Carra Nicole Bowes is graduating with honors from the University of Washington on June 9.

Her degree is in philosophy and she received departmental honors. Bowes, a 2014 graduate of Orcas Island High School, is currently employed in the paralegal department at Smith-Goodfriend, a civil appeals law firm in Seattle. She had the following to say about her studies.

“I started my college education in Oregon where I first discovered traditional philosophy and political philosophy – immediately falling in love. As I progressed in my studies, I felt unfulfilled, as philosophy often makes one feel. So I packed up my life and left to study in the heart of it all: Rome. While learning amongst some of the oldest structures of “modern” government, I was also able to travel around Europe, visiting historical landmarks such as the Acropolis, Sachsenhausen, and the Sagrada Família. I visited seven countries and saw everything Italy had to offer – from the Northern mountains to the bright blue coast and the rolling hills of Tuscany. Here, I decided I needed to be at a university that had like-minded people willing to seriously question the condition of the world my generation is inheriting. I found these people in my philosophy classes at the University of Washington.

“Being able to be surrounded by an environment where being a “nerd” is the status quo, I felt I didn’t have to hide how much I cared about my studies anymore. Thus, over my short two years here, I have been challenged and grown so much. After Trump was elected, I started an internship at Senator Patty Murray’s office through UW, which taught me the value of individual citizen’s voices, local government and grassroots organizations. In my academics at UW, I have learned so much from my peers and my professors as well as from myself. UW truly has fostered the academic environment I needed in my undergraduate career in order to introspectively reflect on how I want to be as a person.”