The
ENDEAVOR Newsletter of the Oklahoma City University Honors Program
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Director’s Corner
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Introducing a new Student Professional
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Orientation Day
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National Collegiate Honors Conference
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Honors Student Council 21-22
Pictured: Gold Star Building, home of the OCU Honors Program
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FALL TWENTY-TWENTY-ONE | 2021
DIRECTOR’S CORNER Welcome to our fall issue of the Endeavor, the semi-annual newsletter for OCU’s honors community. We are so happy to be able to return to our two-issue format this year as we continue to chart our path forward through the pandemic. In the pages ahead you’ll see the highlights from this fall’s events and activities, get an introduction to our new firstyear cohort, meet our new Honors Student Professional and new Honors Student Council Officers, and get a glimpse of our participation at this fall’s in-person NCHC conference in Orlando, the highlight of which was a first-place student research poster placing by senior Elizabeth Gwartney. As always, we welcome opportunities to connect and reconnect with you, alumni and friends of the program. Thanks for staying in touch with us and supporting us. You can follow us on both Facebook and Instagram @OCUHonors. Karen Youmans, Ph.D. Honors Program Director
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Introducing a new Student Professional
This year, Honors at OCU welcomed a new student professional. Carly Pontius is a junior dance performance major with a minor in business entrepreneurship from Colorado Springs, Colorado. She began training for this position with Zechariah Zubia, her predecessor, during the spring of 2021 and is now the sole Student Assistant to the Director. A note from Carly: When I was accepted into OCU as a dance major, I did not yet know that OCU had an honors program, much less that it would provide me with so many opportunities and friendships. I turned in my application for the Honors Program not knowing quite what it would entail other than a brochure of class offerings, and while I have always loved learning and education, I cannot lie and say I wasn’t quite enticed by early movein and priority enrollment. Now, over two years later I have built lasting relationships with faculty and peers from Banning Hall and my freshman Honors Composition classes. I attribute so many of my positive college experiences to Honors at OCU that the opportunity to work alongside Dr. Youmans in a student professional position seemed to be a perfect job for me. Upon choosing to be a dance performance major on the eve of my junior year, I was excited to hone my craft and sharpen my skills in dance, and was not at all concerned about losing my connection with academia because 1. The dance performance degree is based in depth of knowledge about dance and 2. I would be flexing my administrative muscles as a Student Professional. I have learned so much holding a seat both in the Honors Committee and Honors Student Council. If Honors has taught me anything, it is that we (humans) are all more similar than we are different, so even though OCU has athletes, performers, and scientists, and all sorts of people with differing interests and backgrounds, we are all just people who love something. Honors is one of the communities that brings those people together. Cheers to a great year! 3
Orientation Day
Bringing in the Year New wide-eyed students come to campus on orientation day, and yet again their eyes are all we can see. COVID-19 continues to dictate some of our behavior on campus, but with increased vaccination rates and a better understanding of the virus, the incoming 2021 cohort of honors students were able to enjoy some more “togetherness.” Starting with the return of the honors family dinner on orientation night, and followed by a full day of orientation activities, the students were divided into small groups for bonding. Our orientation leaders, Kristen Olmstead, Katy Manderfeld, Preston Hunt, Alisha Asif, Paul Nguyen, Francesca Savone, and Teegin Groves, were each assigned a small group of students. The highlight of orientation day is consistently the group trip to EscapeOKC, where students make the mile- long walk to complete an escape room with their group. This game is fun for this group of thinkers, and peer mentors who were part of the incoming cohort of 2020 got to enjoy their first Honors/Escape experience as well. The 2021 Cohort of students has an excitement about seeing other bright, passionate students that was enhanced by the return of many of the beloved activities and in-person interactions from a pre-pandemic world.
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National Collegiate Honors Conference This year’s National Collegiate Honors Conference (NCHC) was held in Orlando, Florida. Elizabeth Gwartney, senior biomedical science major, placed first in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics division of the student poster competition. Her research project entitled “Novel Antibiotics from Oklahoma Soil” was overseen by Dr. Greg Mullen, associate professor of biology. Also attending the conference were senior vocal performance major Kristen Olmsted and sophomore cell and molecular biology major Ashley Nguyen, both of whom served as student moderators. Dr. Karen Youmans, honors program director and professor of English, co-led a Developing in Honors session for faculty and administrators. The Oklahoma City University Honors Representatives also enjoyed a trip to Disney’s Epcot during their stay.
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HONORS STUDENT COUNCIL 21-22 PRESIDENT: KRISTEN OLMSTED President, Kristen Olmstead, is a senior vocal performance major with an economics minor. She joined HSC because she loves learning from the honors community and wanted to facilitate more opportunities for the community to grow together! A notable honors experience was NCHC. Kristen reflects, “I learned so much from the honors presentations, had a great time moderating dialogues, and loved visiting Epcot for the first time.” After graduation, Kristen plans to pursue her passion of bringing art and communities together by working in marketing and fundraising at an arts non-profit. VP OF PRESIDENT OF ADMINISTRATION: GABRIELLE YOUNG Vice President of Administration, Gabrielle Young is a junior dance management major with a minor in business entrepreneurship. Gabrielle joined HSC because she deeply values the honors community and wanted to connect and serve in a larger capacity. Gabrielle enjoyed Honors Mythic Journeys with Dr. Youmans. She recalls, “From the discussion-centered style of teaching to the opportunity to connect with other students, I will never forget the fun I had in that class!” In the future she plans to work in the entertainment industry and see the world while doing it.
VP OF PROGRAMMING: SARA MASSOUDI Vice President of Programming, Sara Massoudi, is a senior BFA acting major with minors in children’s theatre and directing! She joined HSC because she wanted to develop a sense of community and belonging within the honors program. Post-graduation, Sara plans to move to NYC to pursue acting and being a teaching artist.
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE: ASHLEY NGUYEN Director of Finance, Ashley Nguyen is a sophomore cell and molecular biology major with a minor in business entrepreneurship and Spanish language. Her favorite memory as an honors student was this year’s NCHC Conference in Orlando, FL. On joining HSC, Ashley states, “I really wanted to be surrounded by other honors leaders and collaborate towards making OCU’s Honors Program better.” In the future Ashley hopes to work as a healthcare professional to help others.
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SECRETARY: KATY MANDERFELD Secretary Katy Manderfeld is a sophomore music theatre and vocal performance double major. Katy chose to run for HSC because she wanted to help make honors feel more like a community. She also served as an honors peer mentor, so she says “Honors orientation was a highlight for me this year. My group really bonded and had a lot of fun!” After graduation, Katy hopes to work in music or the theatre industry.
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING: SADIE KOOPMAN Sadie Koopman is a third-year vocal performance and music theater double major and serves on HSC as the director of marketing. Her favorite honors memory was living in Banning Hall, the Honors Living/Learning Community, because that’s where she was able to meet her best friends. Sadie chose to be on HSC because she wanted everyone to know about the great opportunities this community has to offer. In her career, Sadie wants to use my art to empower her audiences to create change.
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