Meet the November 2018 Students of the Month
On-Campus Student: Brenna Erdman
Brenna is a sophomore at Fort Hays State University and is originally from McCook, Nebraska. Currently, she is a psychology major and is working on a Leadership Studies Certificate and a Building a Career in a Nonprofit Corporation Certificate. After college, she hopes to either go into nonprofit work or attend graduate school to get a degree in counseling. Her greatest involvement is in Fort Hays Honor Society where she currently serve on the executive leadership team as the community service committee coordinator. Brenna is involved in Astronomy Club, University Activities Board, VIP Ambassadors, Honors College, and the Delta Zeta sorority. Also, she works on campus in the Graduate School as the Degree Analyst Student Secretary. When she is not at school, she loves napping or watching TV/movies and creating water color paintings. She chose to get involved with Leadership Programs because she knew whatever career path she chose, leadership would give her an advantage. Brenna enjoys the classwork because it is interesting an applicable. Her favorite class has been LDRS 302: Introduction to Leadership Behavior with Dr. Jill Arensdorf. She says, "Jill has a contagious passion for learning, and she makes every class enjoyable every day. Leadership behavior has motivated me to incorporate leadership ideas into my everyday life."
Virtual Student: Madison Shetlar
Madison is a first year Graduate School student at Fort Hays State University and is originally from Salina, Kansas. Currently, she is working toward a Masters in Professional Studies with an Organizational Leadership concentration. Her greatest involvement is attending FHSU football and basketball games. In her community, she is a middle/high school art teacher, basketball coach, and sponsors an art club. Also, she spends a lot of time with her family and run and workout. She also enjoys drawing and painting. She chose to get involved with Leadership Programs because she has been interested in leadership ever since high school when she took a leadership class at Salina Central under long time teacher and coach Dough Finch. After doing some research online she found the Organizational Leadership Program and was impressed with the professors, online courses, and the affordability of FHSU. Madison plans to use her education to better herself as a leader both in and out of teaching. Madison says, "she enjoys LDRS 810: Qualitative Research Methods, and learning about the qualitative research process with Dr. Brent Goertzen. Also, she enjoys the amount of communication she receives with her peers in her Theories of Leadership class with Dr. McRay. In addition, she has learned more about the leadership theories in these first 12 weeks of the semester than I ever knew possible, and I enjoy being able to apply what I learned to my job."
International Student: Jessie Zhao
Jessie is a senior form Shenyang, China who is currently majoring in Organizational Leadership with a concentration in International Trade. She takes part in "Creating Youth" University Students Entrepreneurship Competition in 2018 and was honored as the Sear volunteer in the local community for helping outside of the school. Outside of school, Jessie enjoys books, movies, and music. American TV series became an inseparable part of her life and she began to learn English songs. She chose the leadership department because a qualified leader not only means excellent professional skills, but also knowledge to communicate with others. She would like to be a more effective leader to better manage her time and drive more initiative. LDRS 310: Field Work in Leadership Studies Internship is Jessie’s favorite class. She enjoys it because "it involves the professional skills and teaching us how to solve issues within companies. Experiencing it is more effective and useful than knowledge in books."