This is one in a series of stories about alumni of the Nexus Scholars Program.
Kendahl Wesley ’25
Psychology and Africana Studies
Cohort: Summer 2024
“Nexus was definitely one of the first experiences that allowed me to see myself not only as a student learning research, but also as someone actively contributing to knowledge production.”
For Kendahl Wesley ‘25, a psychology and Africana studies major, the Nexus Scholars Program was his first exposure to research, which would ultimately help define his academic and professional trajectory. Wesley worked with sociology professor Jamie Budnick as a part of the 2024 Nexus Scholars cohort, where he studied how climate anxiety and environmental concerns shape the younger generation’s attitudes towards family planning and choosing to have children.
Unlike the traditional “white coat lab” experience, Wesley's research focused on discourse content analysis, where he and two fellow Nexus scholars combed through hundreds of articles in the Factiva database. From there, he identified articles that explored the relationship between the environment and reproductive decision-making. Reflecting on the experience, Wesley noted that he was “able to narrow an initial pool of thousands of articles into a more focused data set that directly related to our research question.” Through this process as well as qualitative coding, he gained valuable experience with not only coding frameworks but also collaboration and ensuring consistency in the interpretation of nuanced data.
Although sociology was outside of his primary field of study, Kendahl found that despite having to play catch-up, his research helped him establish a foundation for his specific interests. Today, Wesley works as an 8th grade ELA teacher. While he currently works in education, he plans to return to school for his doctorate and eventually pursue a career in academia conducting research on black and brown youth and how they interact with their educational environment.
Reflecting on the program, Wesley emphasized that “research can be creative, it can be adaptive, it can be so many different things,” and has strengthened his interest in pursuing research as a career. He remarks that his experience as a researcher has even helped him in the classroom, where his “skills as a critical thinker [are] being transferred over to [his] students.”
Beyond research, he also encourages students to take advantage of their summer in Ithaca beyond their research projects with some of his fondest memories being running around Beebe Lake and going to the Frosty Cow on Fridays. For current Nexus Scholars, his advice is to allow yourself to stay curious. “Some of the most meaningful intellectual discoveries often begin with simple curiosity. So don’t be insecure in your curiosity, especially if you are entering a field that you are unfamiliar with.”
