Student Profile - Julie Shiller

Julie Shiller does not believe in being too comfortable. In fact, she thinks one of the most valuable things she learned at Hillyer is the importance of being uncomfortable in order to really learn.

“You have to challenge yourself,” Shiller says. “You have to get outside the classroom and be open to other perspectives, cultures, and points of view.”

Shiller, who will graduate this spring from the University of Hartford with a grade point average just nudging 4.0, decided to major in sociology because the subject allows her to see the world through a different lens. “Sociology helps expose the important issues in society,” she says. “I’m fascinated by the reasons certain people are marginalized, why some people have power and others don’t.”

In order to challenge herself, Shiller decided to study at the University of Cape Town in South Africa during the spring semester of her junior year. “I was intrigued by South Africa’s history and by its race, ethnic, and gender issues,” she says. In addition to studying, Shiller did volunteer work at a children’s home near Cape Town.

In recognition of her academic excellence, Shiller will receive Hillyer’s Rising Star Award this May. Hillyer gives the award annually to the student graduating with a B.A. or B.S. who has the highest grade point average of the students who started at Hillyer in the same year.

After she graduates, Shiller is determined to continue to learn by not becoming too comfortable. “One of the things I want to do is go back to Africa. It’s so magical, colorful, different, diverse, and alive.”