But bushy facial hair is hardly the only contribution that Ross has made to Amherst in his four years here. Graduating as a double major in Russian and physics, O'Connell is also a Fulbright Scholar who will be spending next year studying animated film criticism in Moscow. Over the past four years, Ross has been extremely active in both the Russian and physics departments; he spent a summer studying in St. Petersburg and wrote a physics thesis this past year. "One of the reasons I've gotten so involved in these departments is that they don't hassle me about my beard since they tend to attract some of the most eccentric Amherst students."
White Russian
Having spent seven of his eight semesters at Amherst living in Porter House, Ross has submerged himself in Russian culture since arriving at Amherst. After studying Russian throughout high school, he entered college with an interest in learning more about the culture and the language. He points to the Russian professors for establishing a close-knit department that has motivated him to keep on learning. "Because Russian classes are difficult, the students tend to become closer to one another, and thus there really is a sense of camaraderie within the department." He adds that the Amherst Center for Russian Culture, which features one of America's largest collections of Russian literature, plays a major role in attracting speakers and experts to the College, which aids Russian students in truly embracing the Russian culture.
In fact, O'Connell points to his time in Porter as the source of some of his fondest college memories. "My sophomore year, we had a lot of interesting guys in the house," he said. "We had these big foam swords and helmets we'd fight with. We also had this shopping cart that we'd race around in. Plus, when we figured out it would be cool to combine the two, it got that much cooler."
For O'Connell, life in Porter allowed his Russian skills to flourish. "In the house we would try to speak Russian as much as possible. I can't describe how much it helps to be surrounded by supportive people who take the culture and their studies seriously," he said. "Living in Porter allowed me to learn things I wouldn't have learned in class. That really helped me when I went to St. Petersburg."
O'Connell will be going back to Russia in the fall, this time as a Fulbright scholar. Ross's academic success and his passion for Russian culture were more than enough to afford him the opportunity. His scholarship will allow him to travel to Moscow to study animated film as fine art. "The film tradition is incredibly strong over there, dating back to the beginning of the 20th century," he said. "Even Stalin was a big film buff. In his later days, when he was old, lonely and increasingly crazy, he'd have his lieutenants over to get plastered and watch westerns."
Getting physical
While Russian culture and language remains his passion, Ross sees his future in the field of physics. His thesis on the dynamics of quantum wave particles was the pinnacle of a long, successful physics career at the College. Although he was accepted to graduate school at the University of Michigan, he will put off physics for a year as he studies in Moscow. However, down the road he sees himself teaching physics on some level. "Hopefully, I can find a way to make the subject matter less intimidating than it seems to most people," he said.
Spending his senior year writing his thesis, Ross came to realize how important Amherst has been to him. "While writing the thesis, I had to reorganize my priorities, but my professors were all great about helping me do that," he said. He credits his interest in physics to the crazy hours that the physics professors keep and their willingness to always answer any question. "The payoff is that now, after years of studying physics, I am finally able to understand some of the difficult stuff," he said.
For O'Connell, the best part of Amherst remains the open curriculum that enabled him to become involved in two very different areas of study. "You're able to seriously pursue wildly disparate academic issues, with the departments' support. It's not like that in much of the known world and I know I won't get the same opportunity in grad school." O'Connell has utilized the open curriculum by taking a wide array of classes; among his favorites are Professor of Political Science William Taubman's "Russian Politics," Professor of Physics David Hall's "Quantum Mechanics," Professor of Music David Reck's "World Music and Composition" and Professor Velleman's "Mathematical Logic."
In addition to physics and Russian, O'Connell also was strongly involved in Amherst Students Acting Politically during his four years at Amherst and created numerous lasting friendships and acquaintances. An Eagle Scout, who has remained active in the Boy Scout community, O'Connell will be spending the upcoming summer teaching astronomy at a Boy Scout camp.
"I don't wanna go," O'Connell said in reference to graduation. "This place has granted me the freedom to explore in an environment in which you're virtually swimming in intelligent and thoughtful people. I know I'll never encounter an environment like this one again."