Chelsea Rice

By Tiago Genoveze

BROOKLINE—Before the 20-year-old Chelsea Rice has time to introduce herself, she says, “I’ve lived out of my backpack today.” Not surprising considering her load balancing her studies in print journalism at Boston University, a part-time job and a magazine internship; except, however, for the smile on her face and her relaxed disposition.

Rice’s sister, Sonya, said, “Chelsea has always known her goals, she’s a hard worker...and she takes advantage of opportunities.”

While many seniors in college have no idea what they want to do with their lives, Chelsea Rice knew what she wanted to do in middle school. She wanted to be a writer.

Rice lived her whole life in Athens, GA, her father’s hometown; but, her life as an international traveler began at the age of 12 visiting her mother’s family in England.

In the eighth grade Rice was enrolled at the Athens Academy, a college preparatory high school in Athens. The Academy gave Rice the opportunity of living and studying in Frankfurt, Germany for two weeks as well as visiting several cities in Italy.

Today, Rice minors in International Relations and dreams of working as a foreign correspondent for Vanity Fair or Slate magazine. Rice’s travels abroad have inspired her to: travel to write and write to travel. She is also concentrating in Italian with the hope that she might one day work in Italy, along with many other countries she hopes to live in over her life.

According to Rice’s roommate from her freshman year, Caitlin Cox, Rice is extremely sweet and driven. “Her qualities,” Cox said, “are qualities that you won’t find anywhere else.”

Bennett Gavrish

By Abe Scherzer

Bennett Gavrish used to be a die-hard Red Sox fan. The 20-year-old journalism major at Boston University grew up cheering for the longtime losers, but he recently traded his allegiance to another team.

Wasn’t this the time to be a Red Sox fan given how the Sox have won two World Series Championships in the past four years and are again in contention for a playoff birth this season?

“All the bandwagon fans really annoyed me,” Gavrish says. “The ‘Red Sox Nation’ slogan, they tell you to buy a membership card to pay to prove you’re a fan. So I seceded from ‘Red Sox Nation’ and started to like the Rays last season.”

The Rays? Of all the teams to adopt, he picks a perennial doormat division rival that is perhaps the least beloved team in professional sports. A seemingly inexplicable move for a former Sox fanatic, but Gavrish’s friend Jeff Cohen, a fellow journalism major at BU, has a theory for why Gavrish made it.

“I think he did it as a joke,” Cohen says. “Knowing Bennett, I didn’t think he was actually serious rooting for a last place team. Now that the Rays are ahead of the Sox, I think he’s probably rooting for the Red Sox.”

Gavrish, though, stands firm behind his new team. “The Rays are a better story than the Sox,” he says contentedly.

Gavrish grew up in Derry, N.H. He describes it as a suburb of Boston, and his parents and older sister still live there. Gavrish’s father, Michael, isn’t ready to disown his son just yet.

“I still love him,” Gavrish’s father offers. “I’ve wondered if this is a re-thinking or a full-time commitment, but earlier this summer he said after graduating B.U. he wants to move to Tampa, so I guess I have to take him seriously.”

Gavrish’s father has his own explanation for Bennett’s switching favorite ball clubs.

“When the Red Sox started winning,” Michael says, “they were no loner the underdog. They were considered the favorite. I could understand where he was coming from.”

Listening to Gavrish talk about his new team, his brow furrowed intensely, it seems like he could go on for days.

“He says he didn’t cry when Mo Vaughn struck out when he was a kid,” Gavrish’s father says, recalling his son’s early emotional attachment to his former favorite club. “I can tell you, he did.”

Gavrish says he had an internship at a newspaper’s sports department where the staff was less than enthused with their work. “It was just four old fat sports writers that hate their jobs and hate sports,” Gavrish says.” My editor would watch “Law & Order” instead of the Red Sox because he was so sick of them.”

It is difficult to see Gavrish falling into the same trap. With his fervent following of sports and his willingness to change tastes in teams, should he become a sports writer, don’t expect him to get bored.

Kate Klinck

By Joshua Schubert

In the age of the beat reporter, one would be bewildered to find himself simultaneously covering the fields of fashion design and biotechnology. This is the reason why Kate Klinck aspires to be a preeminent niche publication journalist.

Klinck grew up in Stanhope, N.J., a suburb 40 minutes outside of Manhattan, where she became intrigued by the glamour of the New York City fashion scene. Communications is another of Klinck’s interests, and Boston University’s reputation within the field made it her school of choice.

Klinck is in her junior year, and has learned about the variations between the fields of communication, particularly between public relations and journalism. Klinck has grown to favor journalism, due to the fact that it is “clear and contemporary, and the language isn’t flowery,” she says.

Klinck’s affinity for the fashion field, however, originally led her in to public relations. As a sophomore, she interned with RepNation, a PR firm with clients including department stores such as Macy’s.

Klinck represented the American Rag brand, and learned about the intricacies of the fashion industry. Fellow RepNation intern and BU student Katherin Son noted the distinction between the fields of PR and journalism in that PR is about “getting press” and journalism is about “being the press.”

“In PR, they’re always trying to sell something,” said Klinck, who prefers to editorialize and learned that her preference was for the latter.

Following the RepNation endeavor, and a brief stint teaching children to read at the Lindamood-Bell learning center over the summer, Klinck received her current internship with Stuff@Night magazine. The periodical is a Boston Phoenix publication, and details the local night-life scene. Klinck’s tasks at the publication range from fact-checking to product research.

Klinck has also become interested in the biotechnology and environmental fields, as a result of a number of issues about which she believes the American public is not adequately informed. She advocates for a more widespread dissemination of medical research and is in favor of clean air regulations. Important developments within the environmental and medical fields are too often “pushed to the back of newspapers,” she says.

When not producing content herself, Klinck enjoys reading Elle and Women’s Wear Daily, a trade publication, in addition to The New York Times. She loves to spend her free time during the summer at her family’s beach house on the Jersey shore.

Klinck also enjoys to “run and eats very healthy,” despite occasionally splurging on ice cream, said her friend and roommate Tani Nelson. She always tries to maintain a positive attitude, suggested longtime friend Jason Grube. “I don’t think I’ve seen her angry, ever,” he said.

“I would love to stay in Boston,” says Klinck, who plans to work in the magazine journalism field following graduation.

Tiago Genoveze

By Chelsea Rice
BROOKLINE-- At age 21 years, Tiago Lucio Miguel Genoveze has already had as many homes as names.

“Let me start from the beginning,” Genoveze says, rubbing his hand over his stubbled chin. “One day I’m from Brazil, the next day I say I’m from Grand Cayman just to make things less complicated.” Genoveze thinks of all of his homes as a collection of adventures.

“I’ve loved it,” Genoveze says.

The tall, lean Brazilian was born in Queens, N.Y.. Over the years, he has lived in Sheathed, England; São Paulo, Brazil; and Grand Cayman. He attended high school at St. Andrew’s Boarding School in Boca Raton, F.L., before flying north for the winter, and following his older brother to Boston University.

Genoveze, an English major with minors in Italian and photojournalism, hopes to enhance his travels and life experiences with his education.

“I guess that is something selfish about me,” Genoveze says. “I want to fill my life with as many experiences as possible.”

He hopes to help people around the world with photography, capturing their experiences on film.

Because of “some bad [academic] advisors,” Genoveze feels confined as he whirls through a stressful senior year, balancing five classes, working in a photolab, and a directed study.

“I’ve basically given up having a social life,” Genoveze says.

Genoveze’s traveling spirit never settled. He spent the fall of 2007 studying abroad in Padova, Italy, where he met his girlfriend Mariana Foley, also a senior at BU, who says they “met by chance.”

More than anywhere else, Italy felt the most like home to Genoveze, who hopes to live there with his girlfriend after graduation. Foley said she plans to attend design school while Genoveze “explores new ideas and people, taking pictures of everything.”

“That is why I think Tiago loves journalism,” Foley says. “He loves to travel, meet new people and experience new things as he understands new places.”

“Living in so many different places has in a way made me a colder person, because I don’t miss people,” Genoveze says. “I’m terrible at staying in touch, responding to emails and calling,” he says. In contrast, always leaving friends has kept his family extremely close.

“It was hard to make any deep connections in terms of friends, so it made our family even stronger,” Genoveze’s older brother Felipe says. “It makes sense. We always had each other.”

For the last couple of years, Felipe Genoveze has enjoyed living in the same city as his younger brother, who he describes as “creative and mature for his age.” “I’m definitely going to miss him, but I get it,” he says about his younger brother’s plans to move to Italy. “He’s meant for great things.”

Josh Schubert

By Kate Klinck

Josh Schubert became a professional mini-golfer this summer, without even knowing it.

When the chocolate-haired 20-year-old approached the tournament in Cranston, R.I. with a friend, they saw a mini-golf course swarming with middle-aged men.

The men turned their heads and squinted, while using their gloved hands’ to lean on personalized clubs. Schubert realized they were serious.

“These older men came with real putters and balls, and they dominated,” Schubert said.

The golfers told Schubert after the tournament that he could now call himself a professional mini-golfer. To Schubert and his friend, this was hilarious because mini-golf was not even their favorite sport. Schubert found the tournament online and thought it would be something interesting to do during the summer.

When Schubert is not participating in summer mini-golf tournaments in his hometown of Holtsville, N.Y., he is a Boston University senior working toward a major in political science and a minor in journalism.

In Boston, Schubert tried out for ultimate Frisbee team but it was, “too intense,” Schubert said. He now plays on the intramural basketball team.

Schubert has had several internships, and took part in Boston University’s Washington D.C. program, where he attended press conferences and hearings while reporting for CongressDaily. His name was printed on four articles during the semester.

Schubert hopes to work in politics, possibly as an aide to a politician. Last summer, he petitioned for a local state assembly candidate during an internship with The Advance Group, a political consultant firm in New York City.

“He’s very opportunistic, but not in a dictator kind of way,” said Zach Schubert, Josh’s brother.

Josh’s friend at BU, Saumil Kachhy said, “I think that describes Josh, typical. He doesn’t mess around. He see’s something he wants to do -- he convinces other people to do it.”

KC Cohen

By Stephanie Butler


KC Cohen understands what the term “quarter-life crisis” means.

As a graduating senior, 21-year-old Cohen feels her final moments as a college student rapidly approaching. She describes herself as becoming “like Peter Pan wanting to move to Neverland.”

“She is freaking out,” Megan Lafferty, Cohen’s roommate and best friend, said. “I just think she hasn’t adjusted yet though. She’s trying to do all the things in Boston that she’s never done before.”

When she does graduate, Cohen, a photojournalism major with a minor in art history, aspires to be a travel photographer. She hopes to raise social awareness through her photographs, bringing people from different countries together to show that “we’re all from Earth.”

“I really love her photos,” her friend Corinne Jones said. “She once took some photos of my dance troupe and I was really impressed with her work.”

Cohen experienced her future earlier this year when she spent five months studying abroad in Austria, where she took the opportunity to travel all over Europe and take photos.

“Prague was my favorite place I visited. It is filled with history and there is never a dull moment, “ Cohen said.

Cohen has had two internships, one as a fact-checker for Santa Barbara magazine, and one as the sole photo intern for Panorama magazine, where she was able to take pictures and edit them for publication.

When not taking photos, Cohen works at the Baker Library at the Harvard Business School, a job she enjoys because she loves to read and has “always wanted to be a librarian.”

Vegetarian cuisine is another hobby for Cohen, who just doesn’t eat meat because she finds it “ gross.” Her friend Corinne describes her as being very creative with food.

Cohen was born and raised in Santa Barbara, Calif. She is particularly proud of winning the city’s Junior Carpinterian of the Year Award, which is given to one outstanding high school senior for academic achievement and leadership.

“I got to be in a parade. It was the fourth of July and I was the grand-marshall, so I was like the Santa Clause of the parade. I almost died too, when the convertible I was standing on sped up too fast,” Cohen said.

“It’s a major requirement,” Cohen said, when asked why she is taking this class. “I’m scared out of my mind. I’m just going to rely on my basic instincts and I’m sure [this class] will help me somehow.”

Jennifer Speer

By Ali Bhanpuri

Her eyes open at 6:40 a.m., five minutes before her phone alarm will fill her room with high-pitched rings. The night before, she fell asleep to the sound of rowdy partygoers and shattering beer bottles. She has her way of dealing with it: John Mayer’s “Heavier Things.” Each night she submerges herself in the musician’s lyrics to escape the slurred voices that slide up her fire escape and inundate her barren room.

As a 21-year-old senior at Boston University, Jennifer Speer is beginning the transition from the “crazy college girl” lifestyle she embraced for the last three years to a standard professional schedule. Juggling two jobs and her school work, Speer has had to sacrifice her late nights for early mornings.

“I feel like I’m not fun anymore,” says Speer, who begins each day with a French Vanilla Iced Latte from Dunkin’ Donuts. “But I’ve had three years of fooling around.”

In the spring, she graduates from BU and begins searching for employment. Although she understands the importance of education, internships, and multiple jobs, the nightly sounds of her classmates partying and parading down Gardner Street remain a steady reminder of the life she is changing for a promising future.

Speer is a double major at BU, focusing on English and magazine journalism. She uses the latter skill set in her work as a technical writing intern at SunGard, a software company located in the Financial District. When she finishes her 9 to 5 schedule at her internship, Speer works the night shift as a cocktail waitress at Fleming’s Steakhouse & Wine Bar. She works 50 hours a week between her two gigs, making her daily schedule hectic.

“I’m better at managing my time when I don’t have any,” says the Wisconsin native, whose family now lives in Grayslake, IL. “I have no choice—I have to adjust to real-world hours.”

School and work take up the majority of her time, but she feels her work ethic sets a strong example for her 16-year-old brother, Scott, who struggles to get his homework finished. He says he is proud of his sister and acknowledges that she has been a great guide for him.

“She’s a caring person, who really knows herself,” says the high school junior. “Of course there are advantages and disadvantages of having an older sister, but I feel like I can talk to her about mostly anything.”

Speer is anxious about her future, worrying about her post-graduation life. She describes her biggest fear as “graduating and not having a job.” Although she’s uncertain about which career will best suit her, the journalism major knows this much:

“I know that I don’t want to work as a cocktail waitress when I’m older.”

Stephanie Butler

By KC Cohen

Stephanie Butler looks down at her long, manicured nails, revealing flashes of fuchsia and gold painted on her lids.
“Today is my Strawberry Lemonade look,” she says. “If I’m feeling particularly inspired, I give it a name.”
Makeup is more than a hobby for this 20-year old. With a $5,000 makeup collection amassed over a span of two years, the enthusiasm borders obsession.
“She could open a MAC store in her dorm room,” says Butler’s mother and best friend, Lori, of the assortment. “It’s something she enjoys right now more than anything else in the world.”
Butler keeps her colorful cache in order with a carefully constructed spreadsheet, listing each product by type, color name, description, and price.
“It has, like, a shrine,” says Yolanda Hamilton, Butler’s former roommate, of the collection. “It’s in a little corner, almost a little sanctuary, all by itself.”
The Boston University junior’s vivid appearance does not come at the price of pragmatism. A print journalism major, Butler is an intelligent journalist in-the-making.
Born and raised in Hampton, Va., Stephanie grew up with journalism in her blood and newsprint on her fingers. As a girl, Butler used to accompany her father, Stephen, as he distributed Hampton’s local paper, The Daily Press.
“I don’t think it had any effect on me wanting to write,” Butler says.
Legacy or no, Butler worked diligently in high school to become the Editor in Chief for the school’s monthly newspaper, The Tribal Tales. Though she considers the promotion her biggest accomplishment, Butler is eager to go into the magazine industry.
“I want to move to New York,” she says. “That’s where all the jobs are.”
Despite the desire to move, Butler enjoys what she calls the “friendly” city of Boston. After visiting scattered East Coast cities, she found herself drawn to Boston’s small-town atmosphere and soon decided to attend Boston University.
“I didn’t care for that idea,” her mother says. “She’s too far away. But I understand her desire to go to a good journalism school, and I think she’s talented, so it was warranted for her to go.”
In the meantime, Butler works at Old Navy, her neon lids causing her to stick out among preteen shoppers.
“A lot of people stare, even if I’m not wearing any bright, funky colors,” Butler says, laughing. “But it’s the only thing to do in Virginia. It was that or work in a tattoo parlor.”

Erika Templeton (Allston-Brighton)

By Nathalie Moskal

When Erika Templeton was 4 years old, she found her pet rabbit motionless in its cage. She ran to her mother in a panic and told her that the rabbit’s nose was not moving.

“I was gearing up to give her the speech about death as I took the rabbit outside to bury it,” said Templeton’s mother, Beth Scheuerlein. “But before I could finish Erika looked at the thing and said, ‘Yep, that sure is one dead rabbit.’”

Templeton, 20, has been blunt and observant since a young age. Sitting in a classroom at Boston University’s College of Communication, her brown hair is tied back simply, but her striped shirt, bracelets and orange cell phone are as vibrant as her excitement in talking about her learning experience at one of her past jobs.

“I worked at an advertising agency for a few years and I just realized that working a nine to five in an office every day would kill me by the time I turned 30,” she says.

She is interested in music, which she writes and records; travel, which she excitedly talks about doing one day; and lamps, for which she says she has a small fetish.

Templeton has lived in several places since birth, but she credits her high school years in Hopewell, N.J., with making her who she is today.

When it came time to choose a college, Templeton says she ”totally blew off the selection process.” But after ending up at Boston University, she found her niche in the journalism department, choosing to focus on magazine journalism.

“I love to write and I kind of figured that being a journalist would give me that opportunity to have a job outside the office and outside of the everyday business hours,” Templeton says.

Ideally, Templeton says she would like to work for a music publication, or a world travel publication like National Geographic.

“I like sort of hipster magazines,” Templeton says, “but I’m not a hipster.”

Templeton is a senior at Boston University who spends her time outside of school “just hanging out,” and works filing paperwork for the lawsuits of an elderly woman in South Boston.

“She’s kind of crazy, she can’t walk and she can’t use her left elbow,” Templeton says. “She’s a little sue-happy and needs help organizing all her files or sometimes I just go over there to talk to her,” she said. “It’s kind of like philanthropy ... but for $15 an hour.”

Her mother describes her as a leader and someone who “thinks outside of the box”, while her roommate, Myssa Meyouchy says she is “energetic, funky and literate.”

Ever bluntly, Templeton says, “I consider myself a pretty mediocre, average person.”

Abe Scherzer (Jamaica Plain)

By Bennett Gavrish

Abe Scherzer dreams about ducks at night, but not the kind waddling around the Public Garden.

In a city famous for its webbed-foot creatures, Scherzer, a 22-year-old senior at Boston University, plans his life and wardrobe around the University of Oregon and its mascot, the Ducks.

Scherzer has rooted for Oregon’s athletic programs from a young age and has kept that enthusiasm alive, even while studying print journalism on the other side of the country.

“I don’t think I’ve ever broken anything while watching an Oregon game,” Scherzer said as he scratched his blond hair. “But I definitely get very emotional.”

Scherzer grew up in Portland, Ore., and his father, Robert, has owned season tickets to University of Oregon football games for 25 years.

“Abe didn’t come to too many games at first,” Robert Scherzer said, “but by the time he turned 11, he was totally into it and I realized that he had slowly become as big a fan as I was.”

Many of Scherzer’s friends and relatives have studied at the University of Oregon, but Scherzer said there was something special about BU that led him to move away from the West Coast and his beloved Ducks.

Scherzer’s closest friends say he has no trouble expressing his pride for the University of Oregon even while going to school in Boston.

“Abe is the biggest Ducks fan I know,” said Couper Moorhead, a BU senior who went to high school with Scherzer in Portland. “You always expect to see him wearing a green Oregon shirt or jacket around school.”

Those who have lived with Scherzer have gotten an even clearer picture of the depth of his love for the Ducks.

“Abe and I lived on the same floor during freshman year and he wore slippers and pajamas with the Oregon logo,” said Conor Reilly, a senior at BU. “Oregon football is his religion.”

Scherzer got the opportunity to combine his interest in sports with his pursuit of journalism in the spring of 2008, when he studied abroad in London and worked for a TV production company that created World Cup skiing programs.

He strongly recommends that all journalism students take the opportunity to study outside of the United States, saying the experience “really mellowed me out.”

Scherzer plans to graduate a semester early in December, but he does not have any professional plans.

“I’ll think about that next week,” he said.

Scherzer said he might try to get a journalism job in Boston or work for a public relations firm that his cousin recently opened.

Either way, Scherzer definitely wants to return to Portland, so he can once again enjoy the highs and lows of University of Oregon sports.

“The only time I’ve ever really cried was when the Ducks lost to Oregon State in football,” Scherzer said, shaking his head. “That was a sad day.”