology and Field Biology, and Evolution, and cites him as an especially big influence.
“He’s a really good teacher and changed the way I think about the world and science,” Willman said. “I never used to question things, but now I’m more skeptical about claims and am way more curious about the world. I value that curiosity. Most people lose that as they get older, but I was able to strengthen it.”
Willman was able to satisfy this curiosity on the many field trips she took as a science student, whether to the wetlands on the Sugar Grove Campus or caves in southern Illinois. Such hands-on experiences led to her decision to major in wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point this fall.
And while there are 1,500 students at that university majoring in natural resources fields, Willman may be the only one who can say she took home a first place prize at the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference’s inaugural Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) poster contest this past spring. Judges honored Willman’s entry, “Ecology in the Field: Exploring Diversity Indices by Sampling Prairie Plants.” |
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