In The Light: Krissy Williams

 

 

It’s Krissy Williams’ smile that simply grabs you. Whether she is singing and playing steel drums with Joint Account or residing as the only student on the Executive Committee of the National Council of the Society of Physics, Williams has got her smile on.

Williams, who hails from Trinidad and Tobago, hit the ground running when she came to Colgate. Her sophomore year, she acted as prime minister of the Caribbean Students Association (CSA) and has helped coordinate Caribbean Week for the past four years. She also serves as co-chair of the Newman Board Choir.

Acting in Godspell, choreographing Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat and directing part of Old Story Time, Williams loves every aspect of theater. She was also a DJ on WRCU for 3 years, where she played Trini-vibes.

“The thing about Colgate,” Williams said, “is that it’s given me an outlet for so many different aspects of my personality.” There doesn’t seem to be a facet of Colgate that Williams hasn’t taken advantage of: she played club ice hockey her first two years and is a member of the sorority Tri Delta and Konosioni.

Williams seems most proud of her work with Tri Delta, where she serves as the COB chair. Her favorite philanthropic effort was a pancake breakfast last fall, where a portion of the money raised was given to a sister whose cousin had muscular dystrophy. “If you need help,” says Williams, “we respond. It’s an extended family and it’s just so nice.”

It appears to be Williams’ love of physics that eclipses all else. A physics major and geography minor, Williams revived the Physics Club Honor Society chapter and started Sigma Pi Sigma, the National Physics Honor Society.

Williams traveled to Wales her junior year and has participated in summer research at Colgate. At the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, she was honored with the best oral presentation in quantitative sciences.

Williams attributes her gung-ho attitude to her parents, whom she strives to make proud. “They never went to college, and I’m the second one in my family to go,” she said.

Williams will be heading off to begin a Ph.D. program after graduation. She aspires to be a physics professor. “If I could teach at Colgate,” Williams said, “it would be super sweet and a real distinction to teach with the teachers who taught me.”