Lauren Wallace is a senior, double majoring in marketing and sport and recreation management. She is on the volleyball team, a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), a student representative for the Campus Advancement Advisory Board (CAAB), works in the Wellness Center, and as a student assistant for the University and Alumni Relations office. Additionally, Wallace often collaborates with Ken Mendez in the mailroom, completing many projects including the Roots of the Red River Valley gallery, theatrical plays, and bringing speakers to campus.
Her favorite thing about UMN Crookston is the people. Right from the start, a current student encouraged her to join a club on campus. One act of involvement started a ripple effect, leading her to a new network of people. From there, she met Ken Mendez, who has become a huge supporter of hers and provides many opportunities for event planning and marketing. He introduced her to stakeholders on campus such as Kevin Thompson, Ph.D., Unit Head, Business and Humanities, Social Sciences and Education Departments, Brandy Chaffee, Director, University and Alumni Relations, and a few others who have provided her with more experience. As she enters her fourth year, she has no doubt UMN Crookston will continue to stimulate her growth through hands-on experiences. The strong, close-knit community of faculty and staff have worked in a cohesive way to make this possible.
As she expressed her favorite college memories so far, three categories come to mind. First, there are the obvious exciting memories like the volleyball team’s trip to Costa Rica, her guest star appearance on a local radio station, and participating in on-campus events like Trunk or Treat and the Amazing Race. Second, there are the infamous memories such as early morning conditioning, pool workouts, walking to Brown Dining Hall in a huge snowstorm, hearing about her roommate’s most recent parking ticket, getting a noise complaint in the dorms, and everything else that comes with the drama of college life. However, some of her favorite memories are the more ‘mundane’ moments -- smaller things like watching a docuseries and late night chats with her roomies, getting chippers from Widman’s, studying in the Eagle’s Nest, “half-off” stops at Caribou, and frequenting a coffee shop in Grand Forks, N.D.
Wallace continues to fully embrace her time at UMN Crookston, whether it be through engaging with the community or making memories that will last a lifetime. She would like to extend a huge thank you to all of the welcoming staff and faculty at UMN Crookston who have contributed greatly to her positive experience. She is excited to see what the time remaining on campus has in store.
Written for the Spring 2020 Torchlight e-Newsletter.
