The
ENDEAVOR
Newsletter of the Oklahoma City University Honors Program
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Director’s Corner
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2018-19 Honors Student Council
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Class of 2018
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Student Spotlight
10 Great Plains Honors Conference 11
Undergraduate Research Day
Pictured: Gold Star Building, home of the OCU Honors Program
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Spring 2018
Director’s Corner Welcome to the spring 2018 edition of the Endeavor, the semi-annual newsletter of the Oklahoma City University Honors Program. Whether you are a current student or alum, a faculty member or administrator, or other friend of the program, we are happy that you’ve taken a moment to see what we’ve been up to this past semester. In the pages ahead you’ll see reports on our spring trip to the Great Plains Honors Council and our recent Honors Student Council elections, and you’ll get to know one of our current honors students up close as Elizabeth Edem shares some reflections on her year abroad studying at London School of Economics. For the second year this spring, the program hosted a mid-year Undergraduate Research Day, which included poster sessions, performances of original creative works, and oral presentations. You can see a list of the winners on page 11. For more information about the event, including abstracts on all student projects, visit www.okcu.edu/academics/research/ undergraduate-research-day. A special thank you to Assistant Honors Director Erik Heine for his work overseeing the event. April and May are exciting times of the year. We celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of our graduating seniors and wish them the very best as they move into various jobs and graduate programs. At the same time, we begin the process of welcoming in an entirely new cohort of honors freshmen. The peer mentors, Dr. Heine, and I are already making plans to give them a warm and inviting welcome to the Honors Hall in Goldstar and to Banning Hall in August. We hope you’ll keep in touch! Karen Youmans Honors Program Director
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2018-19 Honors Student Council Executive Board President: Emily Haan Emily is thrilled to be serving as the Honors Student Council President for 2018-19! A dance and arts management junior, she has had the pleasure of serving as HSC secretary for the last eight months. This year, she hopes to continue her work increasing Honors visibility online and across campus. She also plans to continue building relationships with potential donors and sponsors for the Honors Program. Vice President: Tammy Phillips I’m a rising senior majoring in Cell and Molecular Biology, and I will be applying for medical school this summer. I’m excited to have the opportunity to continue serving the Honors community as an HSC Executive Board member! I will try my best to organize more fundraising efforts and volunteering/fellowship activities in the program. I’ll also work to finally get better furniture (i.e., bean bags!) in the Honors lounge. Secretary: Vladislav Izda Hi, I am Vlad and I am a sophomore studying Cell and Molecular Biology. I’m from Serbia and I came here because of the rowing program and to try to attend medical school. Over the past few years I have been an Honors Peer Mentor and I have attended an Honors Conference. As secretary of HSC I hope to improve involvement of Honors students in the program and to work with other HSC peers to see what we can do to improve the program overall. Treasurer: Anna Delony My name is Anna Delony, I’m a freshman business administration major and a wrestler here at OKCU. I plan to use my degree to start a hybrid community center in Austin, Texas, when I graduate. I am going to be the treasurer of HSC next school year and I am excited to work with the other HSC members to improve the honors community and personally to participate in more honors events.
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Class of 2018 Congratulations to the following students who graduated cum honore from Oklahoma City University this spring! The Honors Program celebrated their accomplishments during the annual Senior Dinner at La Brasa, where seniors received their honors graduation certificates and stoles to be worn at graduation. Dr. Lisa Wolfe received the Honors Distinguished Faculty Award, Laura Jardine received the Outstanding Honors Student of the Year Award, and Joshua Hertz received the Distinguished Service Award.
Rachael Bachhofer is a nursing major from Luther, Oklahoma. Rachael has served on Phi Mu’s executive board as the Director of Harm Reduction and Prevention, attended leadership training at the National Officer Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, and served as the Nursing Representative for Student Senate for the past three years. She was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, a nursing honor society, and earned her undergraduate certificate in child advocacy studies training. Rachael will begin the Master of Science in Nursing Education program at OCU this fall and plans to work as a registered nurse at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center on an intermediate care liver transplant floor. Emily Brown is a cell and molecular biology major from Edmond, Oklahoma. She presented her honors microbiology experiment, “Microbial Diversity on Shared Athletic Equipment— a Rowing Study,” at Undergraduate Research Day in 2017. She has also conducted research over field mice with Dr. Anthony Stancampiano, and conducted research on Oklahoma plant flora. Emily plans on taking a year off from school and hopes to spend the year working as a medical scribe before applying to medical school. Nicole Cordle is a music theater and vocal performance double major from Fort Mill, South Carolina. Her proudest accomplishments include completing a double major, performing her two senior recitals, and balancing the academic side of college with the hectic demand of rehearsals, practicing, and auditioning. Nicole will be spending the summer in Montana performing at Bigfork Summer Playhouse. Tomorrow Denton is a cell and molecular biology major and chemistry minor from Oklahoma City. A Clara Luper Scholar, she has helped hundreds of people at the Learning Enhancement Center and co-coordinated Kappa Phi Beauty Week in 2015. After graduation, Tomorrow plans on taking a gap year before applying to the OU College of Medicine for admission in the fall of 2019. Victoria Esquibell is a design and production major with an emphasis in stage management from Arlington, Texas. Victoria has provided technical assistance for over 20 OCU School of Theatre productions and served as an executive officer on the
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Class of 2018 leadership board of Alpha Chi Omega. For the past two years, she has also worked as a recruitment event coordinator for the OCU Undergraduate Admissions Office. After spending the summer as company manager for the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, Minnesota, Victoria plans to spend a couple of months backpacking through Europe this fall before pursuing further employment as a stage manager or tour manager. Cami Grindal is an acting major from Houston, Texas. Her proudest accomplishments include graduating a full year early, participating in the Oklahoma Scholarship-Leadership Enrichment Program (OSLEP), and getting to work with Chad Michael Murray on a movie set over the summer of 2017. Within the first six months after graduating, Cami plans to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film. Franziska Harms is an acting major and directing minor from Limburg an der Lahn, Germany. Franny played Simon in OCU’s 2017 all-female cast of Lord of the Flies. Along with fellow honors graduate Zoe Settle, she directed Really Really, which kicked off Sexual Assault Awareness Week. After graduation, Franny plans to continue her theatre career in London, England. She would like to give special thanks to Kate Brennan and Kristen Cerelli for their support and mentorship over the past few years. Erica Herman is a cell and molecular biology major and chemistry and ethics double minor from Midwest City, Oklahoma. She has served as Treasurer of Tri Beta Honor Society and Vice President of Ritual and Fraternity Appreciation of Alpha Chi Omega. One of her most significant accomplishments was completing her biology capstone, “The effects of deforestation among tree-rooting bats.” Erica plans to attend medical school following graduation. Joshua Hertz is a political science and philosophy double major from Longmont, Colorado. He has served as President and Treasurer of Honors Student Council and President of Ethics Debate Team. During his time on the Ethics Debate Team, he competed in three regional competitions (two of which the team placed third overall) and two national competitions in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. In the summer of 2017, Joshua spent a month in Taiwan studying Chinese language and culture and volunteering through the OCU Doer’s Program. Following graduation, Josh plans to take a gap year to get work experience and take a small hiatus from school before applying to law school or graduate school. Josh is proud to hold the title for fastest completion of honors requirements and is tied for the most honors credits completed. Alanah Hosford is a cell and molecular biology major from Choctaw, Oklahoma. Over her time at OCU, she has traveled to Taiwan with the OCU Doer’s Program in 2017, placed first in her poster division at Undergraduate Research Day in 2016 and 2017, and co-authored a paper, “Habitat Selection and Nest-box Usage of Secondary Cavity Nesting Birds in a Semi-rural Setting,” that was published in Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science (POAS). Alanah will be enrolled in medical school at the University of Oklahoma next fall. Laura Jardine is a biology major and chemistry and environmental studies double minor from Muskogee, Oklahoma. Laura developed and conducted a research project on arctic permafrost thaw and nitrogen cycling with support from the Woods Hole Research Center, received an ‘Honorable Mention’ from the Goldwater Scholarship program for her research on bumblebees’ potential resilience to climate change, and published two peer-reviewed scientific papers on post-wildfire ecosystem recovery and urbanization’s impacts on habitat selection for native birds. After a few years of working, Laura plans on attending graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in ecology, studying climate change’s impacts on and feedbacks from arctic ecosystems.
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Class of 2018 Terri Lynn Kavanaugh is a music major from Grapevine, Texas. Terri Lynn has served as Vice President of Marketing of Alpha Phi, and some of her proudest accomplishments include completing her senior recital and making the Dean’s list every semester since freshman year. After graduation, Terri Lynn will move back to Texas to explore new opportunities in consulting while continuing to hone her musical skills. Callie Cay Michaud is a theatrical design & production major with specialization in costume design from Houston, Texas. Callie was a founding member and founding secretary of SASS and helped to foster its growth, especially in its first year on campus. She has also served as a mentor to many freshmen students and served as treasurer for R is 4 Thursday, the campus foster care organization. During the first year, she began to interact with foster youth on a more personal level and helped those youth understand how to transition into adult life more confidently. This summer, Callie will be the costume stitcher and wardrobe supervisor at Pittsburgh Festival Opera. From there, she hopes to find a program where she can act as an apprentice at a professional year-round costume shop. Adrienne Pierce is an acting major and directing minor from Garfield, Arkansas. She served as secretary of the Honors Student Council for two consecutive years, served as Alumnae Liaison/Parent Relations Chair of Phi Mu, and was cast in the OCU mainstage production of “The House of Atreus.” She participated in a drama masterclass at the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) Conference in Chicago in 2015. After graduation, Adrienne plans to move to Chicago within the next year to pursue the MFA Acting program at DePaul University in order to achieve her dream of opening her own theatre company. Holly Randall is a political science and Spanish double major and philosophy minor from Edmond, Oklahoma. Over her time at OCU, Holly has been named a First Team Academic All-American in NAIA volleyball, will be receiving the bronze Letzeiser medal at commencement, and has received a Hatton W. Sumners Scholarship to attend OCU Law School. Following graduation, she will be pursuing her juris doctorate at the Oklahoma City University School of Law. Zoe Settle is an acting major and directing and design & production double minor from Dallas, Texas. Zoe was cast in “House of Atreus” as Iphigenia and Athena, collaborated with friends to produce an independent production of “Really Really” as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Weekend, and studied French and World War II history in Caen, France last summer. She also participated in the drama masterclass at the NCHC conference in Chicago in 2015. After graduation, Zoe plans to move to Dallas to begin working in the theatre community there. She hopes to pursue a master’s degree in the following year as part of her five-year plan toward creating her own female-driven theatre company. Molly Smith is a dance management major from Charlotte, North Carolina. During her time at OCU, she had the opportunity to hold multiple leadership positions in the professional organization Students of Arts Management, and most recently served as President. She also was stage manager of the 2017 Student Choreography Show, “Steal the Show,” which was a wonderful opportunity to apply the knowledge she has gained in production classes and on crew throughout her OCU experience. She has completed several large projects in her classes that relate to her industry, but the one she is most proud of is creating a business plan for her own tap dance company nonprofit organization. Molly plans to move to Chicago and perform in a tap company and stage manage for dance and musical theatre performances. Lindsey Todorovich is a music major from Allen, Texas. During her time at OCU Lindsey played in the orchestra for the OCU production of “Anything Goes” and played first clarinet in the OCU Orchestra performance of Dvorak Symphony No. 9. After taking a year off from school, Lindsey plans to apply to graduate programs in library science.
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Class of 2018 Sage Tokach is an acting major and directing minor from Abilene, Kansas. Sage served as an associate editor for Student Publications, directed the Stage II show “Fefu and Her Friends,” and founded and served as president for Play Club, an organization that meets weekly to read plays and practice cold reading. Sage is the recipient of this year’s silver Letzeiser medal. Following graduation, Sage will tour the country on a one-year contract with Missoula Children’s Theatre and then plans to attend grad school for directing. Sage loved her two years in Banning Hall and encourages all honors students to have that experience. Minh Ton is a cell and molecular biology major from Vietnam, though she now resides in Oklahoma City. Minh won Undergraduate Research Day for her poster, “To Meat or Not to Eat,” and presented the same poster at the Great Plains Honors Conference in 2016. In the fall of 2017, she completed her senior capstone, “The Effects of Anthropological Fragmentation of Tropical Forest on Army Ants and Further Effect On Antbirds Composition and Abundance.” She plans to volunteer at the Humane Society and Good Shepherd while waiting on the next application cycle for the University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry. Minh wants everyone at OCU to know that they have made her university life an amazing experience. She has never been around people who cared so much about her education and life and wants to thank everyone for being a part of her experience at “Over-Committed University.” Jennifer Treloggen is an economics and finance double major who grew up in many different countries. She has held many leadership positions during her time at OCU, including Speaker of the Senate, business senator, Co-Chair of the SGA Appropriations Committee, Vice President of Honors Student Council, and president of OCU Rotaract. She also participated in the inaugural Doer’s Program trip to Taiwan, presented research at NCHC Chicago, and helped author a major economic impact report for the Chickasaw Nation through work with the Steven C. Agee Economic Research and Policy Institute. Jennifer intends to spend a year preparing for multiple language proficiency and graduate school entrance exams in pursuit of a graduate degree and career in international diplomacy. Cassandra Velasco is a cell and molecular biology major and Spanish minor from Choctaw, Oklahoma. She worked as an undergraduate research assistant for the Biology Department, attended the 2017 Alpha Chi National Convention, and is currently studying abroad in Argentina. This fall, she will be enrolled in the M.D. program at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Cassandra misses everyone and sends her greetings from Argentina! Morgan White is a dance pedagogy major from Memphis, Tennessee. Morgan attended OCU NYC spring break workshops for the past four years, has served as freshman representative, social chair, and Alumni Committee head of Students of Arts Management, and was the first non-performance major to choreograph for the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment’s Student Choreography Show. Morgan plans to move to New York City this summer, where she will hopefully work for various dance studios, including the prestigious Broadway Dance Center. Beth Woodall is a music major from Rowlett, Texas. Beth is receiving the Gold Letzeiser Award for 2018, was a Junior Marshal of 2017, and was initiated into Phi Kappa Phi honor society as a junior. She will begin graduate study in music theory at the University of Kentucky, where she has received a full-tuition waiver, a teaching assistantship position, free student health insurance, and a stipend. Beth would love to thank Dr. Erik Heine for helping her so much through her collegiate years because he was instrumental in her decision to pursue music theory and helped her believe in herself.
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Student Spotlight different it would be to live in central London. Whenever people ask me to compare the two, the first thing I say without fail is, “London is very… alive.” It always surprises people because they expect me to point out the weather, how rainy or cold it is. But to me, the city is full of life, culture, language, and a vibrancy that I genuinely wasn’t expecting. It still surprises me when I hear a blend of languages as I navigate the city. Growing up in Edmond (Oklahoma), I’ve never experienced that before, and it’s beautiful.
ELIZABETH EDEM Why did you decide to study abroad? Initially, I had no intention to study abroad. I didn’t think it would be possible when I looked at everything I wanted to be involved in. However, deciding to go to Taiwan over the summer opened the floodgates. One of my professors sent me an email about London School of Economics (LSE) General Course and told me since I was already planning on giving my passport a workout, I might as well give it a thorough workout. Every reason I gave him as to why that was a terrible idea, he shut down with solid logic. I didn’t have a genuinely good reason not to apply and take a chance, so I bit the bullet and was lucky enough to get in.
What made you decide to spend an entire year abroad, instead of the traditional semester? Because I hadn’t planned on studying abroad, I didn’t really look at programs. I applied to the Doers Program in Taiwan on a whim because I like working with kids, and I only applied to LSE after I was strongly encouraged to do so. There wasn’t much thought involved in regards to a semester versus a year. I just looked at it like I was going to university in another state. The General Course lasts a year because the majority of LSE courses last a year, and everyone takes their exams together in the summer. I knew that if I got in, I’d be going for a year. It was less of a decision and more of an “I guess this is my life now” acceptance. Tell us a little bit about the London School of Economics and your student experience.
How was your immersion experience? The school’s complete title is the What kinds of things did you have to London School of Economics and adjust to? Political Science, and it is a smattering of buildings on Aldwych, just off the The most interesting thing to adjust to Strand and delightfully close to Covent was living in such a bustling city. Before Gardens. Courses are broken down I left, I couldn’t shut up about how I into lectures and classes, and there are was going to be minutes away from separate lecturers and class teachers. Westminster Bridge and how I would be Lectures are for learning, and classes able to see Big Ben from my window, are for discussing problem sets, essays, but I don’t think I realized just how articles, basically anything we’ve been
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assigned to complete over the week. That kind of course structure is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my educational background, but it was rather easy to slide into such a reliable schedule. The best way to describe my student experience at LSE is with an anecdote from my first week. I was walking past the bookstore, looking for a lecture theatre. Aside from the usual sweatshirts, pullovers, and the like, there was a T-shirt in the window that read “Eat, Sleep, Study.” I, entirely naïve of what I was getting into, dismissed it as an odd shirt. One week later, I understood. LSE is intense in the best way. Because there aren’t many contact hours with class teachers and lecturers, we do a lot of supplementary academic reading. Spending an entire day in the library is normal, and oddly, it never feels like a chore. It’s such a stimulating environment, and the conversations we have in class about the readings or the problem sets are so much fun that it’s only natural that I would want to make sure I have a strong grasp on what we’re discussing. Apart from the education, LSE has a number of societies that focus on anything you think of, from video games to machine learning to investment strategy to rap. My two main societies were the Machine Learning Society and Students for Children. I went to Python workshops, Google Developer events, and I helped organize a benefit concert to fight child trafficking. I also hung out in LSE’s IT department and brushed up on my web design skills. There’s so much to do outside of the lecture theatre and the classroom, that I don’t think I’ll ever run out of stories to tell people about my time there.
Student Spotlight How does the coursework/ atmosphere at LSE differ from that of OCU?
economics available to me has really made me appreciate how beautiful economics is and how important it is.
The difference between LSE and OCU is stark. From the way we enroll in courses to the number of contact hours to the types of societies available, LSE presented me with something new at every corner. For example, I didn’t know that it was possible to have four different societies focusing on investment with the only overlap being that the members took part in investment, but apparently, it is.
Building on that importance, I do think my deeper understanding of what economics is and what it can be has changed my general perspective. I can see the interconnectivity of the world more clearly and understand why the connections exist more quickly. The world seems a lot smaller and much more familiar because of this.
University is all about being independent and taking control of your education, and LSE is almost purposefully broad. In contrast, OCU is very focused, which is another way that the independence and control takes shape. People come to OCU for a specific reason, for a specific degree program. Because of that, I think the two universities are most similar in that both attract driven students who have a plan for their lives. How has your general world view changed since studying abroad? If anything has changed, it’s my understanding of my discipline. I’ve always known that economics is a social science, but because it’s taught at Meinders (School of Business), I’ve spent a lot of time learning about economics from a business perspective. Studying at LSE has reminded me of just how social economics is and how it can be interwoven into so many other disciplines simply because it’s so social. I’ve met people who dedicate their lives to solely economic history, the economics of corruption, and even the economics of social anthropology and how that relates to the rise of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Having such a vast array of topics in
I’m going to be just as enthusiastic in telling people that they need to experience a study abroad program before they graduate.
What do you miss most about OCU? Without a doubt, I miss the Undergraduate Investment Team. There were way more investment societies at LSE than I expected there to be, but the one that was most comfortable to me was back home. OCU students have such a unique opportunity available to them when it comes to learning about and experiencing investment, and that kind of free reign over a portfolio doesn’t happen as often or as easily as some students might think. Is there anything else you would like to add? If this experience has taught me anything, it’s to always keep my options open. There’s nothing wrong with having a general life roadmap, but it’s important to accept detours as they come. The funniest thing to me about my time at LSE is that I almost didn’t even apply, and now, I’m probably going to cry when I leave. It’s had such a great impact on me and what I want to do with my life that I finally understand why studying abroad is so ardently encouraged. I was already telling everyone I knew to apply for the Doers Program before I left for London, and I know that
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Great Plains Honors Conference
This year’s Great Plains Honors Conference was held on March 23-25 at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. Josh Hertz (political science/philosophy senior), Abbey Renner (biomedical science junior), Tammy Phillips (cell and molecular biology junior), Sammi Bronow (economics junior), and Anna Delony (business administration freshman) attended the conference. Tammy and Abbey presented their posters, “Gold Nanoparticles Regulate Lipid Droplet Formation in Ovarian Cancer Cells” and “Bacteriophage: A Potential Replacement for Antibiotics.” Sammi presented her paper, “Globalization and Its Consequences,” and Anna presented her poster, “Sex Trafficking on Crime TV.” On that Saturday, GPHC offered several Oklahoma excursion options. Josh, Abbey, and Sammi traveled to Tulsa to visit the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art and the Philbrook Museum of Art.
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Undergraduate Research Day 2018 OCU’s 18th annual Undergraduate Research Day was held on Feb. 23, 2018, and it was a huge success! There were over 30 entries for posters, performances, and presentations that spanned many diverse fields of study. Congratulations to all participants for their excellent work. Category winners received $150 cash prizes, while the Grand Prize winner received a cash prize of $350. This year’s Grand Prize winner was Laura Jardine, who presented her poster “The impact of nitrogen availability during early and late succession on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, AK.” Poster Winners: Biology/Ecology: Laura Jardine, “The impact of fire on nitrogen availability during early and late succession on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, AK” Dance: Maridith Grimsley, “Dance for All: How we deliver dance to children with autism” Mass & Social Media: Anna Delony, “Sex Trafficking and its Representation in Crime TV” Mental Health Studies: Brooke Horinek, “Behavioral Factors Predicting Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Among Young Adult College Students” Presentation Winners: Interdisciplinary Fine Arts: Joe Harris, “Mozart’s Klavierstuck in F, K. 33d: Adaptation or Original Work? Natural Sciences: Alanah Hosford, “Feeding and Breeding: Population Decline in Black-Borrowed Albatrosses (Thalassarche melanophris) at South Georgia Island” Political Science: Nicole Baumann, “Militancy and Massacres – The Rationale Behind the Mass Murders of ISI and AlShabaab” Interdisciplinary Humanities: Kaylila Pasha, “International Child Slavery: Pakistan” Journalism & Media Studies: Sophia Babb, “Instagram Usage and Young Women’s Body Images”
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