2008 Woodie Awards
Stephen Yellin '10
Mike Degen
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: TRUE DREW
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That Yellin has turned heads is no surprise. If there were such a thing as a modern-day renaissance man, he would come close to fitting the bill. He is at once a historian, scholar, playwright, politician, lover of music and writer.
Quite simply, Yellin knows what he is passionate about and pursues those passions with unwavering fervor. Giving anything less than 110 percent to the things he loves is a waste of his time.
It was the 2000 presidential election that sparked Yellin's interest in politics. Disappointed with the results of the election, Yellin turned to the blogosphere to contribute in the public discourse of American democracy. His insightful posts garnered attention from the Daily Kos, one of the most trafficked political blogs on the Internet, and ultimately gained him opportunities as a web consultant for several politicians.
His work continued to grab the attention of the online media. Salon.com ran a story on how Yellin was single-handedly responsible for attracting thousands of dollars in donations for a Democratic congresswoman vying for an open seat in the House of Representatives. Yellin's pivotal role in amassing such a large amount of donations for a novice politician in Pennsylvania won him the title of 'kingmaker' in political blogging circles.
Kingmaker may be a bit too draconian an appellation for this political wunderkind from Berkeley Heights, N.J. Although politics plays a big part in his life-as a freshman, Yellin even won the race as the Student Government Association freshman senator, his first elected position-his raison d'etre is history.
"I want to be a history college professor," Yellin said with an air of sound conviction. "I would rather teach kids than reason with [politicians] who don't want to be reasoned with."
His love of history bleeds into his alter ego as a creative writer. His favorite genre to write is historical plays. Yellin's plays have been put into production by the Drew University Dramatic Society's Plays in Process. It is in writing plays, a hobby for which he devotes at least a half an hour each day, where Yellin is able to "relax and get his creative juices flowing."
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