Fifelski

“By any means necessary,” is what Emporia State’s debate team captain Kurt Fifelski abided by to achieve the status of an All-American from the Cross-Examination Debate Association.

Fifelski graduated from Wayland Union High School in Wayland, Mich., and is now a senior who plans on graduating with bachelors degrees in political science and social sciences, emphasizing in philosophy.

“I chose these majors because they are my passions and will help better my career.” Fifelski said. “Also, I am enthralled with reading and research, something these departments offer me.”

Multiple articles and essays written by Fifelski were published through the Best of ESU and West Coast Publishing. Fifelski was also named the 2008-2009 outstanding philosophy student by the ESU Social Sciences Department.

Four years debating has taught Fifelski lessons that he can achieve only through experience.

“I’ve learned a lot about argumentation, analysis, rhetoric and research,” Fifelski said. “More importantly, I have learned a lot about myself as it has taught me about personal reflection.”

Fifelski has participated in approximately 400 debates.

Fifelski draws his inspiration to debate purely out of his drive to be successful, with each win fueling his passion.

“Each win feels better than the last,” he said.

Fellow teammate Yao Chen, senior molecular and cellular biology major, said that Fifelski is the fastest speaker, an undefeatable debater and has the highest Grade Point Average.

“He is the absolute spirit of the whole squad,” Chen said.

Two-year debate partner, Chris Loghry, junior communications major, commented on Fifelski’s cross-examination method (a three minute questioning period following each constructive speech).

“He’ll regularly embarrass people in cross-examination, but he does so in the nicest possible way,” Loghry said.

Fifelski and Loghry have made it in the finals of two national debate tournaments this year, the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Northern Texas. It is the second time Fifelski has qualified to the National Debate Tournament, something most debaters never make it to.

Fifelski has competed against individuals from debate giants such as Harvard and Dartmouth.

Fifelski’s last debate performance with debate team was at the University of Dallas. He and his partner went 5-3 and qualified to the National Debate Tournament.

Recently, Fifelski had the honor to be nominated for the Harry S. Truman scholarship “The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is one of the most prestigious public affairs scholarships out there,” Fifelski said. “Each university has the opportunity to nominate a few students and typically 650-700 students apply. My goal has been achieved just by knowing my professors feel comfortable enough to support me in such endeavors.”

Not only is Fifelski a successful collegiate debater, he is also an accomplished high school coach. Being the varsity coach for the Emporia High School, Fifelski coached the most successful team in the state over the past year by winning the most prestigious debate tournament in Kansas, the Debate Coaches Invitational.

“Ultimately, Kurt is incredibly nice in debates and during work sessions and is always very respectful with people even when he’s schooling them,” Loghry said.

Fifelski was a champion even as a child. He participated in kart racing, winning multiple championships. He also shows great interest in boxing.

Fifelski’s ultimate goal is to achieve a doctorate degree. But first he plans on attending graduate school for communication at Berkley or Wake Forest. He also envisions himself living in Europe for a good portion of the next decade.

“He strives for excellence in everything he does and that really shows both academically and in terms of debate success,” Loghry said.

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Wike

Cassie Wike, senior secondary education major, has wanted to be a teacher for as long as she can remember.

“My mom loves to tell the story of how I used to teach my teddy bears,” Wike said. “I would even assign them homework.”

Wike, originally from Highland Ranch, Colo., is completing her secondary education degree and student teaching in the social sciences this semester at Emporia High School. She is slated to graduate this May.

“I was excited to go back to high school,” she said of her student teaching experience. “I loved high school.” 

During one teddy school session, Wike’s mother found a teddy bear out in hallway, upon asking her daughter why, Wike responded that the teddy bear was misbehaving.

While Wike’s students are no longer teddy bears, they can still be ornery.

“Certain students try to test the boundaries,” she said.

Wike has had to handle challenging behavior from high school students as a student teacher and that as a 21-year-old, there is not as much distance (in years) between her and her students as with some other teachers. But even at 21, Wike admits that it is “hard to remember what it’s like to be a high schooler.”

She said that motivating students is one of the more difficult aspects of her job.

Wike said that she picked up a lot of useful tools in her education classes that are helpful for student teaching and beyond.

“I use Kagan activities a lot,” Wike said.

Kagan activities are collaborative learning tools developed by Dr. Spencer Kagan.

Wike said she is also grateful that she learned from her instructors – Darla Mallein, associate professor of social sciences, in particular – that lectures are not the only way to get crucial information across in a social studies classroom.

“(She is) very passionate about teaching,” said Mallien. “She really wants to be the best teacher she can and she wants to reach that goal. She is willing to do whatever it takes to be creative.”

Her tip for student teachers?

“I think if you don’t plan ahead, it is a really daunting task to grade, learn the content and create a lesson,” Wike said.

According to Wike, it takes her under an hour to make a lesson plan, plus additional time to make handouts.

“But I enjoy making the handouts,” she quickly added.

Wike started the semester with three weeks worth of lessons. This has left her with enough time to hold an on-campus job, and work on wedding plans with her fiancé, Russell Medley, who is also a student at Emporia State studying to become a teacher.

Medley describes his fiancée as “very  self-motivated and creative, she likes to design lessons that go beyond lecturing.”

Wike says that the hardest thing about student teaching is going back to school full-time after having gotten used to setting her own schedule as a college student.

However, Wike said she is enjoying her return trip to high school because student teaching is “better than being a college student.”

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Tina Herrera

Teaching math has always been something that Tina Herrera, senior elementary math education major with an emphasis in middle school math, wanted to do.

“When I first came to (Emporia State), I wanted to do secondary math (education) but I was having a lot of trouble with the math classes,” Herrera said. “But when I was younger I just wanted to be an elementary teacher.”

Herrera said that she did have some influences from her high school math teacher.

“My high school math teacher really got me to enjoy math,” she said. “That’s why I wanted to be a math teacher but I didn’t know that I had to take all of the really hard math classes. So that was a bummer.”

It wasn’t her first choice but Herrera decided that teaching elementary math while getting middle school certification as well would be a suitable choice.

“When I found out that I could do both elementary and middle school math, I thought that was pretty awesome,” she said. “Middle schoolers are pretty fun. Not that many people like them but I enjoy being around them.”

Currently, Herrera is interning at Timmerman Elementary School with second graders.

“She’s very dedicated,” said Laurie Kurzen, Herrera’s mentor teacher at Timmerman Elementary. “She’s a single mom and she’s so dedicated to her job. She’s definitely a secondary person so she’s a little nervous about being in a second grade classroom but she’ll do fine.”

While school takes up a lot of her time, Herrera makes time for her three-year-old son, Coda, tutoring at Project Challenge and running.

“Spending time with my son (is important),” Herrera said. “He likes to be outside so we are always outside playing.”

After going through college as a traditional student, this time around her experiences are completely different.

“Now it takes a lot of time management skills,” Herrera said. “I have to balance everything. I can’t do my homework until (Coda) goes to bed. I do it between 9 p.m. and 12 p.m. every night. And I have to get him up and ready in the morning. It’s not just me.”

As a tutor for Project Challenge, Herrera has gained some valuable experience.

“She’s tutored for the college program for the past two years and she’s doing a wonderful job,” said Trudi Benjamin, director of Project Challenge and Upward Bound. “Students really like her and she’s going to be a good teacher. She’s our star math tutor.”

When Herrera starts student teaching next semester, she will no longer be able to work at Project Challenge.

“We’ll really miss her,” Benjamin said. “She’s done really well with our students. A lot of students are scared of math and she’s really helped with that.”

Herrera has run a marathon relay and at least four 5 and 10Ks.

“I enjoy running,” she said. “Last April I did a marathon relay so I didn’t run the whole marathon but I ran part of it with my friend in Oklahoma City (for the Oklahoma City Memorial Run).

The Oklahoma City Memorial Run helps raise money for the upkeep of the Memorial for the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995.

“There was so many people there that it took twenty minutes for everyone to get past the start at the beginning,” Herrera said.

She will run in the Therapeutic Learning Center Underground race this weekend to raise money for the TLC children’s fund.

“It will be in the caves that they have in Kansas City,” Herrera said. “I know there are lots of tips out there for people about how to run any race but I just do what works for me. I run against myself. I’m actually trying to bet the time that I had from the previous day so I get kind of mad at myself if I don’t do it. I’m a little hard on myself.”

Even though Herrera also has a message license, she hasn’t quite found the time to take on any clients.

“I’m busy all the time,” she said. “People always ask me (if I’m taking any clients).”

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FOSTER

For Amanda Foster, senior psychology major, life is about staying ahead of the game, living 10 minutes in front of everyone else and pursuing a career in school psychology.

Foster grew up in Spring Hill, where she went to Spring Hill High School. She came to Emporia State because it was close to home and it was cheaper than most other universities.

“It wasn’t my first choice but (ESU) had a good education program,” Foster said. “I was originally going to go into education and then go into school psychology. Then I found out that (the education program) is a little intense. I got out of education and just went strictly psychology. It was probably the best decision that I could have ever made.”

At Emporia State, Foster has been involved with Chi Omega and the psychology clubs, Psi Chi and Student Society for Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

“She’s a good student but I kind of know her best as a researcher,” said George Yancy, associate professor of psychology, art therapy, rehabilitation and mental counseling.

Currently, she is conducting a study on ways to limit test anxiety for math.

“I had anxiety when I took math tests and I still do,” Foster said. “From my research, most people do. I’m excited to find out what happens.”

With the use of meditation techniques, she hopes to prove that test anxiety for math can be prevented. Presently, her study is being conducted on high school students.

“She’s very conscientious,” Yancy said. “She likes to leave no stone unturned. She’s terribly diligent and shows a lot of initiative instead of taking the easy way.”

With the data that she compiles, Foster hopes to turn the project into a thesis that can be used for graduate school but has not quite made up her mind as to where she would like to finish her education.

“My plan for my thesis is to use (the data I have) and broaden the study to other high schools,” Foster said.

Foster will graduate in May and decided that she needed to reorganize her priorities. Being involved in all of the extra curricular activities that came along with Chi Omega was causing her grades to fall.

“Chi Omega is a great thing and Greek life in general is great,” Foster said. “I took it overboard. It’s great it just wasn’t for me.”

This summer, Foster attended the American Psychology Association conference that was held in Toronto.

After she is done with college, Foster would like to return to the suburbs of Kansas City to become a school psychologist.

“I would like to stay in the outer city in the suburban areas because that’s where I grew up and that’s where the most problems with education are,” Foster said.

Although many schools are combining the roles of school counselor and psychologist, Foster is optimistic.

“With budget cuts, (schools) are combining (the position of counselor and psychologist,” she said. “If a student is having problems, the school would talk the teacher and the parent and if the student has a clinic psychologist, I would be in cahoots with them.”

As a school psychologist, Foster’s main goal would be to administer tests to place students in the correct learning environment for them. This is known as Individualized Education Programs.

“I also help the teachers and the parents so that students will not have to be in the IEP for very long,” Foster said. “It’s focusing on the individual instead of the whole. The problem is that the teacher has to focus on her whole class. I focus on the individual that is not up to par.”

Ashley Peaches/The Bulletin

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REEVES

Students who have been at Emporia State for a few years may have seen the Xbox 360 HALO character, the Master Chief, wandering around campus for the past two Halloweens. Although the Master Chief will not be making a comeback this year, Daniel Reeves, senior engraving major, said he has enjoyed his time as the Master Chief.

“I’m known around campus for being the Master Chief,” Reeves said. “I made a cardboard costume from the video game (HALO) and I’m pretty well known for that. I was going to do it for Halloween, but I’m unfortunately working.”

After the creating original version of the costume in 2007, Reeves updated the look of the Master Chief.

“I had planned to do something with the release of HALO 3 back in 2007,” Reeves said. “I didn’t really have a plan. I just took a lot of screen shots of the character in game and built it out of cardboard. It’s held together with duct tape and I hand painted it with acrylic paint.”

Reeves modified the costume to coincide with homecoming a few years ago.

“It was gold a few years ago for Homecoming,” Reeves said. “I got permission to put the power E on it. It was pretty cool.”

Reeves’ friends enjoy his designs.

“Can I say that the Iron Man is awesome?” said Raylynn Laster, sophomore elementary education major and friend of Reeves.

He even created other popular characters including Iron Man. With a change of method, Reeves also worked on Heath Ledger’s version of The Joker.

“I had a brief journey into cloth costumes,” he said. “I did a lot with face paint and artificial scars.”

Outside of his costume making skills, Reeves also has a hand for writing.

“For the past three years, I’ve been working on a novel that I hope to get published,” Reeves said.

Reeves got some motivation from one of his professors.

“I showed the first four chapters to one of my English teachers and she really liked it,” Reeves said. “She referred me to a writing seminar where I could get in contact with a publisher.”

The current title for the book is “The Dragon’s Gem.”

“He asked me to look over the documents,” said Theresa Mix, director of the writing center. “He’s highly creative. He had some really great imagery. I encouraged him to talk to Dr. Rabas in the creative writing program. He was very engaged in (my) class and I think that helped him and inspired him to pursue his book.”

Reeves also writes fan fiction for “Lord of the Rings” and HALO. He publishes on www.fanfiction.net under the name Spartan R41.

“He’s very quirky,” said Emily Readinger, sophomore English major.

Although Reeves hopes to find an audience with his book, he only refers to it as his hobby.

“I hope to be big,” he said. “My two biggest role models for writing are Christopher Paolini and Stephanie Meyer.”

Paolini is the author of the “Eragon” series. Meyer wrote the popular series “Twilight.”

“I was really a fan of (‘Eragon’),” Reeves said. “I figured if he could do it, so could I. I’m not a fan of ‘Twilight’ so I figured if something like that could get published than I should be in no trouble. That will probably agitate some people.”

Coming from a military family, Reeves moved around a lot when he was younger. Although born in Lawrence, he now claims Subiaco, Ark. as his hometown.

There he attended Subiaco Academy.

“The only reason that I went there is so that I wouldn’t have to go to three different high schools,” Reeves said.

Reeves was drawn to ESU’s engraving arts program.

“I’m arty,” he said. “I can’t remember if I received something in the mail or if we just heard about the engraving from somebody but we did hear that it was the only degree being offered nationwide so I figured that would be a good opportunity.”

Engraving is appealing for him because he can use the same skills that he uses when he draws.

“I engrave the same way that I draw,” Reeves said. “I’ve lost many of my drawings to water damage and tearing but I’m finding that metal is pretty solid. So my drawings are there. They stay. I can engrave more stuff than I can draw on.”

For Reeves, characters are more interesting inspiration for art than anything else.

“I mainly do character design and weapons,” Reeves said. “I do a lot of stuff from HALO as my friends would tell you. I can do landscapes if I really want to but it’s mostly figures.”

Ashley Peaches/The Bulletin

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FOSTER

For Drake Foster, sophomore secondary social sciences education major, Emporia State is the perfect place to be. That is why he decided to help as many students as possible make the decision to attend ESU by working as an ambassador.

“I really wanted to bring students to Emporia State to show them all the opportunities they could get,” Foster said. “They could make a connection with any student organization. It’s small and there’s a great student to teacher ratio. I also get to work with the president and the alumni.”

Originally, Foster was going to attend Kansas University to study pharmacy.

“It was about the money, rather than the profession,” Foster said. “Education was a little bit better. I would rather take the pay cut because it’s more rewarding.”

Since Foster came to Emporia, he has been involved in several activities on campus. During his freshman year, Foster was a senator on ASG, a chair for Up ‘til Dawn and a member of the Towers Complex Government.

“He’s really, really nice,” said Ellen Hansen, chair and associate professor of social sciences. “He is just one of the nicest people you could hope to meet. He’s so warm and sincere and he truly is a lovely person. And he’s really bright.”

Foster was also one of the 20 founding members of Alpha Kappa Lambda, the newest fraternity on campus.

“What I really liked was that it was based on Judeo-Christian principles,” Foster said. “That was something, coming to college that I was looking for. These guys have the same morals and values that I do. They weren’t just looking to drink or party and got involved in leadership roles on campus.”

As a member of Up ‘til Dawn, Foster had the opportunity to travel to Memphis, Tenn., where he visited children who were hospitalized at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“It was life changing,” Foster said. “Their parents were pulling them in wagons and they had masks on and their IVs in. They were really sad. I was not on the executive board this year (for Up ‘til Dawn) and that’s something I regret.”

This year, Foster is part of Ambassadors and will be a Resident Assistant for 2009-2010.

“I really missed the community since I moved into the fraternity house,” Foster said. “I missed the resident hall life.”

Fellow ambassador Carrie Leach, junior elementary education major, had good things to say about Foster.

“He is always happy and very energetic,” Leach said. “He is very much a people person. He is someone that I can always rely on.”

In his spare time, Foster really enjoys reading. Among his favorite books are “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck and books by C.S. Lewis, although he’s never read any of Lewis’ most well known books, “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

“I’m going to be teaching history and the Great Depression was a big influence in my grandparents’ time,” Foster said.

Foster also had the opportunity to study abroad last summer. He said that his trip to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was “amazing.”

“We went to the Estonian parliament and they gave us a book that was the entire contents of the Estonian constitution,” Hansen said. “He read the entire Estonian constitution. Other people were out drinking and Drake is in his room reading the Estonian constitution. He was so interested in learning about this place.”

Foster would eventually like to teach at Mulvane High, in Mulvane, where he went to school.

“I played soccer for four years and I want to coach it and teach (at Mulvane),” Foster said. “I’ll probably go back there and teach.”

Choosing education as a career was Foster’s way of changing people’s mind about history.

“A lot of people think history is so boring,” Foster said. “I just want to change that perception and make history fun.”

While Foster has been involved in several activities during his two years at ESU, he says that his life motto is “lead by example.”

“That’s something I always try to do through my morals and my beliefs,” Foster said. “Someone is always watching you so you should always be on your best behavior.”

Ashley Peaches/The Bulletin

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SMITH

For Barry Smith, senior business administration major, attending Emporia State is an opportunity to combine his love of art with his talent for professionalism.

“I came to school wanting to be an artist,” Smith said. “After a year of going through my art curriculum, I switched over to business and I wanted to know more about art as a business. I thought that by using my knowledge of art with a degree in business, I could maybe go into marketing or advertising art.”

June Coleman-Hull, director of Career Services, taught a class that Smith took and helped him in his transition into business.

“He’s talented, interesting and very motivated,” Coleman-Hull said. “We met and found some possible job opportunities for him. He’s got a very interesting combination of art and business skills, and it was a very marketable idea for him to get into that.”

Smith said he believes ESU provides a stimulating environment for students and that his time here has opened up opportunities he may not have had at another school. Smith has been part of the Interfraternity Council (IFC) and Sigma Pi fraternity. He also took piano lessons from Chris Hubbard of the Academy of Music for a year and a half.

“A lot of my experience has been off campus during the summer, but on campus I think the instructors, the career counselors and even the librarians are all great,” Smith said. “There’s a lot of opportunity for on-campus involvement and to give back to the community. You can meet a lot of new people.”

Smith said his passion for music was cultivated at ESU, despite the fact that he had never been involved with music before college.

“I got really interested in the piano and went through some networking with music instructors who found someone to teach me how to read sheet music and play piano,” Smith said. “It got to the point where I bought my own piano and played live music over at Beer:30 on three or four occasions.”

Smith said he thinks that his passion for music may have gone unnoticed at another school.

“Some of those bigger schools I might have gone to would have turned their shoulders towards me if I wanted to learn music,” Smith said. “Emporia State was very accommodating and allowed me to seek out lessons.”

Smith said he enjoys the large social network that getting involved at ESU has offered him.

“I have a large group of friends,” Smith said. “I started by making friends with my floor my first year, then after I joined Sigma Pi I ended up meeting a lot of new people. I also decided to live with people I didn’t know beforehand and I’ve become great friends with them now.”

Patrick Charlsen, senior communication and public relations major, said he enjoys Smith’s sense of humor and professionalism.

“Barry has a good sense of humor and he’s just a people person,” Charlsen said. “He has goals and he’s a very driven person who knows when it’s time to be professional.”

Smith said he encourages everyone at ESU to get involved with co-curricular activities.

“Get involved in organizations,” Smith said. “The more people you know the more resources you’ll have, and not just as far as jobs go. It may be easier to be isolated, but getting out there will benefit you more in the long run.”

Josh Johnson/The Bulletin

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