When Kari Miller ’20 considers a building’s design, she sees so much more than walls and floors and furniture. She envisions a sacred space for community to form and flourish. “I’ve always been fascinated by how practicality and beauty work together to meet people’s needs,” she explains.

Throughout her time at Wheaton, Kari has directed her passion for architectural engineering toward benefiting the people around her. She spent two summers serving the HoneyRock community as a construction team leader, breathing new life into venues like Wellspring Cabin through painstaking repairs and renovations. During one spring break, she joined a Wheaton Breakaway team to help rebuild homes alongside homeowners devastated by Hurricane Harvey. “One of the things I love most about my work is the opportunity to build relationships as I’m building a structure,” she says.

Kari dreams of using her technical expertise and gift for relating to people to design affordable housing. “My goal is to honor the dignity of each person and draw them into the life of the church,” she says. “Ultimately, I want to engineer spaces in a way that brings people closer to God.”

HOMETOWN: WEST CHICAGO, IL

MAJOR: B.S. IN LIBERAL ARTS ENGINEERING

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES: TOLKIEN SOCIETY, SWING CLUB, IRON MAN CHALLENGE, HONEYROCK CONSTRUCTION TEAM LEADER

FUN FACT: KARI FIRST DEVELOPED A PASSION FOR ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION IN HIGH SCHOOL WHEN SHE HELPED HER FAMILY RENOVATE THEIR 1890S HOME IN WEST CHICAGO, IL.