Augustana students, staff and faculty, including President Andrea Talentino, Erik Bergren '25 and Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Kimberly Murphy, canvassed Rock Island neighborhoods to assist residents in completing the water service lines survey in August.
Bergren adds fourth generation to family's Augustana legacy
Despite being a fourth-generation Viking, Erik Bergren '25 said he didn't feel pressured to choose Augustana.
Rather, the now-Augie junior knew it was the right fit for him.
"My family made it very clear in the application process that they did not want to pressure me," Bergren said. "They only wanted me to go to the institution that had the best fit for me, which ended up being Augie."
This fall, Bergren spent much of his academic time on both independent and joint research, including Augustana's lead service line inventory project with the City of Rock Island.
"That was really fun," he said. "We had to do a lot of reading, research and building (predictive and mathematical) models. Then, we had a presentation to the Rock Island City Council with all of our recommendations. So, I was maintaining a lot of different responsibilities — social, academic and research service responsibilities."
In an interview with the Quad-City Times, the economics and public health double major talks about:
- Balancing the stressors of college
- Advocacy and adopting a global mindset
- How a liberal arts education supports critical thinking
- His next steps: an internship through the Texas Medical Center program