Lessons from Ama Ghar

Alumna McKenzie Lamborne volunteers in a Nepalese orphanage

McKenzie Lamborne, ’02, quickly found that life at a Nepalese orphanage requires some adjustments. She ate with her hands, stomped on her clothes to simulate the spin cycle of a washing machine and wore a surgical mask in the street to reduce the smell of garbage and sewage. She rode an elephant, watched demonstrations by Tibetan monks and waited through a transportation strike.

The Journey, Not the Destination

Alumnus Nicholas Serenati went from Hollywood hopeful to award-winning visual artist

Flagler alumnus Nicholas Serenati (’03) launched his career hoping to be a Hollywood director, but he’s found his niche in a variety of visual arts.

How to surf and fish all day … oh, and run a business too

Flagler alumni Lance and Kristin Moss share stories of success in Nicaragua

At Surfari Charters, the workday itinerary goes something like this: Surf. Fish. Have lunch and a siesta. Surf or fish some more. Soak in natural hot springs. Relax in a hammock.

If you long for a career outside a cubicle, read on for some perspective from Flagler College graduates Lance and Kristin Moss. They went from waiting tables to operating a successful surfing and fishing charter business on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua and, as they put it, “living in an unbelievable place doing what you love.”

Getting Crafty

Alumna’s jewelry hobby evolves into a career

Gabrielle Gould didn’t plan on becoming an artist. The 1986 Flagler graduate majored in graphic design – known as commercial art at the time – and figured her fine arts studies would feed her personal, rather than professional, life.

Crisp-Ellert Art Museum hosts the inaugural juried student show

Nearly 300 students compete to have their works exhibited

The new Crisp-Ellert Art Museum hosted Flagler’s first juried student art show this spring, giving students from all majors a chance to show off their talent, have their work judged by professionals and – in a few cases – make some money.

From Stage to Screen

Alumnus Kevin Cramer takes his playwriting success to Hollywood

Kevin Cramer got lost in the Beartooth Mountains once in Montana. There were snowdrifts higher than his truck. A drugged-out girl opened his door, jumped in and tried to get him to camp with her friends. It kind of freaked him out.

Trip to the Titanic

Archaeologist and adjunct professor Michael Arbuthnot shares his underwater adventures

The claustrophobia set in when Michael Arbuthnot was about 700 feet underwater, crunched into a space barely seven feet wide with Hollywood director James Cameron. At that depth, the last traces of sunlight disappear.

Their tiny submersible descended to the ocean floor with 5,600 pounds of pressure per-square-inch crushing against it. Outside, strange creatures occasionally drifted by in the sandy abyss until out of the darkness, the giant hull of an “unsinkable” ship emerged — the Titanic.

Singing While You Serve

Student Matthew Erley volunteers with international performance group Up With People

It’s difficult to summarize what Matthew Erley did during the last six months of 2007. He sang in seven different countries. He milked cows in the Swiss Alps. He helped build houses in the Phillipines, where he also ate chicken feet and encountered the worst poverty of his life.

When looks mean everything

In Tasha Walden’s classroom, six fourth-graders sit around a table in silence. When Walden asks a question, three arms dart up to answer. When one girl is picked, she walks to the Smart Board, touches a set of numbers and slides it across the screen.

“Put the numbers in order from least to greatest,” Walden says. As she talks, her hands are a flurry of movement, stretching apart on the word “from” as if pulling taut a piece of string. When a student gazes at his notebook-sized white board, Walden taps the desk in front of him to get his attention. When the whole group works together to find an answer, she smiles and cheers, “Yaaaay! Good job,” her hands rising above her shoulders and fingers wagging…

Lastinger adds experience, ‘vigor and vision’ to Board of Trustees

Photography By Scott Smith (‘04)
As the latest addition to Flagler College’s Board of Trustees, Delores Lastinger is bringing a passion for education and a unique background in philanthropy to her new role.
Lastinger chairs development for Flagler now, but she spent her first years out of college teaching high school in Jacksonville. With the arrival of [...]