When Bella Nesbeth `26 first arrived at Grinnell, she did not come with a perfectly mapped-out plan.
“I really just came here because of the [financial] aid,” she said, laughing. “That was really my main motivation.”
Four years later, that starting point feels almost incidental.
From Durham, North Carolina, Nesbeth describes herself as someone who did not necessarily expect transformation but found it anyway. “I feel completely different than when I came here,” she said. “I didn’t intend for that to happen.”
What changed is hard for her to summarize in a single sentence, but the effects are clear — she’s more confident, more willing to speak up and has a new sense of calm in the middle of what she calls her sometimes “all over the place” energy.
That evolution did not happen in a classroom alone. It happened on fields, in pools, across countries — and often in spaces she never planned to enter.
Athletics became the center of Nesbeth’s Grinnell experience due to the community it created. “I’m not really a natural athlete,” she said. “To be fair, I’m not very good at softball. But being a part of the team has been really great.”
She said she joined the softball team her first year and stayed for three seasons, forming friendships that extended far beyond campus. Teammates became travel companions, support systems and even hosts and took her to places she had never visited before such as Colorado.
Her first two years also coincided with multiple milestones for the softball program — back-to-back Midwest Conference tournament wins and trips to regionals.
“Grinnell had never done that before,” she said. “And to do it with all my really good friends was really cool.”
Then, in her senior year, she added something entirely new — diving.
“Getting third at conference was really cool,” she said.
Through swimming and diving, she met a whole new group of people, many of whom she had never spoken to despite being in the same class for years. “I found a whole other team,” she said.
Nesbeth’s involvement in athletics didn’t stop at participation. Over time, she stepped into leadership roles, often without planning to. That included becoming a representative in the Midwest Conference and eventually serving at the national level on the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. One moment she remembers clearly is applying for the highly competitive position on the committee and assuming she had not gotten it.
“There’s only 42 athletes in the entire country that get chosen,” she said. “I didn’t hear back for three months, so I thought I didn’t get it. And then I got chosen.”
In that role, she traveled to Indianapolis, spoke on proposed legislation and voted on changes affecting Division III athletes nationwide.
“It’s been really cool to advocate for student athletes and advocate for change,” she said.
Academically, Nesbeth’s path reflects the same openness to unexpected directions. She initially considered studying political science and English, but she ultimately decided to build an independent major in international relations, taking advantage of Grinnell’s flexibility to design something uniquely her own.
Her interest deepened through language study and international experiences, including studying Russian and participating in a program in Estonia.
There, she taught English near the Russian border, engaged with local communities and even joined a cheer team — competing and performing despite not speaking the language.
“I would just go around and hope someone told me what was going on,” she said.
Additionally, Nesbeth wrote a children’s book on sports diplomacy during her time in the Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Program in Washington, D.C. — a highly selective program that shaped her vision for the future.
While athletics anchored her time at Grinnell, Nesbeth points to community engagement as equally meaningful.
Through the LINK mentoring program, she worked with a local middle school student, building a relationship that extended beyond weekly meetings.
“It’s really easy to be insular at college,” she said. “But that helped me connect with the community.”
She also returned as a mentor for the Peer Connections Pre-Orientation Program, helping incoming students navigate the same transition she once found challenging.
“I’m pretty shy,” she said. “Meeting 40 people is easier than meeting 400.”
When asked what she would tell her first-year self, Nesbeth doesn’t hesitate.
“Try everything,” she said. “My first year, I just stuck with what I knew. And that shut me off from a lot.”
As graduation approaches, what she will miss most is simple — being close with her peers.
“Knowing my friend is two doors down,” Nesbeth said, is one thing she will miss. “That’s going to be very different.”
And, of course, the daily rhythm of athletics — the two hours where nothing else mattered.
“I’ll miss just not thinking about school,” she said. “Just being with my friends.”
