Wichita State News: Student Profiles

Education intern connects people to art at Ulrich Museum

Art history major Loryn Leonard interns with the Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University, nurturing her passion for art and education.

She began her college career in Texas as an art education major and was required to take a three-dimensional studio art class.

"I took metalsmithing and became riveted with it ever since," she said.

In metalsmithing, she worked with nonferrous metals such as copper, brass, silver and gold, and used traditional craftsman techniques to create contemporary art forms.

"Metalsmithing is an art form that is delicate and difficult," she said, "so if there is anything that I have gained, it is patience."

Leonard received her Bachelor of Fine Art in metalsmithing and jewelry from the University of North Texas in 2007.

Leonard is at WSU pursuing her second undergraduate degree in art history.

"I felt apprehensive about continuing my education in metalsmithing," she said. "Although (it) is my passion, I decided to focus on the academic side of the art spectrum."

She is trying to encompass the entire art history spectrum in her studies.

"Art history has always fascinated me," Leonard said. "I believe that art history is intertwined with a society's socio-cultural background."

But her favorite aspect is learning about the different methodologies in art, how they're applied to socio-cultural beliefs and how art is a reflection of those ideals.

"Researching artists that are new to me is like discovering an ancient relic," she said. "It's exciting to learn how the artist was influenced by his or her surroundings or how the art itself impacted their culture."

Leonard is also participating in a medieval and renaissance certificate program, which is similar to working on a thesis. She must research and present a topic to a board to receive her certification.

And she is trying to start a contemporary arts society for WSU students to raise awareness of current art events and to promote professional practice.

Leonard began an internship with the Ulrich Museum in July working with Aimee Geist, the curator of education and Teresa Veazey.

Her responsibilities include researching artists, guiding tours, advocating for student membership, assisting in education marketing and preparing museum events.

"Interns like Loryn are invaluable," Veazey said. "They're always willing to help out with museum tours, artists' lectures, opening parties, anything and everything that happens at the museum."

"My favorite part of my job, and I joke with (my boss) about this, is taking the golf cart out on errands," Leonard said.

But truthfully, Leonard said she enjoys leading tours and being the bridge from the art to the viewer.

Interning with the Ulrich Museum will prepare her well for a future career coordinating the education department of a museum.

"Being an education intern has provided me with invaluable experiences," she said. "I get a behind the scenes glance at the internal clockwork of a museum."

The education curator takes an exhibition and creates various activities and events that comply with the art, she said, essentially connecting people with art.

"Loryn wants to work in an art museum when she graduates from WSU, and nothing will look better on her resume than a year's experience working at the Ulrich," Veazey said.

After she receives her undergraduate degree, Leonard plans to attend graduate school in 2011, write books about her research and possibly teach art history in the process.

In her spare time, she reads and continues to work on metalsmithing in her make-shift basement studio to keep her skills fine-tuned.

Technical theater major chose to work backstage rather than perform

Brandon Holmes spent his summer backstage at Music Theatre of Wichita managing the stage for the company's productions.

Holmes performed in musicals and theater in high school and his community, but at Wichita State University he chose a different path.

"I knew that I wanted to stick with theater because that is what I knew a great deal about," he said. "But I didn't want to perform anymore."

Instead, Holmes chose a field with "great demand for people and great opportunities to do amazing things."

Holmes is a senior in technical theater and design at WSU's College of Fine Arts.

Most of his career at WSU has been influenced by stage management, which is what he wants to do when he graduates. But he can also be seen working on the set.

Holmes said he enjoys seeing a show be built from its feet upward.

"You literally get to see the building blocks of the show and, when all the elements come together, it is such a rewarding feeling," he said.

Holmes spends hours every day working on a show, whether it's paperwork, organizing or being onstage.

"My major (has) a lot of hands-on work," he said. "You have to design something that fits with all elements of theater: costume, lighting, set, props, whatever. You have to find some way to tell the audience about the story from your side without confusing them."

But there are drawbacks to working behind the scenes instead of on center stage.

Holmes grew up as a performer, and the audience was able to see him after the show or at curtain call to applaud his performance.

"But being backstage, no one in the audience knows who you are or the work that you have done for this show to run so well," he said. "But it is still a great feeling to see the audience standing at the end of a show that you have helped put together."

Holmes' management experience started in high school at Shawnee Mission South, but most of his knowledge comes from WSU.

A stage manager keeps the cast and design team informed about the show so once technical rehearsals and performances are under way, everyone is on the same page, he said.

Stage managers call light cues, sound cues and scene shifts. They also make sure everything happens in the way it needs to happen.

David Neville, assistant professor and scenic light designer for WSU's College of Fine Arts, said Holmes was not a bossy stage manager, but he also wasn't a pushover.

"He's got a good head on his shoulders," Neville said. "He's organized. He's smart."

Holmes was assistant stage manager for "The Wild Party" and stage manager for "Medea," "Greater Tuna," "Lady, Be Good!" and "Waltzing in Heaven."

He began working at Music Theatre of Wichita in the summer of 2008. He worked there again last summer.

"It is a summer employment kind of situation, so you don't really know if you will be there until the next year," he said.

He was responsible for taking care and keeping track of props, organizing prop placement and completing theater paperwork. He also made sure scene changes occurred correctly.

He was assistant stage manager for many shows at MTW including "My Fair Lady," "Miss Saigon" and "The Producers."

"'Producers' was fun just because it was a very large show with a lot of fun elements," he said, including the dancing Nazi puppets.

In "Miss Saigon," a Cadillac and a helicopter made stage appearances.

MTW does Broadway-quality shows with real professionals, Holmes said.

"A lot of the people you see in the shows there have been seen and will be seen on Broadway," he said.

As soon as he graduates, Holmes wants to join a touring company of a show.

"I want to be a stage manager because I like to be in charge and physically involved in the running of a show," he said.

Economics major studies in Berlin

Economics senior Drew Tedlock left Wichita State University to spend a semester abroad learning in Berlin.

Tedlock attended the Hochschule fur Wirtschaft und Recht (the Berlin School for Economics and Law) during the spring 2009 semester before coming back to WSU in August.

"I have known for years that I wanted to study abroad because everyone said it was an experience like no other," he said.

He knew that studying in a different country would make him stand out to future employers and graduate schools, but he went for personal reasons, too.

"I'm interested in other cultures and traveling," he said.

In one of his Berlin classes, 14 students came from 13 different countries.

He also had to learn how to function in a larger city with people from different cultural backgrounds and speak German.

"I knew that I would learn more German by studying abroad," he said.

Tedlock also traveled to eight different countries during the spring and "got to see some unique and untouched areas of Europe."

From his extensive travels, he discovered that Berlin is unlike any other city.

"I went to Berlin with little to no expectations, and I was all the better for it," he said. "I allowed myself to start with a blank canvas and that really worked for me."

Tedlock plans to apply what he learned in Berlin to his studies at WSU. He said he will approach problems with a more balanced point of view.

"Seeing how Europeans approach, analyze and solve problems of all sorts was a rewarding experience," he said.

After he graduates in May, Tedlock plans to go straight to graduate school.

"I fear that if I took a year off, I'd never return to academia," he said.

He wants to get his master's in economics from WSU, before beginning a Ph.D. program specializing in international economics.

After that, he wants to work at an international level, but he's not sure where.

At WSU, Tedlock works for the Department of Economics as a tutor.

He tutors only eight hours a week, but he said it solidifies his knowledge of economics. And he enjoys helping other students understand a subject he is passionate about, even if the math is difficult.

"I tend to prefer the rhetoric, history and policy applications of economics," he said.

Tedlock was a member of Students in Free Enterprise, serving on a presentation team that presented at regional and national conferences. He no longer participates because of time constraints.

He is a member of the Student Ambassador Society and served as the student representative on the steering committee for the Emory Lindquist Honors Program last fall.

He served on the philosophy committee for the Foundations of Excellence, a program that encourages universities to develop a nurturing, holistic atmosphere for freshmen to ease their transition into college.

Tedlock is also a photographer and takes photos for senior portraits and weddings.

"Photography is a passion," he said, "but will not be a proper business venture."

While he does commercial work, he prefers fine-art photography, and he can be found in abandoned buildings around Kansas taking pictures of rust, decay and remnants of the past.

Doctoral student advocates for cultural understanding in classrooms

Wichita State University doctoral student Kim Burkhalter will use her background in social work to get a broader perspective in helping children in Wichita Public Schools.

Burkhalter received her bachelor's in social work from WSU in 1992 and her master's from the University of Kansas in 1995. In 2007, she began her doctoral studies at WSU in educational leadership.

When she began her college career at WSU, she was an education major. She changed her major to social work because she wanted a deeper understanding of children who need help in Wichita.

But she knew her career was in education.

"(Social work) was just another way for me to broaden my perspective studies," Burkhalter said.

The knowledge she gained in social work gave her a better opportunity to know students at a deeper level, instead of just being in the classroom, she said.

And her career path has been shaped by what she learned and experienced in social work.

Burkhalter is heavily focused on social justice issues, including embracing cultural differences in schools.

"Kim is passionate about students learning in culturally diverse classrooms in urban settings," said Mara Alagic, Graduate School assistant dean.

Burkhalter's doctoral work focuses on the process educators take to embrace the culture they live in and the cultures their students come from to become better teachers.

Her most recent position in the Wichita school district is as the director of equity. Her purpose is to make sure each student "gets what's equitable, or fair, not just what's equal."

She said Wichita's education system is grounded in middle-class values.

"We have an ever increasing population of kids coming to us who live at or below the poverty line," she said.

She also said USD 259 has more students whose first languages are not English and whose cultures differ vastly from most in Wichita.

"How do we help kids make the transition into a system that's unlike what they have in their own environment?" she said.

Burkhalter had the opportunity to travel abroad last summer and faced challenges in expressing basic needs, which, she said, many USD 259 students face every day at school.

And it's not just students coming from other countries, she said, but students in different parts of the community, whose values and cultures differ between teachers and classmates.

"If we're not aware of the differences that kids are bringing into class, how can we reach them to teach them?" she said.

She said there is a demographic shift in children entering USD 259, and she wants to know how Wichita schools will shift to better educate those students.

She said USD 259 teachers are predominantly white and female, but students are increasingly coming from diverse minority groups in poverty.

The demographic has shifted, she said. The teaching needs to shift, too.

Her dissertation looks at how teachers make that shift and how they make the curriculum culturally relevant.

She is focusing on teachers who have already made a transformation in their classrooms, where students are thriving.

Alagic said Burkhalter's research will attempt to provide educators with a deeper understanding of the complexities teachers face in urban classrooms, as well as, show by examples, how the teachers' attention to racial and cultural diversity helped their students be successful learners.

Once she completes her doctorate, Burkhalter hopes to share her knowledge across the district.

She wants "to help people become aware of who they are and the experiences they bring to the classroom."

Burkhalter wants everyone, from educators to parents to food nutrition specialists, to cultivate the aspirations of Wichita's youth by being involved and understanding kids for who they are.

"It is so important that adults understand, no matter what role they play in society," she said. "They truly influence and impact the lives of our kids."

HR major benefits from national convention

Jason Purser, human resource management major at Wichita State University, attended the Society of Human Resource Management convention last summer in New Orleans.

During the 2008-09 academic year, Purser was the director of communication for the WSU chapter of SHRM. He is president this semester until he graduates in December.

"Of all the things that I've done, it is one of the key activities that kept me in human resources," Purser said.

Purser received his first degree from WSU in psychology.

"But I wanted to go back to school," he said.

He wanted to earn his master's in business administration but had not taken required business courses. He is earning a second undergraduate degree before applying to Graduate School.

Purser sees a human resource department as being key to setting the pace in the management structure of its company.

All outcomes in a company, even the bottom line, depend on a good HR team, he said. HR departments are responsible for identifying and bringing in talented employees.

The SHRM conference, which ran June 26-30, was his opportunity to learn about human resource management from professionals from around the world.

Bobbie Knoblauch, Barton School lecturer, said the conference is a wealth of information and materials to all HR professionals.

"It's a great opportunity to hear how organizations are approaching different HR issues," Knoblauch said.

She said students benefit from networking opportunities and educational lectures.

Purser attended sessions, book-signings and speeches.

The keynote speech, given by Jack Welch, business writer and Forbes' CEO of the Century, focused on resilience in a down economy and building relationships with a wide variety of people.

The conference was not an avenue for employment, Purser said. Companies were not advertising for applicants, but networking was an advantage for him.

He said meeting people face-to-face was better than a phone or e-mail conversation about future career opportunities.

After graduating in December, Purser plans to search for employment.

"One of my goals is to get somewhere and start doing a good job for someone," he said.

"Jason is going to be well-positioned after college to find a job," Knoblauch said.

Purser will be searching the outdoors and health care fields and is interested in staffing or recruitment.

Both advise all HR majors to join SHRM.

"It really sets them up for the future," Knoblauch said.

WSU doctoral student globalizes Wichita music class

Wichita State University grad student Lisa Lutz is interested in globalization; more specifically, she is interested in making relationships and communication global for students in her district.

Lutz works in the USD 259 district office in secondary curriculum and instruction.

"If I'm going to be a leader in education, then I feel I should educate myself to the highest degree that I can," Lutz said.

Her doctoral project is focused on global education and building lasting relationships between Wichita students and students in other countries.

Her research subjects are high school students in a USD 259 music class. The students will work with others around the world to compose a piece of music.

She is studying how they work together and how their perceptions of each other change over time.

Graduate School Assistant Dean Mara Alagic said Lutz put a lot of time and careful thought into the design of her project.

"(The project) aims to help us understand more about how collaborative music performance can improve the development of a global mindset," Alagic said.

The other schools participating are in Spain, Austria and Japan. Lutz traveled to each country to set up her project. The Ollie A. and J.O. Heskett Graduate Fellowship funded her travel.

Lutz wants to expand her project through the K-12 curriculum in Wichita classrooms to offer all students global interaction before they enter the work force, which she said expects such skills.

She hopes the experience will give the students a global mindset as well.

She said globalization is "beyond an understanding." To her, globalization is "to have a compassion for the human spirit regardless of where" it is.

"As a result of the multiple communications they have, they will gain a broader understanding and acceptance of others with the potential to develop some sustainable relationships," she said.

While there is the ability to globalize the curriculum of every subject, Lutz chose music because it doesn't pause at language barriers.

Language is a challenge, but Lutz said it is a give-and-take opportunity and fully part of the global experience. Connections will be made in multiple time zones, and students will have to work through that.

Lutz doesn't want her project to be a one-year, one-classroom event in Wichita. She wants to see it implemented in every classroom in the district.

"This could go somewhere," she said. But she needs someone to facilitate the project to expand it community wide.

Her desired outcome would be to have global concerts, occurring at the same time in each participating country, where students can play the music they've composed.

Regardless if Lutz's concert happens, Alagic said: "The outcomes of her project will inform further global learning initiatives, particularly in the area of music education, in USD 259, and broader as she's intent to publish her findings at national and international levels."

MFA student writes about her community's hardships

Natalie Olmsted came late to Wichita State University, but her experiences shaped the focus of her master's project and short story collection, "Voices from the North."

Olmsted, who grew up in Wichita's Hispanic community, worked at a dental office for 13 years. James Rhatigan, former WSU vice president and current WSU Foundation consultant, was a patient there.

She said he came in and talked about WSU. He read her work in the dental office and wanted her to go to college.

"He encouraged me," she said, "and made it really easy for me to walk back through the door."

She took her passion for writing to WSU's creative writing department.

Rhatigan had encouraged Olmsted to major in English, but since she'd been in the medical field for 13 years, she chose health administration.

After the first year, she determined that major wasn't right for her and went back to writing.

"I've always written short stories ever since I can remember," she said.

When she entered the master's program, her focus was on her short story collection, which was about the local Hispanic community.

Her graduate career got off to a shaky start, though. Her husband lost his job, and she had to work full-time while in school.

She said her first semester was tough. She lost her focus, couldn't write and didn't know what she was doing in Graduate School. Writing didn't seem important.

Richard Spilman, associate professor of English and her faculty adviser, told her to give it time.

"He was right," she said, "it came back."

And her collection was under way.

"Voices from the North" is about her community, which community members call North Side, the area near 21st and Broadway in Wichita.

"She has found a subtle and supple style in which to render people we actually care about," Spilman said. "Her stories have social and even political relevance, which will assure continuing interest."

Her inspiration came from her grandparents, who moved north from Mexico to better their lives and raise their family. Her collection is also about her father, whose story she said needed to be told.

"When I realized my community and family had a voice, I really wanted to write (about) that," she said.

She interviewed family members to get a better feel of the times and to understand the prejudice they faced when they first came to Wichita.

Her grandparents and parents were highly discriminated against, and she said she can hear the effects of that discrimination in their voices today.

She used her family's experiences and what she remembered from growing up to write her stories. She also researched Wichita's earlier history.

"Even though it's fictional, I wanted historical aspects, streets and buildings to be as accurate as possible," she said.

She said some short story collections are random pieces put together, but hers tells the story of a community over 50 years through different voices.

Olmsted has had some of her short stories published.

Mikrokosmos, WSU's literary journal, published "The Bread Maker." And Today's Latino Magazine, a bi-lingual magazine in the Mid-Atlantic area, published "Los Patos," a story about her father's golf group.

She hopes to have her collection published after graduation.

After midterms, when her manuscript is due, she plans to pull her three strongest stories and send a proposal for publication to the University of Arizona Press.

Olmsted began working full-time at the WSU Foundation as the planned giving associate in fall of 2006. She works with families when they establish memorials at WSU.

As a student, she was brought in to work on the "Spirit of the Gift" project focused on the histories behind WSU scholarships.

Her fantasy goal is to make a career out of writing. She said people have asked her where she would move to make that happen.

"I wouldn't move anywhere," she said. "I love Wichita."

And, more than anything, she enjoys being on campus and working at the foundation.

"If I'm here in some aspect and able to write, I'll be content," she said.

Opera is a calling for WSU tenor

Senior Aaron Short expressed a talent for music at a young age, and he is building his experience at Wichita State University in vocal performance and opera.

"Music is the most pure form of expression, more so than language," Short said.

His favorite quote, by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, is, "Without music, life would be a mistake."

Short, who sings tenor, said music makes life more enjoyable. It is the center of his life.

Singing was fun for Short as a child. He said he felt comfortable performing on stage.

For his first public performance, at 6 years old, Short sang in a town fair talent show in Belton, Mo., his hometown.

He also participated in the children's chorus in the Civic Opera of Kansas City, and performed in high school and community productions before coming to WSU.

His parents were professionals in the music and theater worlds, and they were his biggest influence to pursuing opera as a career.

"They pretty much raised me to love music," Short said. "It is directly their fault that I'm going into music."

Short took voice lessons from his mother and performed in a production of "Pippin" under his father's direction at Olathe South High School in Kansas City, Kan.

At WSU, Short has performed in "Dialogues of the Carmelites," "Tamerlano," "Iolanthe" and "Street Scene."

Marie King, opera program director at WSU, said, "From his very first role as a freshman, (Short) had a maturity and attention to character that caught the attention of everyone in the program."

Short's favorite opera, composed by Puccini, is "Tosca" because it has everything a good opera should have: love, hate, murder and drama wrapped together in a Puccini package, he said.

Short enjoys opera because it, combined with theater, is a "smorgasbord of dramatic content.

"The drama of opera is heightened because there's no stopping in scenes," he said. "And it's almost always in a foreign language."

Short has studied Italian and French. Learning languages for performances is an added benefit for opera singers.

"If you don't want to sing anymore, you can go be a (translator)," he said.

The WSU summer opera program, Canta in Italia, took Short to Italy for one month to experience demanding vocal study and language instruction. He called it "opera boot camp."

And this past summer, Short performed in operas for Inspiration Point Opera in the Ozarks.

His experiences and the real-world knowledge he gained in Arkansas made him confident in every aspect of his future singing career, he said.

After college, Short said there is no set path for opera singers to follow.

He wants to get his master's degree, and then he plans to work in a young artist program to build his reputation and voice.

At some point, he said he'll get an agent, accept gigs and make a name for himself. He hopes to have a substantial opera career in about 10 years.

"It takes a very long time to be a singer," he said, "which is what's tough about the industry."

King has faith Short will succeed: "Aaron has a very fine voice, strong dramatic sensibilities and is very musical. All these qualities, combined with an exceptional work ethic, make him a strong contender for a career in opera."

Wild intern helps earn IFL Franchise of the Year award

Wichita State University student Eric Siever interned with the Wichita Wild, an indoor football team, and helped the organization win the Franchise of the Year award.

Eric Siever

Siever, a sport management senior, has a strong background in sports, especially football.

He attended Emporia State University directly after high school to play football, but tore his ACL, the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee, after two seasons and gave up playing.

He coached college football at West Virginia University, but decided to move back to Wichita when he realized he wasn't making any money and wanted to go back to school.

"I wanted to experience life a little, trying to decide what it was I wanted to do for a career," Siever said. "I found that here at WSU."

Siever was in the business administration program when he first enrolled, but he found sport management was a better fit for him.

"Being involved in sports is my passion," he said, "so I figured I should do something that I will love to do day in and day out."

Siever applied to intern with the Wichita Wild in December 2008.

"I think my previous experiences in sports, playing and coaching, my personality, work ethic and my drive to get better is why they (the Wichita Wild) chose me," he said.

Siever began his internship in late January and worked until the last home game, Aug. 1. He worked 20 hours a week, unpaid, at the office and another several hours during weekend home games.

He was the ticket management intern for the Wild. He dealt with ticket sales, birthday parties and any other duty needing to be done for the organization.

During Siever's time with the team, the Wichita Wild saw a 75 percent increase in attendance over last year.

James Bain, internship coordinator and Wild assistant general manager, attributed part of the increase in attendance to the interns, including Siever.

"(Siever) and the rest of our students from WSU were prepared very well for the internship," Bain said. "They all took their responsibilities very seriously."

Siever said it was exciting trying to get the Wichita community involved with the organization.

"Getting people to come out to their first indoor football game ever and watch them enjoy themselves so much is a thrill to watch," he said.

Siever's internship gave him the added benefit of networking with people he said he wouldn't have met had he not participated.

He said it also "adds to my drive to get through school and start my career." He wants to be one of the best in the industry.

His career path is certain: an athletic director or front office management for a team.

He will graduate in spring of 2011.

Education graduate enjoys teaching young children

Dana Mitchell enjoys interacting with her kindergarten students and seeing them grow in their education.

"I want to teach young children because they still have (an) attitude of learning," Mitchell said. "They want to come to school."

Mitchell graduated from Wichita State University with her bachelor's degree in elementary education in spring 2008.

As an undergrad, she participated in the Cooperative Education and Work-Based Learning Program and received six credit hours when tutoring at Samuel E. Spaght Multimedia Magnet, the elementary school she attended.

Mitchell is now teaching kindergarten at Spaght full time.

"She has just completed her first year and received a special award from the district for being an outstanding first year teacher," said Cathy Razook-Ellsworth, College of Education coordinator in cooperative education.

Mitchell is working on her master's degree at WSU, as well.

But her education career began in high school when she tutored at Spaght as a senior. At the time, she was thinking about a future in social work, but she decided to pursue a degree in education after working with the students.

"I loved working with kids and seeing the gains they made," Mitchell said.

Mitchell teaches reading, writing, math, science, health and social studies. She said it depended on the child, but all of her students seem to enjoy every subject.

She said music helps the children calm down, but it also "hypes them up" when needed.

"We love to dance and sing," she said.

Mitchell said she is amazed how complex the minds of 5- and 6-year-old children are.

"They are so funny, loving, caring and hardworking," she said, "and they always want to please you."

The students are making her a better person, as well.

"When I went into teaching, I never thought that I would be learning from them," she said. "They teach me to be more silly and carefree."

She said the children make her laugh every day, and she returns the favor.

One challenging aspect of her career is dealing with all the personalities in her classroom and meeting the needs of each student, she said.

"Teachers educate the future, and if I don't do my part in teaching the basics, I am not only failing them, I am also failing myself," Mitchell said.

If she sees her students struggling, she works with them to get them where they need to be.

"Teaching is more than making sure that they learn, it's about teaching them to be better people, to respect themselves and everyone else," she said. "I am helping to prepare them for their future."

Gwendolyn Mukes, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, said Mitchell has an intuitive teaching factor needed in the education profession.

"It was apparent that (she) was a natural," Mukes said.

Mitchell's second-grade teacher, Kathy Stybr, was her favorite teacher when she attended Spaght and one influence that pushed her toward a teaching career.

"She helped me to love learning," Mitchell said. "On the last day of school she read ("I Love You Forever") to us, and she cried. I read to my students on the last day, and I cried, too."

Mitchell said working with co-op was the practice she needed to be prepared.

"Co-op gave her real-world job experiences and allowed her the freedom to test her wings," Mukes said.

"The hands-on experience that I gained is unbelievable," Mitchell said. "Everyone should do it."

Internship is an impressive achievement for WSU sophomore

Courtney Looney, print journalism major at Wichita State University, interns at the Salina Journal earning college credit through WSU's Cooperative Education and Work-Based Learning program.

Her interests in journalism began in high school on the newspaper and yearbook staff. Jay Myers, her journalism adviser, deserves all the credit for her interest in the subject, she said.

"He has a passion for news, and it rubbed off on me," Looney said. "To me, there really was no other choice but journalism."

Journalism is an exciting career, she said. She arrived at the Salina Journal at 9 a.m. her first day. By 9:15, she was already out on her first assignment.

"They threw me right into the mix to see what I could do," she said.

Since working at the Journal, Looney has been able to interview interesting people, such as a world-renowned artist and storm chasers who have a show on the Discovery Channel.

Her most recent story was about a woman who was killed in a hit-and-run accident.

"It's a sensitive subject," Looney said, "and sometimes I feel rude for intruding (on the family) simply so I can get my job done."

She has written about topics ranging from foods to eat at the Smoky Hill River Festival to women walking 39 miles for breast cancer awareness.

She said dealing with uninteresting news is a difficult obstacle to overcome.

"There is a challenge to find the simplest event and turn it into something big," she said.

On slow news days, Looney spends her lunch hour hunting for stories in Salina's downtown.

"I have learned never to hesitate to ask someone for a news idea," she said. "Everyone has a story, and most people won't hesitate to share theirs."

Looney gained more than "a little writing experience" at the Salina Journal, she said. She learned how to be a journalist.

"To be a journalist, you have to be willing to search for the interesting, unusual and unique aspects of a simple subject," she said.

For her, journalism is not about bylines, it's about getting the story out and informing the public.

Her journalism future isn't clear, Looney said. She could go to graduate school, continue to work at the Journal or work for a not-for-profit organization.

"I have always dreamed of being a columnist for a large-scale magazine," she said.

Although most of her experience has come from high school, WSU classes gave her more.

In Writing for the Mass Audience, lecturer Laura Kelly challenged her to search for more information in a situation.

Looney is also one of the 19 students who traveled to Greensburg with Professor Les Anderson.

"It was one of the best hands-on experiences I have ever had in my life," she said, and attending was one of the best decisions she's made in her college career.

"She did well considering her lack of experience," Anderson said.

Looney had only taken one writing class at WSU before going to Greensburg.

But after her experiences in both Greensburg and Salina, Anderson said she'll have a better understanding about what she's taught and how to apply it.

"It takes passion to be a reporter and a writer and, even at an early stage, she's showing that," he said.

Participating in the cooperative education program gave Looney the benefit of earning college credit, getting hands-on experience in her major field and earning money.

Looney said without WSU and the opportunities she's been given, she wouldn't be where she is today.

"And I'm only a sophomore," she said. "I have two more years to take advantage of this school and its benefits."

Freshman rower comes to WSU Crew with unique experience

Incoming freshman Sydney Fish began her rowing career in 2007, and she will continue rowing at Wichita State University for WSU Crew.

Her first experience in competitive water sport was at 6 years old as a swimmer. Fish spent her summers at Twin Rivers swim club and swam for Wichita East High School for four years.

"I've never been a particularly great swimmer or a team star," she said, "but if my boat sank a couple miles away from a remote island shore, I'd survive."

Fish responded to a recruiting call from the Wichita Rowing Association when she was 16.

"Usually, you have to do a lot of training on land before you can get in a boat on the water," she said, "but the very first day I showed up, I got plopped in a boat and started rowing."

She said she picked up the sport in a couple of weeks and competed in her first regatta that fall.

Fish is the captain of the juniors' team and a member of the board, representing junior rowers, at the Wichita Rowing Association.

Her success traveled to WSU where she competed in the Shocker Sprints, an indoor regatta raced individually on rowing machines. She won both races in the junior women's division.

"But that race is really intense so I pretty much felt like a blob of jelly after it," she said.

Fish said the WSU Crew brought her on because she had past rowing experience, which is rare in Wichita.

"They realize that I'm going to hit the ground running, and I'll put in a lot of focus and effort and push myself," she said.

Fish will join the novice team when she begins college in the fall, but she does not know where she'll be placed in the boat.

"I'm an experienced rower on both starboard and port, not to mention stroke and bow and any seat in between," she said. "I can be useful wherever I'm put."

Fish will major in geology at WSU.

"I've always been an enthusiastic student of science, especially chemistry, and the earth sciences particularly interest me," she said.

But she also said she may not have chosen geology if it had not been for family members working as geologists.

"They really got me interested in it," she said.

Fish applied to both Kansas State University and the University of Kansas and was offered small rowing scholarships, but she said WSU was a better fit.

"I'm really excited about coming to WSU," she said. "It'll be a lot more compatible to my learning style, and I'm just ready to make the change."

Fish said she's an explorer and, as she did with rowing, she's always willing to try something new.

Aerospace engineering student interns at NASA, rows for WSU Crew

Peter Fast has two great passions at Wichita State University: aerospace engineering and rowing for the WSU Crew.

Fast is a junior in the aerospace engineering program. He came to WSU because of the quality of the department, the size of classes and the location of the college.

"Our aerospace program has far more hands-on potential with our access to the wind tunnels than either KU or KSU," Fast said.

And he said the smaller class sizes help him learn the information without competing with 300 other students. Plus, Wichita is also only an hour away from his hometown, Hillsboro.

Fast found airplanes and spacecraft fascinating as a child, and he built countless Lego models of planes and spaceships.

In high school, he was drawn to the fundamental nature of math and science. In aerospace engineering at WSU, he enjoys seeing complicated mathematical models correlate to reality.

During fall 2008, Fast was one of four new interns for NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in California. He chose to complete his cooperative education at Dryden because of the aviation research opportunities.

"DFRC, I believe, is the only place in the world where fundamentals of flight are researched and tested on full-scale airplanes," he said.

Fast worked on three projects at Dryden.

His first project was the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), which is an airborne observatory. Mounting the telescope on a plane has advantages, Fast said.

"A plane flying at 30,000 feet about sea level is also flying above 99.999 percent of the moisture in the atmosphere," he said. "Moisture absorbs infrared light, so the images seen from SOFIA are much clearer and more detailed than other telescopes."

SOFIA can also be relocated anywhere around the world, giving astronomers the ability to look at stars, comets and other stellar objects unseen by a grounded telescope.

Fast also worked on LANCETS, Lift and Nozzle Change Effects on Tail Shocks. When an aircraft reaches the speed of sound, two shockwaves are formed, a leading and a trailing shock.

"LANCETS examined how different flight characteristics, such as lift and nozzle characteristics, impact the trailing shockwave," Fast said.

His third project was the Integrated Resilient Aircraft Control, which deals with adaptive controls for aircraft.

He described it as, "A pilot is flying a plane. Something goes wrong and the wing falls off. Adaptive controls allow the pilot to fly normally, even though major changes in the balance of the aircraft have been severely altered."

NASA is trying to develop a system in which the aircraft controls feel normal to a pilot no matter what conditions are outside the plane, he said.

"I have had a once-in-a-lifetime chance to work in my field and do what I enjoy," Fast said. "I have opportunities to work on cutting edge research projects and develop my skills as an engineer."

Fast said classes teach information, but by working through a co-op, students gain true knowledge.

Fast also competes on the WSU Crew. He began rowing as a freshman. He joined the rowing team to stay active and competitive in college, but he saw more than just a sport.

"I saw a sport where every team member is equally important in making the team fast, where the team receives the glory, not an individual," Fast said. "All that separates the winners and the losers is heart and determination."

Fast races in the open-weight category at 6'5" and 195 pounds and rows in the middle of the boat where faster, stronger rowers sit.

Fast said the WSU Crew is very competitive, and for the size of the program, it is an exceptional team.

"There is definitely a team dynamic in rowing that one cannot find elsewhere," he said.

Fast's career hope after college is to work full-time at Dryden. He also plans to get his master's degree in aerospace engineering.

"While a master's degree is not necessary, the increased specialization in the field of my choosing will be invaluable to me as a researcher," he said.

Hugo Wall grad wins fellowship with city hall, plans to help others

Every job Linsey Sipult has had has been in the service industry. At Wichita State University, she took her enthusiasm for helping others to public administration and a fellowship with the city of Wichita.

Sipult graduated with her master's in public administration in spring 2009. Her undergraduate degree is in sociology, which taught her how people think and what they want.

"Sociology is the study of people, and I like people," Sipult said.

Sociology taught her how to research people, and she said it was the best educational decision she made. It also taught her how to study.

"You don't learn critical thinking skills until you get (further) up into your major," she said.

Her degree required math and statistics classes, but Sipult said she hated math and didn't do well in either subject in the beginning.

Every morning for three months during her statistics class, Sipult waited outside her professor's office to get help on assignments and study for tests.

"I would do whatever it took," she said.

Although she knows her work isn't all about math, she's improved so much that she can teach others how to do the equations.

One of her professors told her to go to graduate school because if she didn't she would never make it. And Sipult knew investing in her education was the best investment she could make.

Her original desire was to go to law school, and she needed an undergraduate degree in a subject that would relate to law.

A criminal justice or English major wouldn't teach her the needed in-depth research skills required for law students.

"(Sociology) prepared me for graduate school," she said.

But in the end she chose public administration and was hooked from the beginning.

During a case study, Sipult shadowed a city employee for a few days.

"Something turned on in my head," she said, and she knew she had picked the right profession.

Sipult participated in two research projects as a graduate assistant with Melissa Walker, associate professor in the Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs.

Her first project profiles sales tax exemptions for nonprofit organizations in each state. The other project involved a study of case management services for people with developmental disabilities.

"Linsey has really good analytical skills," Walker said. "She is good at formulating questions and searching through data to answer those questions."

Because of her research with Walker, Sipult knows her way around state budgets and state financial statements.

"All of these skills will serve her well wherever she goes," Walker said.

Sipult competed for and won a management fellowship with the city of Wichita. She began working on June 1.

She was one of seven people competing for the year-long fellowship, and she said she was chosen based on her merit and education.

"Public administration is just what it sounds like," she said. "You're trained to come in and manage people and money"

But she leaves the money to the experts. She can do the work, but it keeps her in the office too long, and she prefers to be talking to and working with people.

Beginning this year, Sipult will work on a new program, the Mayor's Youth Council, where Wichita kids will help out in their community.

In her work, she must weed through pages and pages of document after documents to find useful information and discard everything else.

"Sociology was a really strong foundation for these research skills," she said.

Her fellowship with City Hall offers her the ability to find her niche and figure out what she wants to do in her career, she said.

Walker said one important aspect of government decision making involves raising money to spend it. People like Sipult are needed to help decide where that money should be spent.

"(She) is the kind of person governments need," Walker said.

"Public service is not glamorous and no one is grateful for it," Sipult said, but she would not change her profession for money or respect.

"Everyone has an obligation to do something for their community," she said.

Hutchinson High grad hits WSU campus already a junior

Rachel Shannon, business administration major at Wichita State University, earned 64 college credits before setting foot on campus.

Shannon spent her high school years driving between Hutchinson High School and Hutchinson Community College.

She walked in two ceremonies and received two certificates upon graduation: her high school diploma and her associate's degree in business administration.

She is only 18 years old.

Shannon took dual credit classes in high school, such as American government and chemistry. She took the college courses, and the high school accepted the credit hours earned as high school credit.

Except for math and English, she took as many dual credit courses as she could. She finished all general education requirements in high school.

"Sometimes it got stressful," Shannon said, "especially when I had a whole bunch of tests on the same day."

Because of her hectic schedule and class load, Shannon had to choose which classes to put off in order to study for another.

"Sometimes I would ignore the fact that I had homework," she said. "There is only so much homework you can do before you go crazy."

Her system worked: Study for a few hours, break and then go back to studying. What free time she had was spent with friends or preparing for debate.

Shannon spent class time and free time participating in debate and forensics. She will compete in her third and final National Forensics League national tournament in June in the student congress competition, where debaters research and write congressional legislation.

Debate is one hobby she will give up in college.

On average, Shannon took 15-18 college credit hours during high school. But she's taking it slow during her first semester at WSU and is only taking 13.

"I figure this will give me a chance to get used to WSU," she said.

Shannon knows she is at a disadvantage. She may finish school earlier than her classmates, but she hasn't had the same life experiences as college students have had and will miss out on growing up in college.

"The further I get up, the clearer it is that I'm so much younger," she said. "It's hard to get used to."

Shannon still has a long way to go in the W. Frank Barton School of Business.

After she earns her bachelor's degree, she plans to get her master's in business administration, and then apply to law school to study corporate law.

She said she wasn't up for criminal law. She wants a balance between sitting at a desk and standing in a courtroom. Corporate law was her compromise.

Coming to WSU was a no-brainer for this dedicated teenager.

Shannon researched local universities. She checked the distance from home, price and where they were ranked nationally.

"(WSU) is ranked higher than any of the universities in the state," she said, referring to the school as a whole.

WSU offered her a better education for half the price.

Shannon hopes to graduate with honors, but she's not worried about her GPA. She said she doesn't want to be too focused on her grades.

"I'm hoping to grasp the material and apply it to a real job," she said.

At 18, Shannon has finished high school and community college.

"It seems crazy that it's over," she said.