![TJ Wheeler is seen smiling staring ahead.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/06/tj-wheeler-web-725x408.png)
Multi-talented senior and composer TJ Wheeler ’22 views music as his vocation
TJ Wheeler ’22 is a music composition major at Pacific Lutheran University. This semester, he was a valuable member of six music ensembles, including Choir of the West, Opera, Steel Band, Percussion Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, and the PLU Ringers handbell choir. We talked with Wheeler…
![Karen Marquez sits in the courtyard at PLU smiling at the camera.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/06/karen-marquez-web-725x408.png)
Karen Marquez ’22 aspires to help her community through her studies
Karen Marquez ‘22 is a senior social work major with minors in Hispanic studies and criminal justice. Marquez is a heritage speaker of Spanish, and has a deep love for languages, culture, and diversity. She hopes to use her degree and the skills she is…
Advice for first-year students: Build a support system
Megan Barnhouse ’23 shares her experience as a first-year student and offers advice to future students.
![](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/06/sarah-saavedra-3-18-22-0014-725x408.jpg)
Sarah Saavedra ’22 shares her experience as a first-gen college student
Sarah Saavedra ’22 is a social work major with a minor in psychology and a certificate in Peace Corps Prep. The Auburn resident is the first in her family to go to college. She credits her many scholarships for navigating college as a first-year student.…
![Image: (From left to right) Honorable Philip K. Sorensen, Connor Lemma ’22, Makaela Whalen ’23, Calissa Hagen ’24, Honorable Clarence Henderson, Jr. (photo courtesy of Judge Sorensen)](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/06/washington-state-court-administrator-of-the-year-chris-gaddis-and-judge-sorensen-1-725x408.jpg)
Makaela Whalen ’23 pursues newly launched pre-law minor
Makaela Whalen ’23 has a passion for the environment and animals. Her desire to find a meaningful vocation that feeds those passions resulted in her pursuing a degree in either environmental or animal law. “As long as I can remember, I knew I wanted to…
![Jasneet Sandhu smiles at the camera while holding a white cake with PLU decoration.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/05/sandhu_rowing_cake-725x408.jpeg)
Student-athlete makes entrepreneurship look like a piece of cake
Some people spent their COVID lockdown time learning to bake homemade bread or bingeing TV shows or, frankly, just trying to survive. Pacific Lutheran University junior Jasneet Sandhu spent the spring of 2021 learning to row and launching a business out of her family home.…
![Ryan Stracke is seen running down a track with runners behind him.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/05/nwc_t_f_champs_2022_day_1_71-725x408.jpeg)
Six Lutes headed to NCAA Championships
The NCAA announced selections for the 2022 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships with Pacific Lutheran University sending six student-athletes to the meet this week at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. Sprinter Bailey Forsyth qualifies in two events and is joined by…
![Kathryn Einan stands in front of a bookcase filled with books. She is holding a book open and is smiling at the camera.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/05/kathryn-einan-22-web-725x408.png)
History and literature senior aspires to be a lifelong learner
Kathryn Einan ’22 is a self-proclaimed “book nerd.” She is a triple major in Literature, History and Nordic Studies with a minor in Chinese. She has a deep love of learning and hopes to become a teacher one day. “There are so many interesting things…
![Yaquelin Rarmirez stands in a lab holding dropper over a jar. She is wearing a white lab coat and safety goggles.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/05/yaquelin-ramirez-ferrer-4-18-22-043-725x408.jpg)
Yaquelin Ramirez’s ’22 passion for helping others leads to a future in healthcare
As a child, chemistry major Yaquelin Ramirez ’22 often went to work with her mother at a Federal Way nursing home. The time spent watching her mom help the residents sparked something inside of her — a desire to pursue a career where she helps…
![Kevin Canady-Pete stands in front of a white board. He is facing the camera and smiling. He's wearing a red buttton shirt and read sweatshirt.](https://www.plu.edu/admission/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/2022/05/kevin-canady-pete-web2-725x408.png)
Musician turned math major is excited to teach in his community
Kevin Canady-Pete ’22 has a history with the Pacific Lutheran University campus. He grew up down the street, just a couple of miles from the university. The Franklin Pierce High School graduate came to PLU intending to pursue a music education major. While he enjoyed…
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