Mia Fischel, Asst. Features Editor—

Freshmen of Shorney Hall can always count on B.S.A. Summer Kuehner for a bright smile, words of encouragement, and as a source of positivity and motherly love in an otherwise unfamiliar environment. Most wouldn’t guess, however, that this capacity for compassion comes from the hardships she endured before arriving at Denison.

Growing up in a community of hippies and bikers in the mountains of Oregon, Kuehner developed a strong set of values, a love for the environment, and a desire to help others. 

“I learned how to respect the earth there. I used to drive my mom crazy. We’d be driving and I’d be like ‘momma pull over there’s garbage,’ and she’d keep a roll of garbage bags in the back of the car because she knew that I’d be making her pull over so we could pick up random garbage that we would see,” Kuehner said.

And to this day, Kuehner still upholds that practice. “I have a big rule,” Kuehner said. “No littering allowed.”

It was certainly not an easy life, and not as romantic as some people make it out to be. As in most hippie communities, drugs had a strong presence and the people faced prejudices of their lifestyle.

“My mom was a hippie. A real one,” Kuehner said.

Kuehner witnessed firsthand the discrimination and mistreatment of her own mother. When she was 15, her mother was murdered. She didn’t know her father. A Vietnam vet, he enlisted when he was 17. After the loss of her mother, Kuehner moved across the country to Ohio to meet her father for the first time.

After moving around a lot during her childhood, Kuehner struggled to keep up with school and the school systems struggled to keep up with her. Senior year, her school had forgotten to give her a government class she needed to graduate.

At a time when her self esteem was at the lowest and she wouldn’t be able to graduate on time, a counselor stepped in to help. The counselor spent three months teaching Kuehner a full year’s worth of content every week in her own home, all so she could graduate with her friends.

“She even got into the school files because she wanted to see what was up with my life, why was I so down on myself? And then she noticed and then she came to me and she goes Summer I want you to see something, she goes I’ll get fired for this. I just want you to know this,” Kuehner said.

That was the moment she found out that her IQ was 126, not far from genius.

“She goes, ‘you’re not stupid. You’ve never been stupid. They dropped the ball with you. You are smart.’ She was the first person in my entire education to not only tell me, [but] believe in me. She showed me and then she proved it to me. And she made me think of myself so differently,” Kuenher said, speaking warmly about the counselor who not only saved her academically, but also mentally.

“She changed my life. She is the reason why I don’t believe that you should believe what other people say about you. Don’t let others determine your worth. Because they don’t know who you are. Only you know who you are. And so she really did. She completely changed the way I thought about everything,” Kuehner said.

The lessons she learned from her mother, her counselor, and from her own life experiences are some of the important lessons she passes on to her own 11 year old daughter.

“Having lost my mother so young, I also had the fear of being taken from my daughter’s life when she’s young so I kind of bombard my child with lessons. I’m always finding a lesson in something,” Kuehner said. “I saw how [my mother] was treated differently. Now that I’m a mother those are the values that I put on my daughter. If someone is not a nice person, you don’t know what their life is like. Don’t immediately write them off– befriend them, reach out to them, try to be nice to them and talk to them. See if it makes a difference because their life could be absolute hell and you don’t know.”

Out of compassion for others, Kuehner spent 16 years in the healthcare field as both an STNA (state tested nursing assistant) and a restorative therapist, focusing on physical and occupational and speech therapy.

The job became too overwhelming in 2020, when the facility was severely understaffed and she was working 14 hour days. After a shoulder fracture, she decided it was time to leave the industry. It was a tough decision, but it would also allow her to spend more time with her family. A recommendation from a friend landed her at Denison.

“I truly believe that I worked in hell for so many years and this is my heaven job– This is my God’s way of saying, ‘here honey, you put in your time, you’ve taken care of people in their worst very well, now we’re going to give you a job where people help take care of you.’ So I love it here. I absolutely love it here,” Kuenher said.

The interview process was thorough, which Kuehner respected because Denison really cared about the kind of people they brought into the university. Though for her, the most important benefit of the job was that Denison would help fund her daughter’s education.

“Not being a rich woman, I was like well this is perfect. This is a job I could retire at. They have great benefits and my daughter will have the education I was not able to have and so it was kind of a no brainer,” Kuehner said.

At 47, Kuehner has worked with Denison for almost two years. After the move to Denison, Kuehner spent more time with her daughter doing arts and crafts, playing board games, going to the mall, and camping.

As a B.S.A, Kuehner finds that she is making just as much of an impact as she was in the healthcare field. A caretaker by nature, her skills in the healthcare field certainly transfer over to her work here.

Last year, she helped to train B.S.A Francesca Ghiloni, who describes Kuehner as “amazing” and “outgoing.” Ghiloni was able to find a friend in her coworker, which she says makes her job all the more feasible.

“When I first started, I had two people training me and one of the people was making me anxious with everything that I had to do and it was overwhelming me,” Ghiloni said. “So when they were done training me, Summer was like, ‘Hey, you could do it this way or you could do it that way. So like, she really helped the job not be so overwhelming and anxious.’”

Also beloved by students, Kuehner receives thanks in the form of cards, letters, and constant affirmations. Last winter, students collected $100 as a gift.

In the absence of family for the first time, some freshmen students [[find]] a mother figure in Kuehner. Kuehner’s work and genuine personality is recognized by students.

“She’s always very bright and welcoming– every time that we leave for class in the morning she’s like, ‘good morning! Have a good day,’” said Laureline Costa 26’, who also participated in a holiday door decorating challenge set up by Kuenher.

It is perhaps her background and variety of experiences which inspires her selfless actions. When she visited her Aunt, who was wealthy in comparison to her mother, Kuehner experienced a whole other world.

“We’re going out to fancy restaurants and having waiters crack the crab for me. It’s just one extreme to the other. But you know what stayed the same? Me. I was the same person sitting in that chair. I’m the same person in that shack,” Kuehner said. “And so I think it was kind of unique for me, being part of both worlds so much, that I realized that there really wasn’t that much difference. It was how you looked at it.”

She carries this philosophy with her everywhere.

“I get how some people just can’t handle the vulnerability. I luckily can handle that vulnerability,” Kuehner said. “So I think I just want to touch everybody every day in a positive way. Because I might be the only positive thing that they see that day.”

The importance of a BSA might be easily overlooked, but the impact that they make is enormous.

“Everyone has a place in this world and if one person doesn’t do their job it all crumbles. That’s why everybody deserves the exact same amount of respect. Whether you’re cleaning the toilets, or you’re the president of the university,” Kuehner said.

Kuehner recounts giving a student her own Carhartt hoodie because he didn’t have anything warm. With a stock of toothbrushes, hair ties, feminine products, she encourages students to reach out if they are in need.

“I really am here for you guys. I just want you guys to know that there is someone on your side,” Kuehner said.