Zach Blair

Dr. Paul Sommer was just a fourth grader when his family moved to Valparaiso. He attended Valparaiso High School, and was a member of beloved coach Skip Bird’s swim teams. He graduated in 1979 after spending four years devoted to studies in science.  …

Alex Ann Allen was born and raised in South Bend. She attended Clay High School, graduating in 2012. She first fell in love with art back when she was 10, and she really got into portraits when she was 16. Nowadays, she’s a full-time artist, and several of …

Erin Gibson comes from Marshfield, a city in central Wisconsin, but came to Valparaiso in 1995 to attend Valparaiso University (VU) where she graduated with a bachelor’s in social work.  Gibson initially thought she’d go into international services …

While originally from La Porte, Indiana, Aidan Ross is currently a senior at Valparaiso University (VU) where he’s been up to big things both in and out of the classroom.  Ross began his studies in the school’s sports management department. During …

Matthew Ringenberg moved to Upland, Indiana, a small town of about 3,500 people. He grew up there, attending Eastbrook High School. He also stayed in his hometown to study at the undergraduate level at Taylor University, a liberal-arts college where his …

Sherina Gonzalez was born in Long Island, New York. She lived between there and Niles, Michigan, for a while but made the move to the Midwest at the age of 8. She went on to graduate from Buchanan High School.  Gonzalez chose to get her associate’s …

Lucas and Connor Taylor are brothers who come from Valparaiso and are currently students in high school and college respectively. The older brother, Connor Taylor, is on the pre-med track at Indiana University Northwest (IUN). His younger brother, Lucas …

Jamie Martin grew up in the smaller town of Hamlet, Indiana. For her pre-college education, she attended schools in the Oregon-Davis district. When the time to take the next steps came, she started studying at Valparaiso University (VU), which really …

Sean English hails from metro Detroit, Michigan. He formed his connection to Indiana when he decided to become an undergraduate at Purdue University, studying communications. He’s stayed in the state since and currently works to keep the community he’s …

Sinéad Aherne is a massage therapist working at Mamabear Massage in Valparaiso. She’s been employed there for a little over a month. No stranger to the inherent art in her profession, she’s worked in roles similar to the one she’s in now for nearly …