By Jenna Juarez
Jenna Juarez outside of Centennial Hall. Photo by Payton Stephens.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to try something new? Sid Lewis can tell you all about it.
Lewis is a first-year psychology major with minors in criminal justice and honors liberal arts from New Albany, Ohio. With family from Bluffton and a childhood spent near the campus, Lewis moved to Manchester, England, for two years. Although after returning to the Columbus area they did not initially consider Bluffton University as a choice for college.
With aspirations of becoming a college professor, Lewis chose Bluffton because of the small class sizes and the friendly atmosphere. They were also inspired by their mother and grandparents who graduated from Bluffton College.
Since attending Bluffton, Lewis has found themself saying “yes” to more activities and opportunities. They are now involved in multiple clubs, jobs and recently started conducting independent research.
Social work club member, editor for the Bridge Literary Journal, first year representative on Student Senate, library employee and future Residence Advisor are the organizations Lewis is involved in. Out of all this they describe themselves as most passionate about their academic research.
“My topic is the occurrence and effect of trauma on corrections officers and what resources are being provided by their institutions to help them out with it,” said Lewis.
They were inspired to begin this research after attending a criminal justice job fair with Kelley VanGilder and Michael Barrett. After brainstorming ideas, they decided on this topic and are hoping to have their research finalized before the end of the year.
Along with this research, Lewis participated in two Civic Engagement Day presentations. The first, YikYak: Authenticity Versus Anonymity, and the second, Musical Movements: How Music Has Inspired Social Change in America.
“I have a hard time saying no to people,” said Lewis. “I think everything that I am doing right now is something I genuinely enjoy doing, and I do feel that I am making a significant impact on the community with it. But I don’t think that these are things that I necessarily would have joined without a little bit of a push from others.”
While they may be heavily involved, Lewis expressed a positive attitude for the road ahead.
“Seeing the results of what I’m doing and seeing projects that I’m doing come together is really exciting,” said Lewis.
Lewis also expressed their desire to make a difference during their time here at Bluffton University. They hope to be a voice for the community and an advocate for underrepresented perspectives.
“I really want to see this through,” said Lewis. “If I do make a difference with school policy or social change, it’ll be a nice additive to my time here.”
