May Babcock

by Sherry Fisher

Her first drawing class at UConn clinched May Babcock’s decision to major in art.

“It was my first studio class, and I really loved it,” says Babcock, who will graduate in May with a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting and printmaking.

May Babcock, painting and printmaking

Photo by Frank Dahlmeyer

“The professor was exciting; the students were excited. We were all into it, and doing well.”

So she put her plans aside to major in art history, opting instead to take that as a minor.

“Right now, I’m taking 18th-century European art, and I’m really enjoying it,” she says.

Babcock says that landscapes and figures are the subjects of her paintings and prints. “I work a lot from observation,” she says. She is currently creating monotypes and lithographs.

Her studio classes are time-consuming, but that hasn’t prevented her from earning a 3.9 grade point average, she says: “I try to do my best in each class I take.”

She says the studio classes take a lot of extra energy, “but I love the end product.”

Babcock has enjoyed, and been inspired by, students and professors in the art department’s print shop. “Everybody there works really hard and makes great work,” she says.

She notes that the art program offers opportunities to explore different areas in the field: “There is a lot of intermingling among the concentrations, like design, illustration, and photography. You don’t have to stick strictly to one. You also get to know other students and see each other’s work.”

Babcock says her professors were “very encouraging, but sometimes very hard on you. A month later, you realize that their criticism made you work even harder to do the best you can do.”

Babcock, who plans to attend graduate school at Louisiana State University, says her focus in both painting and printmaking gave her an edge when applying to grad schools. “They saw me as well rounded,” she says.

Her future plans include teaching at the college level and continuing to exhibit her work.

Zachary Penwell

by Sherry Fisher

Zachary “Zak” Penwell investigated more than 200 colleges until UConn “blew me out of the water,” he says.

Penwell, who will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, had been searching for a program that would prepare him for a career as a strength and conditioning coach.

Zachary Penwell, exercise science

Photo by Peter Morenus

“UConn had it all,” he says.

Penwell, who is married and has two children, came to UConn after serving more than six years in the Air Force, including deployments to Kuwait, Korea, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Before that, he studied for two years at Western Washington University.

“I knew that at some point I wanted to finish and get my degree,” he says. “When I started looking at schools, three criteria had to be met: I wanted to work with high caliber athletes, become involved in research, and work with professors who are well known in the field. Nowhere else came close to what I found here at UConn.”

Penwell says he is learning from “the best in the field,” specifically mentioning William Kramer, professor of kinesiology, and Gerard Martin, the head strength and conditioning coach in the Division of Athletics.

“The resources are incredible, on both the research side and the applied side,” says Penwell, who has worked on research projects including one about resistance training and its effect on bone mineral density. He also currently works with the UConn strength and conditioning staff training the baseball team, and assists with men’s and women’s track and field, ice hockey, and swimming and diving.

“I’ve had great hands-on experience,” he says.

Penwell has decided to pursue a master’s degree in kinesiology at UConn, where he has a graduate assistantship. “I’ll have a couple of teams that I’m directly responsible for,” he says.

His future goal is to work overseas. “I’d like to get a job with a Third World country’s Olympic team,” he says.

“My wife is a midwife, and we’ve both done medical missions overseas. We want to go someplace where there’s a real need. I would have my job, and we would also set up a free maternity health care clinic.”