“I will miss the atmosphere most and having all the friends and being able to walk down anywhere on campus and seeing ten people that I know.”-Aaron Thomsen, physics major

“I am jutting off to Seattle, Washington and I will be attending Seattle University for a student development administration masters.” Eden Tullis, english major

“I really enjoyed the small class sizes and the closeness between the teachers and students.” Trey Stead, chemistry major

“I going to miss everything. From the small town to being able to walk everywhere, to the little restaurants downtown that you don’t get anywhere else.”

“My favorite memory was always hoarding pizza at night and the pizza guy always getting lost.” Andrew Dorpinghause, photography major

"The thing I’ll miss most about ESU is the small class sizes and obviously my friends.” Erin Burroughs, histroy major

“I plan on being active with my fraternity, I’m moving up to Indianapolis and I’m going to work for the national headquarters being a travelling consultant.” Brent McCoy, secondary education biology major

- “My favorite ESU memory was helping my roommate make clues for the Red Bull scavenger hunt around campus.” Natalie Benton, business management major

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President Michael Shonrock presents senior English major Eden Tullis with the outstanding senior award. The Dwight and Ida Curry Newberg Outstanding Senior Banquet was held Monday in Webb Hall. Yohan Kim/The Bulletin

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Photo Illustration by Julie Thephachan

With only a few weeks left in the semester, seniors have already begun to say goodbye to their school and prepare for the next chapter in their lives while reflecting on their time in college.

Kyle Farmer, senior secondary education and social sciences major, said that his college life has been full of ups and downs.

“I’ve learned how to be an adult (and) I’ve learned more about being responsible,” Farmer said. “I’ve joined an excellent fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and they’ve helped me become more responsible, work hard, get out there more and care more about things outside myself.”

Farmer said that he’d miss late night talks with friends the most, but wouldn’t miss finals. After graduation, Farmer said he’s planning on finding a job teaching high school history or world geography.

Many other seniors also have plans made for post graduation, like Daniel Delgadillo, senior crime and delinquency studies major. Delgadillo was recently hired by the Emporia Police Department and has already begun his training. Delgadillo said that graduating from college is very different from graduating from high school.

“In high school everybody expects you to get basic knowledge,” he said. “I really think it’s a greater appreciation (graduating from college) just because not everybody goes to college, and even then, all those don’t graduate either.”

When asked if he had any advice for underclassmen, Delgadillo said that time management is a crucial skill for students to master.

Casey McCabe, senior theater major, is currently working on “The Eleven O’ Clock Club,” the Spring Dance Show.

“Every year you watch friends leave, and when it’s finally your turn to leave, it’s kind of that realization that you have to be an adult, you have to try and find a job and you have to apply the things that you’ve spent four years learning,” McCabe said. “It’s exciting and kind of scary.”

He also said that he’s mainly learned all of the aspects of theater beyond acting, including set design, lighting and more.

Abbi Moser, senior secondary education major, is planning on sticking around in Emporia, as she has been offered a job at the Turning Point learning center, teaching high school level students. Moser said that she will miss the activities offered by the university.

When asked what advice she had for underclassmen, Moser said that she’s had the same advice ever since she was an Residential Assistant.

“Definitely don’t go home every weekend because you’re missing out on a lot of the fun activities and being an individual and being independent,” Moser said.

Luke Lehman, senior English major, advises students to not procrastinate.

“If you’re busy, make sure you write everything out…I think the biggest thing in college is to plan ahead,” Lehman said.

According the a tentative list from Registrar, there are more than 600 graduating seniors in May. Some will leave Emporia and some will stay and begin their post college lives, but each one of them is going to be alike in one way – they will be Emporia State University alumni.

Luke Bohannon

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Nikki Metz, alumni programs coordinator at the Sauder Alumni Center, detailed some of the university’s methods for keeping alumni up-to-date on events at ESU.

Metz said they use an e-newsletter called the Hornet Blast, which can be signed up for online. There are also alumni chapters for the university in several cities, including Kansas City, Wichita, Salina, Topeka and Lawrence, among others. The Emporia Connection chapter is the African American chapter, which is a national chapter that meets once a year.

“It’s a two way street. If our students have good experiences, fond experiences and a great life changing experience as an undergraduate or a graduate, they’re going to be prone to keep their contact information up,” said Roger Heineken, administrative officer for the Memorial Union and ESU alumnus.

Greek alumni also have a wide variety of ways they can keep in contact with their chapters. Luke Drury, junior political science major and president of the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity, said that the fraternity uses both a monthly and a quarterly newsletter to keep in touch with alums.

Also, he said that they try to make sure to invite alumni to as many events as possible to help keep them involved in the house. Events include rituals, formals and Founder’s Day. Social media also plays a large part in staying connected with alumni, Drury said.

Adrian Carmichael graduated from Emporia State in December 2010 with a degree in finance and is now working in the Admissions office as the coordinator of data management. Carmichael is also an alumnus of Sigma Phi Epsilon, which he says adds to the alumni experience.

“(Being a Greek alumni) definitely gives you a better connection when it comes to dealing with the house,” Carmichael said. “Not only that, but you get involved with homecoming, and an average alumni may not have that incentive to come back.”

Sororities use similar methods to maintain communication with graduates. Brooke Schmidt, junior Spanish major and president of the Alpha Sigma Alpha Sorority and newly-elected president of Associated Student Government, described several different ways that the sorority keeps up with alums, including social media, newsletters, having an alumni advisory board and even sending out cards on certain holidays.

Luke Bohannon

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Vogts

As the school year comes to an end, Emporia State prepares to lose another group of bright minds. As for senior occupational therapy major and Associated Student Government President Ashley Vogts, she will say goodbye to the school she has called home for the last four years.

“For the past 30-plus years, I have worked with many student government and campus leaders, and without a doubt, Ashley is one the most talented peer leaders I have had the pleasure of working with at universities in both Kansas and Texas,” said President Michael Shonrock.

After graduation Vogts plans to go to the University of Kansas to get her graduate degree in occupational therapy, a step for which she says ESU has prepared her.

“It is going to be interesting and fun,” Vogts said. “It is a three year program and is going to be a whole new chapter of my life.”

Vogts said she has made lasting friendships and still stays in touch with the girls she met in her first year while living in the Towers Residential Complex.

“I lived on an all-girls floor, and we became super fast friends,” Vogts said. “We still get together a couple times a month because we all kind of split into different departments. It has just been a great four years, and I tell people all the time if I could make a career out of staying at Emporia State I would.”

Vogts, a second-generation Hornet, said her mother’s stories about ESU helped make the decision to come here an easy one.

“I didn’t even look anywhere else, it just felt right,” Vogts said. “I have had so many opportunities and experiences here, and I know I couldn’t have done it if I wouldn’t have come to Emporia State.”

With all the added responsibilities of being a senior, Vogts still managed to take on the task of ASG president, a position that ASG vice president and senior marketing major Jennifer Cheray talked her into.

“She was supposed to go to KU this year, so her plans were kind of up in the air for a long time,” Cheray said. “We didn’t think it was going to happen, but we just rolled with it and it came together.”

Vogts said she is not worried about finding a job after finishing college with the education she has received from ESU and the career she has chosen.

“She is exceptional and will continue to excel in her graduate studies at the University of Kansas,” Shonrock said.

Rocky Robinson

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Bachelor of Fine Arts in Liberal Arts and Sciences

CANDIDATES FOR THE DEGREE

BACHELOR OF INTEGRATED STUDIES

LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES

Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies in Liberal Arts and Sciences

Bachelor of Music in Liberal Arts and Sciences

Bachelor of Music Education in Liberal Arts and Sciences

Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts and Sciences

Bachelor of Science in Nursing in Liberal Arts and Sciences

Bachelor of Science in Business in School of Business

Bachelor of Arts in the Teachers College

Bachelor of Science in the Teachers College

Bachelor of Science in Education in the Teachers College (Elementary)

Bachelor of Science in Education in the Teachers College (Secondary)

Graduate School

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Now unemployment remains around 8.2 percent, but assistant professor of economics Rob Catlett said there is still hope.

“Employment and unemployment tend to lag behind the rest of the economy,” he said. “Employers are reluctant to hire new workers after a recession because they are not sure when we are out of it.”

While the job market declines, the qualifications needed for the remaining jobs increases. Now students need masters and doctorates to compete for jobs that previously only required associates and bachelors degrees. They also must compete with experienced workers who lost jobs in the recession.

“One of the biggest advantages a college graduate has is that employers are looking for new ideas,” Catlett said.  “Fresh, creative ideas are always an advantage. A student doesn’t need to know exactly what they want to do, but the worst thing they can tell an employer is ‘I don’t know.’”

With more school comes more costs. The average undergraduate owes about $25,000 dollars after graduation and generally only has more school and more debt to look forward to.

The Obama administration said that students should expect to see an increase in Stafford loan interest rates, which will double July 1, raising them to around 6.8 percent. If the tuition and budget committee’s proposal goes through, Emporia students can also expect a 6.5 percent tuition increase on top of that.

“I am going to play basketball as long as can,” said Antonio DiMaria, senior communication major. “I have already signed to an agent is Spain. Even if I don’t make a career out of it, I still want to stay involved with school and athletics… I feel Emporia is a good school and grads won’t have too hard of a time finding jobs.”

Students like Sarah Banta, senior physical education major, remain optimistic. She said Emporia has prepared her for a job in education.

“Emporia State is known throughout Kansas and nationally as a teachers college,” Banta said. “I think that gives me priority over others…. I don’t know what is going on in the economy too much because I don’t really watch the news, but I like to think we can improve.”

Catlett said after a financial crisis like the most recent one can take up to a decade for the job market to return to normal, but he also said it looks like improvement is in the forecast.

Rocky Robinson

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Officer removed a dog that had gotten into South Morse Hall.

Mark Morgan reported a non-injury accident involving KS 7168 and KS 888CBP in 1500 Morse Dr.

April 19

Ambulance responded to Visser Hall Room 115 for a female who had passed out. Subject

was transported by ambulance to Newman Regional Health.

April 20

Terra Woods reported property being stolen.

Officer stopped KS 312CNJ at 1400 Block of Merchant. Verbal warning was given for obstructive windshield at 15th and Merchant St.

April 21

Female student requested to speak with an officer at headquarters.

Ambulance responded to Welch Stadium for possible broken arm. Subject was transported by ambulance to Newman Regional Hospital.

Officers assisted EPD with a vehicle accident at the 1300 Block of Center St.

Ambulance responded to Wilson Park for unconscious subject. Subject was transported by ambulance to Newman Regional Hospital.

Ambulance responded to Wilson Park for dog bite. Subject was not transported.

Officer stopped KS 714BBF at 1800 block of Merchant. Verbal warning issued for no turn signal at I-35 and Merchant St.

Officer stopped ESU vehicle 05286 at 15th and Merchant St. Verbal warning was given for unauthorized riders in the back of the vehicle.

Officer assisted the Emporia Police Department with a noise complaint in the 1300 Block of Merchant St.

Officer attempted to contact subject throwing a rock at a window on South Twin Towers.  Subject fled. Subject was arrested for minor in consumption and obstruction of legal process. No damage was found to window. Subject was transported to Lyon County Detention Center.

Officer assisted Lyon County Sheriff Department with a car stop in the 1700 Block of Highland St.

Officer assisted the Emporia Police Department with a non-injury accident at 304 East 12th Ave.

Officer was flagged over on 1201 Triplet Dr. and investigated a possible domestic disturbance. Subject was taken into custody for obstruction of legal process. Subject was transported to Lyon County Detention Center.

April 22

Officer checked welfare on GA 335PCF and WI 705EPT. Verbal warning given for parking on grass.

April 23

Officer stopped a bicyclist in Sector 6. Verbal warning given for a one-way violation in same location.

Officer contacted skateboarder at Plumb Hall and advised of campus policy.

April 24

Officer assisted Emporia Police Dept. with a call at 1201 E 12th St.

Parking Enforcement immobilized KS 290 BWH in Lot 7. Citation was issued.

Officer issued a citation for Interfering with the Duties of a Law Enforcement Officer to a male student in South Twin Towers for fleeing from him earlier.

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Local law enforcement is seeking information reference a burglary to H&H Auto Repair at 616 Prairie St. It occurred over the weekend of April 13-16.

Several items, including a Fluke multi-meter, a 3/8 impact swivel, sockets and a Blue Point reversible air drill were taken in the burglary. Windows were also broken in the incident, making the total loss to the business around $4,000.

If you have any information about this burglary or any other crime, please contact the Emporia Police Department at 343-4200 or Lyon County Crime Stoppers at 342-2273. If your tip leads to an arrest you could be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

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