Commencement 2008 Student Profile of Talent Development Alumna Kalyana Champlain.
After a variety of internal struggles forced Kingston resident Kalyana Champlain to abandon her second year of studies at the University of Rhode Island, she took some time to regroup and returned to school several years later with a strong sense of determination and purpose.
As she prepared to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies on May 18, Champlain said was looking forward to graduate school and the release of a CD that includes two selections she wrote and performed.
“When I turned 27, I discovered Nichiren Buddhism, which helps you overcome your darkness so you can polish your fundamental inherent worth and become your very best,” Champlain explained. “Through the practice I met my spiritual mentor, Ramona, who helped me through my problems and who told me that I needed to go back to college.”
She started out studying human development, but one day as she walked down the aisles of the URI bookstore, she saw the titles of several communications books and “I got this crazy, wonderful vibe about them and decided then and there that this was going to be my major,” she said. “It sparked a passion in me, and I’ve made sure that everything I do reflects what I’ve learned.”