Name: Jess Baker '04
Majors: Fine Arts and English (writing concentration)
Hometown: Coventry, VT
Activities: Co-vice president of the leadership honorary Omicron Delta Kappa, editor-at-large for the student newspaper, editorial staff of the student literary magazine, president of the English honorary, senior residence council representative, member of the Fine Arts honorary

Jess Baker says she came to St. Lawrence primarily because she liked the small classes, the sense of community and the rural setting. She is particularly thankful for the opportunities that her first-year program (FYP) gave her, especially developing relationships with the classmates in her FYP. She has lived with those same people every year since. As a sophomore she coordinated the Expanding Spiritual Horizons Theme Floor as an extension of her FYP, and as a junior she coordinated Leadership Through Media, which allowed members of The Hill News (student newspaper) staff to live together. They are now living together in the new senior townhouses. Baker says that her most lasting memories come from the quieter times that she has spent with her friends.

The sense of community and small classes allowed Baker to develop a close working relationship with Prof. Elizabeth Kahn. Baker is a teaching assistant for Kahn, L.M. Flint Professor of Fine Arts.

“She has really taken time to get to know me,” said Baker.  “Her ‘intro' class during my first year helped me decide to pursue art history, and her mentorship steered me through a few very difficult situations.  She is more a friend than a teacher, and I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to work with her.”