Meet Claire Nagel, Class of 2015

Friday, May 8, 2015

Claire Nagel
Social Work and Spanish major, Latin American Studies minor
Johnston, Iowa

Claire NagelClaire Nagel loves adventure, and has the passport stamps to prove it—but sometimes, the greatest adventure is at home. From attending her first Hawkeye football game to traveling through Europe earning credit for her College of Liberal Arts & Sciences degree, Nagel has learned to adapt to her surroundings and make the most of every college experience. From her terms as a Teaching Assistant, Resident Assistant, and UI Student Government senator to her service as a Dance Marathon and Crisis Center volunteer, she has done her part to make her home a welcoming place for others, too.

Why are you glad you came to the University of Iowa?

The University of Iowa was absolutely the right choice for me. I was unsure coming in as a first-year, but once I got here, I felt like I belonged, academically and socially. I’m an in-state student, so it made a lot of sense for me, and I think that the academic opportunities I’ve had here have been unmatched by any other experience I’ve ever had. And I also really like living in Iowa City. I love the mix of Big 10 fanfare and love for the Hawkeyes and things like that, with the City of Literature and the coffee shop culture. I think that it’s unique to see both of those in the same place, so that’s been really fun and I’ve been very happy here.

If you could speak to yourself as an incoming freshman, what advice would you give yourself?

To incoming freshmen and to myself as an incoming freshman, I would say, you belong here. You’re here because the people at the admissions office believe in you, they know you can be successful here. So that would be my message: you belong here and you should take advantage of the opportunities. I would also tell myself that I should enjoy it and that a lot of the best things about this university are not things that you can put on a resume, but you should go do them anyway. You should sit on the Pentacrest and take a nap, you should walk around downtown and have an ice cream cone, you should do all the intangible things that make Iowa City such a special place to live.

Where do you hope to be in 10 years?

In 10 years, ideally, I will be practicing as an attorney, probably as an advocate for marginalized populations and people who usually don’t have access to legal representation. I’m particularly interested in immigrants and refugees especially with my Spanish fluency. I’m hoping to tie in the social work skills and the Spanish skills as well as the legal knowledge to be an advocate for people who are often underrepresented.

—Interview by Nora Heaton (BA 2013) and Dora Grote (Class of 2015); photo by Jill Tobin

The University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers about 70 majors across the humanities; fine, performing and literary arts; natural and mathematical sciences; social and behavioral sciences; and communication disciplines. About 15,000 undergraduate and nearly 2,000 graduate students study each year in the college’s 37 departments, led by faculty at the forefront of teaching and research in their disciplines. The college teaches all Iowa undergraduates through the college's general education program, CLAS CORE. About 80 percent of all Iowa undergraduates begin their academic journey in CLAS. The college confers about 60 percent of the university's bachelor's degrees each academic year.