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Sunday Stories: Drue Lindsey is a second-semester

Sunday Stories: Drue Lindsey is a second-semester senior at Ozarks who embraces his calling to be a teacher and a leader- and he is busy. “Between taking people on rock climbing trips for Ozarks Outdoors, helping to coach the Scranton Highschool Basketball team, to helping residents in the dorms - it’s a lot,” Drue said.

Drue grew up in Mountain Home, Ark., where he attended high school. “Sports are big for me,” he said. ‘We have a saying there, ‘I bleed blue and gold,’” a sentiment of school spirit that Drue carried with him to Ozarks. Drue had several offers to wrestle at different schools, but he chose Ozarks because of its small environment. He wrestled for a year but decided to leave the team. Though he originally came for sports, he found it was the RA position that “reeled” him into Ozarks. “Becoming an RA, getting close to my residents, and especially my co-RA-workers,” he said, “That’s really what kept me here.”

Drue was very involved in high school, so coming to college, he wanted to take a step back, but the director of residential life at the time had other plans. Seeing Drue’s energy and involvement at events, he asked Drue to apply to be an RA. fter the deadline, “When he didn’t get my application,” Drue said, “He came to me personally and asked, Why didn’t you apply?!” Even though applications were closed, he reopened them specifically for Drue. “That was shocking to me,” Drue said.

Everywhere he goes, he is beloved by his students; He was voted conselor of the year at Camp Chen-A-Wanda. “It wasn’t planned at all,” Drue explains. He sat down with a friend at lunch one day who told him about the camp and convinced Drue to try it. “So, I went, and it was the time of my life.” He is currently finishing an internship coaching 7th grade, junior high, and senior high basketball at Scranton. “It was emotional,” He said. “After all the blood, sweat, and tears we’ve been through together, to see it come to an end.” His students thanked him for coaching them, and there were more than a few tears shed at the end of the basketball season.

It is these kinds of lasting impacts and connections that Drue wants to leave with his students.

Ambassador Insider: Senior student ambassador Rand

Ambassador Insider: Senior student ambassador Randi Jo, who is also the social media team lead, takes us just off campus to the Spadra Nature Trails. These trails wind throughout town and provide a perfect place for walking, riding bikes, and enjoying time outdoors. Listen in as she talks about why she enjoys these trails and what being an ambassador means to her!

Sunday Stories: Katelyn Willetts, a junior English

Sunday Stories: Katelyn Willetts, a junior English major, is combining her love of storytelling with an entrepreneurial spirit to build a future in editing.

“Since I first learned to read, it’s been a natural thing for me,” she said. “I’ve always just loved getting lost in a story, connecting with characters, and going with them on their journey.”

Stories helped Katelyn through difficult times, inspiring her to “understand how [stories] work, what makes them powerful, and what gives them their influence.” She added, “I want to work with stories myself so I can help make a difference in other people’s lives, just as stories have made a difference in mine.”

Rather than writing, Katelyn wants to edit. “I like working with the building blocks that other people have,” she said. “My career goal is to help authors refine their stories and to help make them the best that they can be!”

Her entrepreneurship minor is a nod to her roots. “I come from an entrepreneurial family,” said Katelyn, who grew up at her family’s trout fishing resort in Flippin, Ark. “It was a great place to grow up” she said, chuckling about stories of catching fish with the dock manager. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Though she values those roots, she’s forging her own path. She’s already freelanced by editing a friend’s memoir and completed an internship with author Brock Eastman and Crimson Pulse Media.

Minors in psychology and history also support her goals. “Psychology is about how people, or characters, think,” and “History is the story of the world,” she said. “If it wasn’t for the LENS program, I probably wouldn’t have taken so many minors!”

As she heads into her final year, Katelyn is eager to keep growing her editing experience and sharing her love for stories.

Feature produced by Communications Studies major Phoenix Mertin

Ambassador Insider: Tune in with Duban, a student

Ambassador Insider: Tune in with Duban, a student ambassador here at Ozarks who finds peace and relaxation with a little piano practice in the chapel. With his busy schedule, and rewarding job as a student ambassador, it can sometimes be hard to find time to unwind, but in this instance the chapel one of many spots on campus to do so!

Sunday Stories - Despite starting out shy in her f

Sunday Stories - Despite starting out shy in her first semester, Meri Emongo, a senior here at Ozarks, has grown to become co-founder and president of the She Ignites Club, an organization dedicated to the empowerment of women on campus.

“It’s meant to be a safe space to celebrate the diversity of women on campus,” Meri said.

This is partially based on a group that Meri has back home called “Sit with the Women,” and it is about “women getting stronger together in their faith.” Meri and her fellow officers wanted to bring a piece of this “sisterhood” to Ozarks.

The events have been a huge hit as more and more women engage with the club. Now that Meri is graduating, she is hopeful the organization will continue to thrive for many years to come.

Meri is an international student from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her sister, who was living in the U.S., helped her apply to several universities. Ozarks stood out not only because of its financial aid package but its curriculum.

“I think the LENS program is one of the best things the University has to offer, and I really took advantage of it,” she said.

Though Meri is majoring in finance, “I have an art side too,” she said. Her minor in art has been an outlet to explore her creative side – especially when it comes to photography.

Meri has taken several photography classes, even though they were not all requirements for her degree; “Its a good thing to explore a different side of me besides just my major from freshman year to graduation. Now I know I can have a camera, I can charge people for pictures now; it’s something [else] I can do.”

Meri believes people end up where they are meant to be: “Just because life isn’t what you expected it to be, doesn’t mean this is the wrong path,” she said.

“Who would have thought: ‘Meri, not knowing much English or about studying in the U.S., would be creating changes on campus?!’ I’m proud I’m part of this.”

Feature produced by Communications Studies major Phoenix Mertin

Campus Conversations: Episode 3 - Tune in with Ass

Campus Conversations: Episode 3 - Tune in with Assistant Professor of Biology Christie Sampson and Biology major Mackenzie Meier as they discuss biological and ecological impacts, opportunities for student and faculty research, and how an immersive and engaging classroom experience helps fuel passions for individual research. 🔬🦅 #college #arkansas #ozarks #eagles #uozarks #university

Ambassador Insider: Spring Break plans? Balta, a s

Ambassador Insider: Spring Break plans? Balta, a senior student ambassador here at Ozarks, is hanging out in Ozarks Outdoors — which just might be the perfect place to find something fun to do over spring break. As a student here, Ozarks Outdoors provides the perfect place to unwind, rent outdoor equipment (for free), get involved in intramurals, and hangout with friends.

Tune in with Balta as he provides a glimpse of Ozarks Outdoors and what it means to be a part of the student ambassador and leadership team!

Congratulations, Sara! Thank you for visiting Univ

Congratulations, Sara! Thank you for visiting University of the Ozarks, we hope you enjoyed your time on campus! 🦅

Our admissions team will reach out to you soon!

Over the weekend the Walton International Scholars

Over the weekend the Walton International Scholarship Program held their annual gathering at University of the Ozarks, where all three universities (JBU, Harding, and Ozarks), came together for a day filled with fun, connection, and team building as they competed for the inaugural WISP Cup. 🏆

Sunday Stories: A student from the Bahamas, Wannes

Sunday Stories: A student from the Bahamas, Wannessa Hanna, has made her voice known in her freshman year here at Ozarks.

“God has gifted me with music,” Wannessa said. She shared that gift with the Clarksville community this weekend with her performance in the musical theatre ensemble’s production of “The Great Broadway Radio Hour, Live.” She also placed third in the classical category and first in the commercial category in the NATS singing competition in Fayetteville, Ark., at the beginning of March.

“I love performing,” she said. “I grew up singing in church, so that’s something I always felt comfortable doing and I felt called to do it.”

“I resonate the most with gospel music,” she said. However, she began exploring Bahamian secular music when she played in a high school band; “It was a time in my life I felt the most inspired in music, with my community, and with my culture as a whole.”

In 2019, Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas. Wannessa lost loved ones and many of her friends lost their homes. “When that hurricane came, many people’s lives- including me, were changed forever.” The following year, the COVID pandemic spread and Wannessa was homeschooled.

“When I think of home, I think of things I have been through, my family supporting me through that, my teachers, my friends,” she said. “I made it through that for a reason.”

Wannessa said coming to Ozarks “was like starting a new chapter.” When she arrived at the university, she had left her community, her support system, behind. “This is the first time I have ever been away from my family and friends back at home,” she said. “That’s been the hardest adjustment.”

However, the Ozarks community has helped her build a new support system; from professors to new friends, “I have found people I can talk to whenever I’m struggling,” she said.

“Ever since [the hurricane], people on that island have struggled with mental health,” a struggle Wannessa believes is under-supported in her country.

Majoring in music and psychology, Wannessa wants to bring awareness to mental health in the Bahamas, as many others share in the struggles she overcame to be here today.

Feature by Phoenix Mertin

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