Each spring, our department faculty nominate students for the CSUN Wolfson Scholar Award. These nominees are also recognized by the Dean and are named HHD College Scholars. Meet our College Scholars, Wolfson Nominee Alexander Krause (Kinesiology); First Runner Up, Keilah Matthews (Recreation and Tourism Management); and Second Runner Up, Anna Kasper (Family and Consumer Sciences). We are proud of all of our College Scholars and the ways they represent their academic disciplines and the College overall.
The Wolfson Scholar Award is presented in memory of CSUN’s first vice president, Leo Wolfson, and recognizes exceptional academic record and significant contributions to CSUN or to the community through co- and extra- curricular activities.
Alexander Krause, HHD's Wolfson Nominee, College Scholar
Alexander Krause graduated in May with his Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology/Exercise Science Summa Cum Laude and he plans to pursue a career in Physical Therapy. He told us his objective is to influence health care to embrace a more preventative, holistic approach, and he hopes to work with medical doctors and nutritionists to better the community. He has shown powerful momentum in his academic development, and he shared his story of discovering self-confidence as a result of coming to CSUN, having grown up influenced by people who judged him harshly and who did not have faith in his ability to succeed.
Though he had applied to CSUN and was accepted, he said at first he didn’t recognize the value of the opportunity. He told us he was too heavily influenced by people who told him he would not succeed in life anyway. He missed his orientation date, which forced him into a gap year. With time to reflect on where he was in life and what he really wanted, reached a turning point, deciding he would no longer let other peoples’ expectations dictate his own sense of value and potential.
“I was going to prove to myself that I am more than the expectations others had of me and that I am more than the labels that they forced upon me,” he wrote. He dedicated himself to his intellectual development and reconciled his feelings of inadequacy, seizing and creating opportunities, and surrounding himself with positive and supportive people. “These changes have since helped me thrive in the classroom, laboratory, workplace, and community,” he wrote.
Seizing opportunities as they crossed his path, even if it meant stepping out of his comfort zone, he moved steadily forward. One example was joining a psychological research lab during his freshman year, even though it was not in his major. The experience of interdisciplinary study further broadened his perspective.
“If you had asked me in senior year of high school, ‘where do you see yourself in 5 years?’” he said, “I would have never expected this outcome.” Alex is ready to move forward in his academic career, grateful to be fueled by his own optimism rather than the pessimism of others.
Keilah Matthews, College Scholar, Dean's Award Recipient
Keilah Matthews is a first generation college student raised in LA. She graduated in May with her Bachelor of Science in Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation Management from the Department of Recreation and Tourism Management. She loves reading, going on casual bike rides along scenic routes and playing board games with friends and family. Since enrolling at CSUN as a freshman, she has volunteered over 170 hours in the San Fernando Valley community while maintaining her status on the Dean’s List.
During the summer after her freshman year she joined the conference services team in student housing as a summer conference assistant where she managed the stay of several clients. She has also had the opportunity to intern with Contemporary Services Corporation at the LVI Superbowl, which she anticipates opening the door to event and venue management. Keilah told us she recognizes a strong GPA as an indicator of academic achievement rather than the definition of it. She has maintained a presence on the Dean’s List through active participation in her courses, time management, and practicing self-care. Too often, she told us, these essential activities are pushed to the bottom of people’s to-do lists.
The importance of making time for self-care to prevent burnout came from her studies in Recreation and Tourism Management, and she demonstrates and teaches this life-priority to others through her volunteerism. As a response to an assignment in a Recreation and Tourism Management course in entrepreneurship, she developed a proposal for a business called a “Board Game Cafe”. The idea amplifies the importance of prioritizing of the deceptively simple things in life, such as sleeping, eating, and leisure, and answered a need easy social gathering places. People could meet, relax, and board games and card games, much like a game room, while enhancing social connections and finding a sense of place.
She saw it as the perfect way to execute her mission to strengthen the community and encourage the development of deeper personal connection. She hopes to develop the business in the future and make it a reality.
Anna Kasper, College Scholar, Dean's Award Recipient
Anna Kasper grew up in Burbank, California with an interest in art and design from a young age. She graduated in May with her Bachelor of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences/Interior Design. Aside from playing competitive soccer, Anna spent her extra time practicing calligraphy, drawing and finding new creative art projects to work on. She always had a creative eye, as she would often point out design details on cars or buildings she fancied. Though, Anna felt slightly lost after graduating high school and impulsively chose Interior Design as her major.
Little did she know the Interior Design program at CSUN would inspire her so much, leading her to win her first design competition, serve as a teaching assistant, and graduate with an overall 3.9 GPA.
Anna particularly excelled during the pandemic, as she spent countless hours on youtube teaching herself design-related computer programs and ended up submitting her class project to the 2021 IESLA Lighting Competition. Since winning an award from that competition, she strives to showcase exceptional effort with any given task and regularly utilizes her self-taught knowledge to teach other students outside of class.
Anna served as a Student Teaching Assistant to Professor Hessam Ghamari for the Spring ‘22 semester and she plans to soon finish up her current internship with a residential design firm. She plans to explore relative fields such as art direction or set design where she can apply her design skills. As an alumna, Anna is so grateful for every student and professor who has been apart of her journey at CSUN and is incredibly honored to represent FCS and its Interior Design program.
Summer, 2022
College of HHD