Allison Pales
Friendly, focused and diligent, Allison Pales is someone you may have thought you knew. Like most, she has a job outside of school, enjoys spending time with friends on the weekend, and loves a great cup of coffee. In the classroom she may seem like a normal, everyday North Central student, but she in fact is much more.
Unknown too many, Pales has made an impact not only at North Central College, but also in the field of engineering for women. Here at North Central, she is pursuing a double major in engineering and physics, two very competitive fields for both men and women.
Her time here has allotted her to stretch her duties from student to mentor and leader on campus. She has spent time in the classroom helping other students as a teaching assistant to gathering research at Argonne National Laboratory to becoming the co-president of the Society of Physics and Engineering Students here on campus.
For quite some time woman have contributed to the various fields of engineering. Despite these contributions, women are often under-represented in both the academic and profession of engineering. Pales’ presence and leadership on campus continuously breaks these views of women in engineering with each accomplishment she makes.
She inspires not only other woman on campus pursuing engineering and physics degrees, but individuals who may feel as if they are going up against odds to stand out and achieve success. It is students like Pales that make a difference in the eyes of others and impact the College community in a positive and meaningful way.
Upasna Barath
Born in Naperville, raised in Tennessee, and part of a family who originates from Chennai, India, Upasna Barath is more than just a sophomore majoring in economics. Aside from being concerned with production, consumption, and transfer of wealth, Barath is a first-year mentor, secretary of student government, and the co-president of North Central’s diversity club, Mosaic. Moreover, Barath started her own website called, “The Brave Face,” which had humble beginnings as a personal blog.
“‘The Brave Face'” is a place to celebrate bravery,” writes Barath on her website. “It is a place for people to feel comfortable about telling their own stories. Putting on a brave face doesn’t need to be a disguise anymore; it can be perfectly real.”
Thomas Varela, a sophomore studying journalism, had a piece published on Barath’s website; he wrote about his first heartbreak. “I chose to write for Upasna because she’s always been an advocate for silenced voices,” said Varela. “I gained confidence from being a part of her project. I felt more comfortable being exactly who I am.”
Barath’s website gained significant viewership overtime, and later on, she gained writers as well. Her writers wrote about personal experiences, which served as a way for them to break their silence. In the long-run, Barath hopes that she can continue to collect stories from people. In line with being the owner of The Brave Face, she enjoys writing her own personal stories–no matter how stressed she may be. “Whenever I have free time– whether it’s ten minutes or four hours, I will try to fill that time with writing,” said Barath.
In addition, Barath writes and does video logs for Rookie Magazine, an online magazine for teenager girls created by fashion blogger Tavi Gevinson. Rookie Magazine doubles as a book series for teenagers; they publish photography, DIY articles, essays, short stories, videos, interviews and much more.
“Tavi Gevinson, the editor-in-chief, contacted me after seeing my old blog and asked if I wanted to be a contributor,” said Barath. “I was ecstatic. I’ve written a lot of long form personal essays but I have a video column called, ‘Upasna Asks’ which I have been doing for a year.”
Through her experience as a writer and vlogger for Rookie Magazine Barath has been able to grow as a writer and creative thinker. However, her achievements don’t stop there; Barath recently finished in
erning at the innovation department for Nielsen in Chicago. She was the youngest intern in the office.
“It was a very independent experience because I had to learn a lot on my own and figure out problems on my own in order to finish tasks assigned to me,” said Barath. Despite the struggle she went through, Barath continued to push herself to be successful.
Aside from her responsibilities and achievements in writing, Barath enjoys dogs, anything that’s sweet, decorating her planner, Zumba, and hanging with her mom.
Steve Pulaski
Steve Pulaski (’18) is double majoring in English and Interactive Media Studies here at North Central College. Aside from school work, Pulaski stays busy making music and reviewing movies.
Pulaski started making his own music a couple of years ago, finding inspiration from a country artist. “I heard (‘Drunk on a Plane’ by Dierks Bentley), I loved it, and I wanted to make my own,” says Pulaski. “The first song I wrote is called ‘The F***book Store.’ It’s about the loneliness and stigma of adult book stores. I wrote the lyrics, and my buddy plays guitar, and we made the song.”
After making a few songs, Pulaski decided he wanted to make a mixtape. “I started joking around saying we should make a mixtape called ‘Keeping It Three Hunna,’ and sure enough, we did,” says Pulaski. “We recorded it in the library, and ‘Keeping It Three Hunna’ came out in August of 2015.”
Pulaski has released two mixtapes so far: “Keeping it Three Hunna” and “The Oldest Soul,” which came out in July 2016, and he’s currently working on another one. “In the last song, ‘Whoop that Trick’ on The Oldest Soul, I say in the last line, ‘wait for the next mixtape called “Three Much”,’” says Pulaski.
He enjoys making music, but Pulaski says “Three Much” will be the last mixtape he makes for a while. “It’ll have 14 or 15 songs that are mostly hip-hop and some alternative and R&B,” says Pulaski. “I’d like to get it out summer 2017.”
He’s tried his hand in music, but his biggest passion remains to be reviewing films, writing over 2,000 film reviews on his message board, stevethemovieman.proboards.com. “Even while I’m doing music and porn reviews, I always think that the core of my being is film,” says Pulaski.
The year 2014 was when he started making music, but he has had an interest in film for most of his life, looking to one of the industry’s best critics for inspiration. “I started (reviewing films) in 8th grade,” says Pulaski. “I started reading Roger Ebert out of the Sun Times when I was 6 or 7 years old. Roger Ebert’s the biggest influence on my life outside of my parents or anyone directly related to me.”
Pulaski’s work on film reviews eventually helped him to land every man’s dream job. “About two years ago I added the guy who runs X Critic on Facebook,” says Pulaski. “We didn’t talk at all, but in September he posted, ‘Looking for writers on X Critic, DM me your credentials.’ I’ve written adult film reviews before, so I emailed him those links along with a few others. Less than 48 hours later, he hired me.”
The news of this actually got around quite a bit on campus. “I’ve had like three people come up to me, whom I don’t even know, ask me if I’m the guy who does porn reviews,” says Pulaski. “It’s pretty wild, but word spreads like legs.”
