Seniors Colton Duncan and Lucy Cuneo were nominated by their peers and selected by faculty as the Outstanding Senior Man and Woman of the class of 2023. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Colton Duncan
Duncan is a double major in classics and international business studies from Cincinnati, Ohio.
What was your initial reaction to being named Outstanding Senior Man, and what does that mean for you?
I have been joking around that I think people heard “senior” and mistakenly thought, “Who’s the oldest undergrad I know?”
But really, I think it’s a testimony to my good friends that I have around campus.
Is there something that you were able to accomplish at Hillsdale that you never thought you would?
Learning how to do a backflip at age 29. Although, I did the backflip for mock rock and then got injured, so I guess I haven’t really learned that yet.
In what areas of your life has Hillsdale challenged you?
Hillsdale has definitely challenged me intellectually. I don’t mean just academically, but also my conversations with my friends. Getting these different perspectives from people who think through things very seriously and who might disagree with me. That’s been one of the challenging and beneficial things for me.
What has been your favorite tradition or event at Hillsdale?
After Niedfeldt won Mock Rock for the first time in 2021, we were all celebrating in the lobby and then we started inviting people over. It turned out to be this massive party in the lobby of Niedfeldt to the point where we had to open up the space in the house director suite and in some areas to the side. So many people were there, and it was just such a fun celebration. Everyone was so stoked. We’ve continued doing that every year, and it’s been just a really wonderful follow up to the end of homecoming week.
Do you have any advice for underclassmen?
Just go on casual dates. Don’t make things complicated. Don’t try to exist in the realm of some weird and bizarre platonic friendship. Just ask her out on a casual date. Or alternatively, let him ask you out on a date. Just doing a first date, you’re not committing to marry them. You are just wanting to get to know them better and build that foundation of friendship which is the ground of every healthy relationship.
What is a piece of advice that you got at Hillsdale that sticks with you?
Mike Harner, toward the beginning of my time here said “don’t quit” in the most intense way that I have ever heard. And since then, I have not quit things that I’ve done simply because I’ve been afraid to quit them.
How do you cultivate dorm culture as an RA?
The first way to foster strong dorm culture is to live in Niedfeldt. Since that’s not possible for everyone, dorm culture is simply a matter of intentional presence to the people around you. You don’t have to do extra things for the dorm. You simply have to do the things you do but within the context of the community. It’s a matter of mindfully living together with other people.
Lucy Cuneo
Lucy Cuneo is a Classics major with a concentration in Classical Education.
What was your initial reaction to being named Outstanding Senior Woman, and what does that mean for you?
It’s a huge honor, to be sure. I know and love all the people who were nominated. I was just grateful to be numbered among such wonderful people.
What are some of your favorite memories at Hillsdale?
My friend group freshman year set what I think is the record for the most people around a Saga table: 18 people. We were that friend group.
What’s one thing that you accomplished at Hillsdale but didn’t plan to?
I came into Hillsdale really interested in helping out in the special education community because my sister has Down Syndrome and I wanted to give back. I wanted to hang out with kids with disabilities and help the community, but I didn’t anticipate taking a leadership role in GOAL volunteering. My junior year, I became the coordinator, and now I’m the director of GOAL. It’s been such a huge blessing to connect people with so many volunteering opportunities and really get involved and help the community both on the college campus and in the town.
What do you think you will miss the most about Hillsdale after you graduate?
I will miss the utter chaos that is AJ’s and trying to do homework there and being bombarded by friends. Also being in the library and seeing random friends here and there, even if it’s 1 a.m. and you’re frantically finishing an essay. There’s still sweet community there.
What was your favorite class at Hillsdale?
I took a summer class with Dr. Jackson called Reading Biblical Narratives. It’s only offered during the summer. It’s a fascinating look at the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, reading it as a piece of literature, not necessarily through a Christian lens. We looked at storytelling tropes, Hebrew poeticism, parallelism, and the Psalms. It changed how I read the Bible.
In what areas of your life has Hillsdale challenged you the most?
Hillsdale challenged me the most in my faith life. I’m Eastern Orthodox, and the Orthodox Christian Fellowship on campus is really strong and thriving. Coming from a very small Christian school to a bigger Christian school has opened up conversations between Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, and challenged me to think more about what I believe.
What is one thing you want to say to other students at Hillsdale?
I want people to have an appreciation for the importance of service through volunteering your time because we’ve just received so many blessings throughout our time here. I think it’s really important to put our faith and our convictions in action and serve others in the community, whether at your church youth group, or through raking leaves for an elderly woman or hanging out with a girl with Down Syndrome and telling jokes for an hour. It’s really important to look outside yourself and act on your convictions.
How do you hope that people at Hillsdale will remember you?
I mean, that’s the goal of humankind, the transitory dream of humans to be remembered. Gilgamesh, all he wants is to be remembered by others. And I would say that I don’t expect to be remembered, and that’s OK. But maybe for my friends who are here, my goal is to just love them and make them laugh and make their day a little easier. So maybe for the next two classes I can be remembered for that.