Student Ambassadors

Katie Richter

Student Ambassador President

Junior

Hi Everyone!

We are the McKendree University Student Ambassadors! We are current students at McK with whom you will be working throughout the admission process. We give tours on campus visits and Preview Days, help out with Scholarship Days and McK 101, and sometimes call just to see how everything is going! We are great people to talk with to get students' perspectives about life at McK! We also have a facebook group just for incoming freshman. It is called Future Bearcats 2008. Look us up and request to join! We look forward to meeting you!

~Katie

Major: Elementary Education

Favorite Place on McKendree's campus: The Philo Hall on the 3rd floor of Old Main.  It's like something right out of a history museum!

Favorite Bearcat Sport: Dance Team!

Favorite Food in Ames: Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake...but only after it goes through the secret cookie warming toaster!

Favorite McK Memory: Pledging Kappa Sigma Tau! I have such a great time with all of my sisters!

Advice to college freshman: Get involved!  Stay at McK on the weekends!

Jessica Bathon

Senior

 Major: Marketing & Management

Favorite Place on Campus: My favorite location at the beautiful McK U is the newest addition on the campus: the Hett!  It's a state-of-the-art building that adds a great sense of "update" and style to our historic campus.  The multi-million dollar building is wonderful for housing theatre productions, campus gatherings, career fairs, preview days, and music events.  The Hett is a must-see at McK!

Favorite Bearcat Sport: My favorite Bearcat sport to attend as a spectator is football.  The Bearcats are a thrill on the field and it's a great event to get the crowd cheering and roaring for the Bearcats!

Advice to College Freshman: Apply early!  Search, search, and search for scholarships and grants of all sorts!  "Gift" money is sometimes hidden but if you search long and hard, you'll run across some great monetary assistance!  Once at McK, look at the syllabus for upcoming papers and presentations...start early and prepare!  Adhede to this advice for success!

Sara Darnold

Senior

 Major: Chemistry

Favorite place on McKendree's campus: The Hett because I work there, I love my work, and I get to see all my friends.  Also, that is where I play music with the ensembles and making music relaxes me!

Favorite Bearcat Sport: Cross Country

Favorite Food in Ames: Banana Cream Pie...so fluffy and yummy!

Favorite Class at McK: All of my science classes because they will get me a great job after graduation, and all of my religion classes because they keep me focused!

Advice to college freshman: Be active, meet lots of people, prioritize, and stay busy!

Lauren Hettenhausen

Senior

Major:

Favorite Place: PAC 114, affectionately known as "the education room."  Nearly all of my favorite courses have been in this room.  I taught my first microteaching lesson in that room, and it was the birthplace of fantastic relationships with fellow education majors and education professors.  In it, I feel at home.

Advice to College Freshman: My adive to college freshman is to start good habits early.  Everything from attending classes to putting full effort into everything you do is exceptionally important from day one.  By starting good habits like these early, you are more likely to stick with them and continue to practice them throughout your college career and in life after graduation.

Favorite Memory: Some of my favorite memories from my time at McKendree are from the 2006 Technos International Week held at Technos College in Tokya, Japan.  I had the privilege of representing McKendree during a two-week stay in Japan where I met with Japanese college students and learned about the culture through tours, activities, and a home stay.  This was one of the most unique and eye-opening experiences of my life, and it presented a fantastic opportunity for cultural exchange and learning outside of the classroom.

Bethany Kowzan

Senior

Major: Elementary Education

Favorite Class: Methods of Teaching Fine Arts because it is a fun and informative class.

Favorite college memory: New Student Orientation as a first year student and group leader

Advice to college freshman: When beginning college, make sure you are open-minded, try to meet as many new people as possible, and get involved around campus

Samantha Leonard

 Sami is studying abroad in Paris this semester!

You can read her blog at: http://srleonard.blogspot.com/

Becky Lindstrom

Senior

 Favorite Bearcat Sport: Football, followed closely by hockey

Favorite place on campus: Clark Lounge -the important people work in Clark and you get to see them; also, several students spend time between classes there so it is a great place to meet them.  Also, the front lawn in spring -it's peaceful, and beautiful.

Advice to college freshman: Take advantage of all of these opportunities.  College really is the best time of your life, so enjoy the freedom you have before entering the working world.

Favorite memory: Everything and everyone that came with my University 101 group in the fall of 2007.  The opportunities that the position provided for me were unmatched by anything else.

Favorite Class: Anything taught by Dr. Dussold. He is a lot of fun to watch, and he uses real world examples to illustrate theories; his knowledge of the financial world expands incredibly far. He was once the softer side of Sears.

Courtney Loschen

Senior

Jenny Mennerick

Senior

Major: Math Education

Favorite Class: All education classes and Number Theory!

Favorite Bearcat Sports: Tennis, Basketball, and Hockey! I play on the women's tennis team, and I love watching basketball and hockey!

Favorite Food in Ames: Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake!

Favorite McK Memory: Winning the ITA Doubles Tennis Championship and qualifying for the NAIA tournament again! It was an awesome year!

Advice to College Fresmen: Your years at McKendree will go by fast, so take advantage of all of the amazing opportunities. There is so much to get involved in, and you can meet so many great people!

Kamara Owens

Kate Risley

Senior

 Major: Psychology

Favorite Place at McKendree: Piper because I always see my friends there

Favorite Bearcat Sport:  Toss up between Football and Basketball

Favorite food in Ames: Sugar cookies and PIZZA!

Tracy Coble

Bethany Hinkle

Junior

 Major:

Favorite place on campus: I love just walking to and from class when it is warm and sunny outside.  Campus always looks so pretty!

Favorite Bearcat Sport: I play golf, so that's probably my favorite.  However, I love going to hockey games too!

Advice to college Freshman: Be proactive to get done what you need to get done and do not procrastinate!

Amanda Kallal

Junior

Major: Accounting 

Favorite Place on Campus: Old Main 301. I had my first college class in this room! The big, open windows and chandelier make the room inviting and exciting!

Favorite Class: My favorite classes at McK were Sociology with Dr. Quisenberry, History with Dr. Folk, and Accounting I with Dr. Lang. Dr. Quisenberry is a great teacher and made the class fun and endjoyable. History was a great learning experience; Dr. Folk made it interesting with great stories and jokes. I'm an accounting major, so I will always remember my first college level accounting class!

Favorite Bearcat Sport: Football! Everyone on campus gets so excited on game days, and the band puts on a great half-time show!

Favorite Food in Ames: I LOVE Ames's desserts! The cookie bars are amazing!!!

Favorite McK Memory: My fondest college memories thus far are all the good times the girls and I had on Baker 3rd. We had a great RA and Community Coordinator and some of my good friends now are girls I met my first year in the dorms!

Advice to College Freshman: The best piece of advice I could give is: Do not overwhelm yourself! The transition from high school to college is a big step, and it is important to remember that you're here to further your education, so join one or two clubs the first year, but don't take on more than you can handle!

Braden Posey

Deanne Puloka

Junior

Major:

Favorite Place on Campus: The Lair because I love playing pool and there's always people to hang out with.

Advice to College Freshman: There's a time to work and there's a time to play.  It's important to know the difference.

Favorite College Memory: Too Many!  Probably 10 of us piercing our ears on Barnett 3rd our freshman year.

Favorite Food in Ames: Does dessert count as a food?  Couse it would definitely be the golden graham marshmallow treats, or the pumpkin pie...

Emily Timmermann

Ali Willoughby

Whitney Baillie

 Major: Chemistry/Pre-Med

Favorite Class: General Chemistry Lab with Dr. Van Wyk. She was just so helpful with everything, and I couldn't wait to go to lab everyweek!

Favorite Place on Campus: I absolutely love the couches on the second floor of Voigt Science Hall! They are a great place to study or talk with friends between classes!

Favorite Food in Ames: WOK BAR! It's fabulous! There's a little stir fry dish, and you get to pick out your veggies and rice and make it yourself.

Favorite Bearcat Sport: Bearcat Wrestling!

Favorite McK Memory: I was walking down Stanton on my way back to West, and my friend drove by on his scooter/mo-ped. He finally convinced me to hop on, but when we were driving up the hill into the West parking lot, the scooter tipped, and we both fell in the dirt! It was hilarious!

Advice to College Freshman: As a freshman, it was really tempting to go out on school nights really late every night just because my parents weren't there to tell me what to do. It is important to make sure that you don't let it get out of hand or in the way of getting your school work done. A few nights of partying is definitely not worth throwing away your whole future.

Lora Blackwell

Sophomore

 Major: Elementary Education

Favorite Sport: Dance Team! But I am a bit biased....

Favorite Place: The dorms! It became a home to me and everyone there became my family. :)

Advice to College Freshman: Get involved, make friends with anyone you meet, go to class, and be open to new things. Your experience at McKendree University is all in what you make it, so make it great!

Christine Dutton

Sophomore

 Major: Psychology

Favorite Place on Campus: I love the library.  As an incoming Freshman, you don't believe that you will use it as much as you do.  As a student worker there, I enjoy the peace and quiet and company of some really great individuals.

Advice to College Freshman:  Be open to change.  You are going to change no matter what.  Don't be afraid to get involved in different activities.  Who knows, you may really enjoy it.

Favorite College Memory: My favorite memory was when Katie Richter was giving a tour to Braxton, Megan, and I during my incoming Freshman process and she told us all that she had ADD because she kept losing her train of thought....

Major: Math Secondary Education

Favorite food in Ames:  NACHO day!  I love eating a whole plate piled high with meat, cheese, and salsa.

Advice to College Freshman: As a freshman, everyone should be open-minded about meeting new people and getting involved with the activities on campus.

Favorite Bearcat Sport:  Men's Basketball

Danielle Mask

 Favorite Place: Piper! I have most of my classes there, and I always see people I know in the hallways!

Favorite Bearcat Sport: I love going to all of the sporting events and cheering our team on with all of the other fans!

Favorite Food in Ames: Nachos! Yum!

Favorite McK Memory: There are so many! I will never forget all of the girls' nights we had on our floor in Walton...or our huge water fight!

Advice to College Freshman: Be open to others and true to yourself; don't act differently or change yourself for others. Also, get involved with the school's activities to meet new people!

Genni Strathman

Sophomore

 Major:

Favorite place on campus: I think my favorite place on campus would have to be the Hett.  I spend most of my time there, and it is so big with comfy seats to sit in!

Favorite Bearcat Sport: My favorite bearcat sport would have to be a tie between football and baseball.  I love how the crowd is so enthusiastic at the games and really gets into the cheers, but I also love watching baseball.

Advice to college freshman: The best advice I could give to a freshman would be to make a time management schedule and try not to procrastinate as must as possible.  Also, just have fun and enjoy the college experience because this is the last time you will be a freshman.

Shane Trotter

Sophomore

 Major:

Favorite Place on Campus: MPCC because I love watching my guys play basketball!

Favorite food at Ames: Roast Beef with A1 sauce.  It's juicy

Favorite Class: World Civilization because I love history.