Kai Tripician ’24

Kai Tripician’s drive to excel isn’t self-centered. He prefers group momentum, where people propel each other to do and be more. That positive feedback loop brought him to Wesleyan and it’s one that surfaces throughout Kai’s interactions and explorations. It’s evidenced in his commitment to learning and teaching American Sign Language. Even though he is not deaf, he teaches a surf clinic to deaf youth, runs ASL meetups, and was instrumental in getting Wesleyan’s ASL class its first Deaf professor. That’s all advocacy for a community that often gets overlooked.

As a person with many interests, Wes’s open curriculum also drew Kai in—so much so that he chose to devise his own major. Tying together courses from myriad fields, Kai points his intellect at ecosystems, the impact humanity has upon them, and their response to those changes. “With this interdisciplinary approach,” Kai says, “I’m working to mitigate humanity’s harmful impacts. It’s a multidimensional way to get us back on the right path. We have to change our perceptions, and Wesleyan is making that possible for me in new ways. Whatever you’re passionate about, here, you can get it done.”