About
Kiersten is one of our fellow Bonner Leaders graduating this month with a major in Arts Administration and minor in Writing. Born and raised in Bayport, Long Island, Kiersten made Wagner her home these past four years, and she is very much engaged in on-campus clubs and events, including Vocal Synergy, Comedy Club and College Choir.
Fun fact
Kiersten is into all things creative, but she’s been spending a lot of time on music lately and has got some songs out on Spotify and Apple Music. She’s been writing music since she was 15.
What made you join the Bonner Program?
I found out about Bonner from an admissions counselor. They described it as a civic engagement based scholarship opportunity and I got very interested. As a freshman coming in, I thought this would be a good place to start meeting people and getting engaged with the Staten Island community.
What were your placements over the years?
1. Campus Tours – 30,000 Degrees
My freshman year I was a campus tour guide, as part of the 30,000 Degrees program which has the mission of raising the graduation rate on Staten Island, by showing high school kids that college is important and accessible. Every Friday morning I would go to PS 21 or PS 19 and sit in with a third or fourth grade class and help them with reading comprehension.
2. Heart Club
My second semester freshman year, I started Heart Club, an extracurricular education program at IS51. Art is continuously cut from the curriculums of New York public schools, which is a shame because it is vital to the development of young minds. It not only helps them academically, but provides them with a safe and healthy way to express their emotions. That is why I started this program. I went to this middle school and met the kids during their lunch period. We worked on making art and I taught them about art and how it benefits students in all aspects of their lives. We did a lot of different projects -- pointillism, color theory, drawing, painting. We also worked on a big group project, a big mural on a canvas, where everyone starts painting something for two minute on one spot on the canvas and then switches places and continues someone else’s painting on the canvas.
We then expanded the program to PS 19 where I've worked with two different classes throughout the course of the year. I worked with Dr. Scott to reserve the Spotlight Gallery in the library to showcase some of the projects. For civic engagement week, we invited the students to Wagner and they got to see their art hanging up in the gallery which was very sweet. That was also really fun for me because I got to frame everything and use a hammer to hang the things up.
3. Snug Harbor Cultural Center
Second semester junior year I was an intern at the New House Center at Snug Harbor. It is the largest contemporary art museum on Staten Island and it was definitely my favorite placement. Some of my responsibilities were general housekeeping tasks like organizing things on spreadsheets, looking for grants that we can apply for and making lists of food we needed to buy for events. But I also got to do a lot of manual work like gallery maintenance, peeling labels off the wall, and painting over where they used to be. That was super fun for me, I loved spending time in the museum
3. Bonner Intern
As the bonnet intern this past year I have been responsible for running seminars, organizing events, and acting as a liaison between the Bonners and the Wagner faculty. This year has been especially difficult due to Covid restrictions, but I feel I have done the best that I could with what I had.
What was your favorite placement and why?
It has to be working at Snug Harbor because I really love historical places, places that hold history, and this building was built in 1833. Just being in that space and hearing all the stories from my supervisor about all the things that had happened there was fascinating. I also loved working with the kids during HeArt Club. They were always so excited every time I came because we got to paint and have fun.
Would you say COVID impacted your placements in any way?
Definitely last year because I just had to go home, I couldn't keep working at the museum. But this year I would say not as much as other Bonners because my placement would normally happen on campus anyway. As Bonner Intern, I haven't been able to run seminars in person, which has definitely affected the quality of our seminars. The way that we interact is different because having conversations on Zoom is not the same as face-to-face, however it's more accessible as anyone can participate from the comfort of their own room. But I definitely had to reformat a lot of the seminars for an online setting because a lot of them involved everybody writing on the same sheet of paper or similar things.
I also worked as a sort of advisor for the Bonner Leadership Team, and in that sense Covid had impacted me working with Grayson, the Bonner Love Intern, as we were trying to find ways to do Bonner Love events either outside where we have enough space or come up with interesting things we can do virtually. So I've definitely had to change the way I think about that.
Has your Bonner experience helped you gain experience in your area of study/work?
Yes. I've always loved art and everything creative so in that aspect, all of the things I did in Bonner that were art-related brought me joy and relate to what I see myself doing in the future. I haven't put too much emphasis on music in any of my placements and that is what I want to end up doing, but I've definitely had the freedom and time to be creative.
Looking back on the four years, do you have any advice for younger Bonners?
If you have a new idea, like a placement or an opportunity that you think could be a placement that we don't yet have, propose it. I created my art placement because we didn't really have any placements that were focused on art. After doing a lot of research I presented my plan to the Bonner Coordinator at the time and said, “here's what I want to do and here's how I'm gonna do it.” Then they put me in contact with the people I needed to be in contact with and I spent a year and a half doing it. So yes, you can do anything you want if you do enough research and if you can prove why it's important.
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