Jacob Combs '11
When Combs attended Brown's Summer Session after his sophomore year in high school, he fell in love with the University. He decided Brown was the place for him, and he applied early decision.
An English concentrator from Los Angeles, Combs recently completed a thesis comparing the adolescent experiences of Juliet from "Romeo and Juliet" and Maria from "West Side Story." He produced his own interpretation, examining literary adaptations and theoretical frameworks of adolescence as well as the characters' experiences in the context of their families and ancestors.
Combs will speak about the effect Virginia Woolf's work has had on him. He first discovered her work in a class last semester, and he said Woolf taught him to read and write in a new way and appreciate "what it can do for us as people."
"I really found myself responding to her work," he said. "It made my whole experience as an English concentrator come together."
Combs has also been heavily involved in the music scene at Brown. He has played the piano through the Applied Music Program, directed two shows, composed two musicals, taken composition, theory and history courses in the Department of Music and more.
"I find music an amazing way to express myself emotionally," he said, "and I love writing music because it's so intangible, yet it speaks so directly to us."
Combs said he eventually hopes to become a composer and a lyricist. He will be teaching at Summerbridge San Francisco this summer and plans to attend graduate school in the future.
Elyse VyVy Trinh '11.5
Trinh, a student in the Program in Liberal Medical Education, came to Brown from Fremont, Calif., hoping to eventually use her medical degree for the betterment of the community. She was drawn by the freedom of the University's curriculum and looked forward to exploring various disciplines, including history.
But, said Trinh, who will be graduating in December as a human biology concentrator, "throughout my time at Brown, I felt a lot of conflict between art and science." She initially focused extensively on the humanities but became worried that the classes would not prepare her technically for health work in the community. When she began to explore human biology, she realized she was losing sight of her original goals of gaining a comprehensive education.
At Commencement, Trinh will speak about the "tension" she experienced between the humanities and the sciences and the necessity of "finding the balance."
Trinh said her future is not yet set in stone, but she plans to work within the realm of medicine and public health. In the fall, she will be traveling to South Africa, China and India with the International Honors Program to study health within the context of local communities, and in the fall of 2012, she will begin her medical education at Alpert Medical School.
