Kelin Silber (B.A. Communication Studies and Cinema ’17) has a tattoo inscribed across the veins of his left wrist. A three-word phrase, it comes from the parable related in David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech to Kenyon College in 2005.

“This is water.”

If his email signature, long with important titles at Iowa, were to give indication as to the drive this senior possesses, most people would find it hard to believe that potential was almost completely lost, when Kelin once attempted to take his life back in high school.

Within the confines of the Student Organization Office Suite in the IMU, Kelin masks any visible sign of his struggles with an eager handshake upon introduction and humor in his voice while he talks about his various roles on campus.

“My emphasis on people is probably what has made me an effective leader,” he admits. “I’ve always been more relationship-oriented than task-oriented, and my expectation in people—whether through orientation, OnIowa!, or anything else—is that we’re going to come out of the experience being friends.”

Since coming to Iowa, the feelings Kelin has experienced towards himself and campus have transformed completely. During his first night, he recalls feeling “absolutely certain” he had no place here, following a disastrous attempt to make friends in the Burge dining hall and an exhaustive tour of campus to locate his classes.

But now, as the chair for Capture Iowa, a freshman photography competition, a team leader and member of New Student Outreach for Orientation Services, a tour guide for the Office of Admissions, as well as the president of UI Active Minds, a mental health advocacy group, Kelin has found his way by guiding others through that same place of insecurity that he faced all those years ago, armed with patience, understanding, and a touch of self-deprecation for good measure.

David Foster Wallace, an author Kelin regards as being one of the best writers to convey the thoughts and experiences of those living with depression, is part of the inspiration for the outlook Kelin now claims.

In his 2005 address, Wallace opens the speech with a parable of two young fish. As they swim along together in the river, another older fish swims by, and in passing, asks, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” The one fish turns to his friend, perplexed, and then asks, “What the hell is water?”

“This is water. These are the things in life that constantly surround you, but you rarely take the time to recognize. It’s all about having a consciousness of self and awareness of your environment, and the people, events, and memories you are submersed in every moment of your life,” Kelin explains. “The capital-T Truth lies in all the potential of your life before death, rather than the other way around.”

Wallace ultimately took his own life just three years after delivering that famous address, in 2008. Yet the wisdom he sought to impart on his readers, Kelin now takes to heart, setting the tone for the legacy he wishes to leave with those he has lead throughout his years on Iowa’s campus.

“The person I was before I came to the university is unrecognizable to the person I am now, all in thanks to the things I’ve been able to be a part of with higher education. Those people lean in to the differences in others, and that’s given me the freedom to be exactly who I am in whatever role I am serving students.”

Following his graduation this May of 2017, Kelin will also be pursuing a Master’s degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs at Iowa, where his internship role with Orientation Services will allow him to continue assisting with the first-year experience as a Student Coordinator on campus.