USF Vessel December 2022

cover image provided by: apolonia davalos

Connor Aldrich Xavier Blackwell

Apolonia Davalos

Dawson Davito

Sebastian Pares

Maddy Redday

Joseph Sapp

Thomas Scandin

Neveah Schreiber

Levi Smith Matthew Sterud

Erica Sunde

Makenna Wallin Josh Werre

Evan Wibben

Benjamin Wollmuth

Gunner Gould

Danielle Hoopaugh

by: Apolonia Davalos

Fine art and entrepreneurship go together as University of Sioux Falls’ junior Danielle Hoopaugh launches her small business Dani’s Dragons. “My night dragon is my personal mascot,” says Hoopaugh. On Oct 23, 2022, Danielle, an art and media studies major, designed, prepared, and premiered her first art booth at The Social Art Show in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Earrings, pins, stickers, keychains, and clay projects are tangible concoctions bringing her imagination to life.

Danielle expresses the experience of selling her art for the first time as both “exciting and nerve-wracking” because she did not know what to expect.

She had never been to The Social prior to having her clay creations and dragon prints on display for sale.

The genesis of dragons becoming a prominent character-driven avenue for her artistry began when she was 12 years old.

“I’ve always been a fan of anything fantasy,” says Hoopaugh. “And at some point, between the ages 12 to 14, I started drawing little cartoon dragons and drakes and then I never stopped.”

“I started drawing little cartoon dragons and drakes and then I never stopped” ”

- Danielle Hoopaugh

Danielle shares that there are specific distinctions between dragons, sea dragons, drakes, wyverns, and other species within the dragon family. For example, drakes are dragons without wings. Brucie, an original Dani’s Dragons design, is a green drake. Some, not all, of her dragons have names. She is taking suggestions.

Danielle has just recently moved beyond vector art and printing stickers. She has found a passion for sculpting dragons and dragon eggs. Her reason for expanding her profession was a simple one, “I wanted something more physical.” Her earrings exhibit various themes, colors, and patterns with a wide assortment of shapes and, to quote her display board, “junk.” The earrings are made of polymer clay coated in UV resin. She utilizes the brand Sophie and Toffee. Danielle prefers white clay and painting over it. It “makes the colors a lot brighter and that’s what I was going for,” shares Hoopaugh.

Learn more about Dani’s Dragons by visiting Danielle Hoopaugh’s website https://amhoopaugh.wixsite.com/adhmedia.

Dani’s Dragons

BY: NEVEAH SCHREIBER

Rachel Wolthuizen

OFFICE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

The University of Sioux Falls has been busy with a number of new impact programs. With the help of a grant from the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), USF has begun bringing even more awareness of violence on campus. Violence can come in many forms like dating violence, domestic abuse, stalking, sexual assault, and more. Because of the commonality of these things in today’s world, USF has brought forth multiple ways to provide a safe space here on campus.

The OVW grant, according to Rachel Wolthuizen, Safe Campus Project Director, is “a grant that is given to college campuses in the United States, surrounding 5 main areas to implement on campus: Victim services, student conduct, law enforcement, CCRT (coordinated community response team), and ongoing prevention. I help with services to be provided, events for specific groups of people and training”

Wolthuizen has been given the role of overseeing the grant from OVW and how it can be used to better USF. Wolthuizen works with students, staff, faculty, and off campus resources to provide those experiencing or witnessing any of these crimes, a safe place to report, be consoled and taken care of. She provides training, programming and awareness of gender based crimes and more.

There are two main programs that students can get involved in. One being Green Dot; Green Dot is a bystander intervention team that is trained to intervene when they witness any kind of domestic/ dating violence. There is also Cougar Awareness Team (CAT); CAT is a team of students providing insights to campus behaviors and ideas about how to bring an end to gender-based crimes. There are also plenty of events that occur on campus for students to take part in.

Wolthuizen strongly encourages students to get involved in any capacity, because “if we don’t talk about it (domestic violence), it doesn’t stop it from happening.” Wolthuizen says don’t be afraid to reach out to her, Dennis Thum, Michelle D.K., or if it’s more comfortable, student leaders. “This grant is for students, and it is capable of making a change on campus. If you have questions, comments, concerns, or ideas, please tell us about them! We want to use the grant to its full potential and educate as many people as we can.”

To get involved, look out for posters, emails, or the USF app, or reach out to Rachel Wolthuizen. If you are experiencing or witnessing anything even close to domestic abuse, dating violence, stalking, sexual assault, gender based crimes, etc., please reach out to anybody mentioned in this article, or contact 9-1-1, 9-8-8, The Compass Center, ASAP, The Link, or anything that can get you and/or others in a space as safe as possible.

OVW Grant Project Director Photo courtesy USF Marketing

BY: EVAN WIBBEN

CAREER & INTERNSHIP FAIR

The University of Sioux Falls hosted a career and internship fair at the Mears Library on October 20, 2022. This gave the students a chance to talk with employers looking to either hire students for a job or an internship. There were many different occupations which allowed for all students to discover opportunities. There was also a chance for students to get a professional headshot that they can use on their resumes.

One employer at the fair was Epicosity. Darla Erb the Human Resources Manager for Epicosity talked about what she looks for in students when they come to talk to her. “I look for a handshake, how they present themselves, and just being able to carry on a conversation about their interests and skills, their passions.” She also told us what the most fun part about coming to the fair is. “Seeing the young and wide eyed students looking at all the opportunities and to see their eagerness.”

Marek Rex, a student at the University of Sioux Falls who is studying Computer Information Systems, attended the career and internship fair. He said that it is exciting to see the different opportunities. “It’s nice to be able to talk to different employers and see all the options there are to explore.”

USF Graduates in their Careers

Vessel Online reporters in the Television Production class conducted Zoom interviews with several recent University of Sioux Falls graduates. They talked about their careers, life after college, and what they wish they had known when they were students at USF.

Laycee Kluin (formerly Cain), has had an extraordinary career journey since her graduation from USF. With a Bachelor of Arts focused in Communications and Media Studies, she parlayed her college experience participating in community engagement, an internship, a part-time, then fulltime position with Capital Services, and finally, her current position as Digital Marketing Strategist at MarketBeat, a stock market news and business company. Kluin says it is never too late to get involved in campus activities like Student Life. “I didn’t get involved until my junior year, but that’s where I found the most growth in myself.” That’s not to say students should just jump into things without thinking it through, however, as Kluin reminds students that there needs to be a level of enjoyment to it. “Don’t just do things because it’s a resume builder. If you’re not enjoying it, then why are you doing it? You’ll get the most growth when you’re excited about doing it.”

To see the entire interview with Laycee Kluin, conducted by Vessel reporter Dawson Davito, please visit the Vessel Youtube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/@usfcollegeweek) or scan the QR code.

emmie uitts

Founder of The PlaygroundIndoor Softball Facility

Emmie Uitts graduated from USF with a degree in Entrepreneurial Studies and a desire to open her own business, a dream she had since high school. A Nebraska native, Uitts believed the Sioux Falls area was missing an indoor training facility for female athletes. She started building The Playground while she was still a college student, and went full time with the indoor softball training facility as soon as she graduated. The Playground’s permanent home is now a new facility located in Tea, SD. As a successful catcher on the USF Softball team, Uitts understands what it takes to train young softball hopefuls, and employs instructors who are all NCAA athletes.

Vessel reporter Connor Aldrich sat down with Uitts to talk about how her dream became a reality. To see the interview, please visit the Vessel Youtube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/@usfcollegeweek) or scan the QR code.

Interviews by: Dawson Davito & Connor Aldrich

Lindsay Lindaman

alley.” After hearing the suggestion, Lindaman began to research how much it would cost for her to start her own character company. Soon after, Simply Ever After Entertainment was born.

In a city growing as fast as Sioux Falls, company owners must understand how to improve and where their company can go. Recognizing the reach of Sioux Falls, Lindaman allows her actors to travel up to two hours away if customers pay a travel fee.

Moreover, Lindaman has started adding additional types of parties, including tea parties and Wizarding parties. She hopes these “more elaborate” parties will get more attention, as they give older kids a reason to request the company’s services. On a more managerial level, Lindaman would love to see her company grow a bit more self-reliant. “I’d love to reach that point that it can run more on its own without my own hands on everything,” says Lindaman. “Work has exploded in the last few months,” she continued, “so I do see us growing as a company.”

If you have ever seen princesses around Sioux Falls and its vicinity, it is very likely that they are from Lindsay Lindaman’s Simply Ever After Entertainment. An entertainment company based in Sioux Falls, Simply Ever After Entertainment sees hired actors attending children’s birthday parties and other children’s events dressed as versions of characters from pop culture. The company, which has been going strong for seven years, has grown immensely. Originally having only four characters in the company’s roster, Simply Ever After Entertainment now offers over 35. Lindaman even makes the princess gowns herself!

Lindsay Lindaman is a USF alumnus who graduated in 2014 with a degree in Art Education and a minor in Music. Currently, Lindaman works as the 7-12 art teacher at the West Lyon School District in Inwood, Iowa. When she is not teaching, she is managing her company, which started in 2015. Lindaman says that Simply Ever After Entertainment initially began due to rejection. “I had wanted to be in the Disney College Program and was rejected in 10 minutes. A few months later a friend told me about a character company in Iowa, and thought it sounded right up my

Starting a company, however, is no easy task. Lindaman highly suggests that anybody wanting to start their own company in the future should take the proper courses to do so. “Take a business class,” suggests Lindaman. “That’s one of my biggest regrets as a student with the understanding of where my life went after graduation.”

If you have the desire to bring happiness to children on their birthdays, Simply Ever After Entertainment is hiring. If you are between the ages 17-35, have available weekends, have a car, can hide any visible tattoos, and have experience with children or theater, you can email everafterentertainment2015@ gmail.com with an attached resume to set up an audition/interview.

by: ben wollmuth

Hailey Schmidt +Alecia Juelfs

by: Gunner Gould

“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” An athlete in middle school, Alecia Juelfs ended up sustaining an injury that required back surgery. She started getting involved with the arts soon after and eventually started to find the “same thrill and satisfaction” that she did in athletics. After she finished performing in middle school, Alecia was heavily involved with her high school’s theater and speech programs before coming to USF where she was involved in almost every production during her time at the school. Alecia graduated from USF in 2017 with a double major in communication studies and theater and is currently the assistant professor of theater as well as the theater program director at USF. While being in the program before definitely helped her as a professor because she knows how it operates, it helped her in many other ways too. It helped teach her to problem solve, but also have a sense of being able to always learn something new, and never quite becoming an “expert” at it. While she feels she still struggles with some things, she doesn’t lose her mind over not knowing the answer because the answer will always come, whether that’s in the form of someone else helping out or figuring it out on her own.

Hailey and Alecia are two very important parts of USF Theatre department and they make it a great experience. Hailey gets more people involved with the program, and Alecia makes sure students are getting the same things out of the program that they both did.

“All the World’s a Stage”. Despite already being involved with choral music, when Hailey Schmidt was a junior at the University of Sioux Falls (USF), she decided that her new year’s resolution was going to be to “say yes more”, as she wanted to do more nearing the end of her college experience. So when a friend of hers asked her if she was going to audition for that spring’s production of Bye Bye Birdie, she said she was. Hailey is the current visual and performing arts recruiter with heavy ties to USF’s theater department. Hailey graduated from USF in 2017 with a major in Media Studies and a minor in Art. She said USF’s theater taught her a lot of soft skills that are hard to teach and need to be gained through experience, things such as showing empathy, public speaking, thinking from others’ perspectives, and helping to relate to people. These help her greatly in her job, as most of her job in admissions is relating and connecting with people, which involves helping people logistically through different processes and earning their trust. Hailey herself says that she tries to get people to take on theater majors or minors along with other disciplines, to help them gain skills. Hailey is also involved with the Good Night Theatre Collective, a local performance group here in Sioux Falls that’s currently in its 7th season. Hailey has helped out at Good Night since their 4th season and currently helps out as both a performer and an experience manager. She says a lot of the skills she utilizes in admissions are “incredibly transferable”. When Good Night performs at the Washington Pavilion, Hailey is usually the first person from the group that audience members see. A lot of the skills she uses as an admissions counselor, such as remembering information people tell her and connecting with people she might not have known before.

isaac schubert

UMBA PRODUCTIONS

“Just trust the process and continue to work hard.” Life in college can be a turbulent time, with important decisions to be made and unexpected changes to be handled. For Isaac Schubert, University of Sioux Falls alumnus and founder of Umba Productions, the troubles came his senior year. While working towards an Exercise Science degree at USF, Schubert played for the Cougars on the football team. But after suffering two major injuries back-to-back, his career was forced to an end. He knew that giving up his spot wouldn’t be easy. “I wanted to stay involved with my team but didn’t really know what that looked like at the time.” That’s when he decided to pick up the camera, becoming a photographer and videographer for Cougar football.

While working towards a master’s degree in Business Administration, Schubert decided to go all in with his photo and video skills. He founded Umba Productions, which he describes as “a creative service to sports teams, athletes, small businesses – basically anybody who wants to tell their story in a creative way so that their audiences can be engaged through creative media, however that looks.”

In the Sioux Falls area, he expanded his work to all levels, from basketball and football to professional mixed martial arts.

Fast forward to today, where he works for the University of Minnesota and the NFL as a multimedia producer and live content correspondent. “It’s been very humbling coming from Sioux Falls,” he said. “It’s also been really exciting seeing the opportunities of being able to film the NFL and the Gophers – to tell stories through that medium.” Schubert is currently covering the football and men’s basketball teams at the UMN as well as the Minnesota Vikings.

Looking back, he says he owes his quick success to the opportunities provided for him at USF. “You don’t have to get to the top in one day, one year, one month. The journey is long,” he said. “But in those hardships is where I’ve grown the most as a creator.”

To see a full interview with Schubert, please visit the USF Vessel Youtube Channel, or this QR code.

by: xavier blackwell

with HARVEY ENNALS QA &

by: Sebastian Pares

1. What’s new for you in life since leaving USF?

Harvey (Mike) Enalls graduated from the University of Sioux Falls recently with degrees in psychology and criminal justice major. A Sioux Falls Washington High School graduate, he was a standout all-conference middle linebacker for the Coo and was part of the leadership committee for several years. Enalls accepted a position at Jefferson High School in Sioux Falls as an assistant football coach. The Vessel caught up with Enalls to see what life is like after graduation.

Not much is new. Life is a lot slower after college athletics. I’m still heavily involved in Football and working on some resume-building as of now.

2. How has USF prepared you for a career in coaching?

I had the rare opportunity to be a senior for 2 years as the pandemic shook up a lot of things. By being a leader for so long, I learned what works best for me in regards to getting people to buy into a vision. I learned how to effectively coach LBs and help get the young players where we needed them, without the pressure of being the actual coach. As a long-time captain I learned the value of being a positive impact on energy and how excitement can provide an enormous boost on a team over time. I tried to bring what I was as a captain at USF to the realm of coaching.

3. What does taking this coaching position at Jefferson mean to you?

This coaching position means a lot. When I finished there was a sense of let down. A sense of “so that’s just it?” No real recognition of my skills, talents, and knowledge built up over my short life of putting football first. Coaching allowed me to hang around other guys who spoke my language. Guys who were able to validate that I hadn’t just been goofing around for the past 15 years and that my knowledge is valuable. On top of that, being around the kids was a breath of fresh air. It was nice being back where I felt at home between the white lines.

4. Talk about your team at Jefferson, undefeated season 12-0 and you just won a state title game. What does that say about a program that’s been around for its second year? A team that wins by 17 points at least all season!

First of all, a big shout out to Coach Benedetto for running an outstanding program full of outstanding men from the staff to the players. Coach’s vision and leadership can’t be forgotten when speaking of our success. We felt like one of our biggest keys to success was the fact that we run a program that kids want to play for. We pride ourselves on relationships, connections, and moments bigger than football. Being leaders of men rather than just simply coaches. When you do things the right way consistently, good things happen. Secondly another huge shout-out to Coach David Hopper and his weight program. The success was just a byproduct of a decision made by about 30 teenagers to put in the time and effort to live and breathe football for a whole year. As an upstart, we were below average until over 2 dozen kids made the choice to maximize their potential every day by getting in the weight room, film room, and classroom. By the time they showed up for camp this season, all they needed was someone to point them in the right direction and get out of the way.

5. Your former teammate Trent Dreyer is also in a coaching role at Harrisburg High School. I Love seeing guys who know what the #WinnersWin mentality means getting out and giving back. Catching up with him was great, and I wouldn’t mind joining forces one day and conquering the SD landscape together. That being said, it’s always a joy competing against the best of the best. All the best wishes to him and his future endeavors.

Hannah Wold & Kylin McKean

BY: MADDY REDDAY

Two University of Sioux Falls alums, Hannah Wold and Kylin McKean, share an experience that many media studies students aim for after graduation. They both work for South Dakota Public Broadcasting. Wold, who got her bachelor’s degree in media studies, started working at SDPB long before McKean. Wold works as the creative design manager for SDPB and her day-to-day tasks consist of overseeing phases of development of art from concept to completion, implementing policies following specific brand strategies, and making sure everything is cohesive and easy to interpret. Wold says that her favorite part of the job isn’t just the fun environment but rather its closeness to home. She states, “I’ve lived here since I was 6 years old, so I see how much we really truly focus on our most valuable resources and the great people we have living in South Dakota.”

McKean, who studied media studies with a concentration in social media marketing, is the Public Relations Manager for SDPB. McKean heard about the job opening from Wold and applied soon after graduating from USF. Her main tasks are focused on the magazine. She also sends out newsletters. When asked what her favorite part of the job is, she says, “Just the community. Being in the office multiple times a week and having this amazing community with people that I can hang out with outside of work.” Outside of the community aspect, she also enjoys the work she is doing. She says she also enjoys, “Editing the magazine or writing our feature article.” McKean most notably wrote about student-athlete Ashtyn Hadlewick for the November, 2022 issue, about her rehabilitation after recovering from an illness.

Both Wold and McKean shared advice for anyone who is interested in working for SDPB or simply entering the workforce. Wold says that it is important to, “start as early as you can,” Wold was able to land an internship early on which she believes still helps her to this day. McKean says that building connections are what paved the way for her. She says, “it really is just taking advantage of any connections you have,” she continues, “never dismiss a connection because you never know how it will benefit you in the future.”

director of youth ministries WILL GRISHAM

Will Grisham, a former Theology and Biblical Studies major at the University of Sioux Falls, has taken his skills to work as the Director of Youth Ministries for 1st Christian Reformed Church. Grisham is also acting as a council member for 2 different youth organizations and as a volunteer chaplain at the Minnehaha Juvenile Detention Center.

Grisham recognizes that the hard-working faculty at USF has provided him with the skills he needed for his job field. “I’m sure some of my professors would argue that my grades didn’t reflect it at the time, but everything I learned I retained,” Grisham said. “I’ve learned a lot of great things from the likes of Dr. Hiigel and Dr. Christina Hitchcock.” Grisham commends Hitchcock and Hiigel for showing him, “The ability to look at theology in a new light and the ability to look at how it adapts to the world we live in has prepared me greatly,” stated Grisham. Grisham also praised professors outside of his major for his ability to adapt to his work environment. “The implication and adaptation of theology to work in the Christian world is something I also learned from people like Joe Obermueller, which allowed me to go off and do what I’m doing now.”

Being on a Christian campus also allowed Grisham to strengthen his faith and gave him a confidence to succeed in his job field. “Being able to pray before classes, the ability to invite God into every situation, the friendships that I made, the life experiences through touring Europe, and having the ability to connect with my professors all allowed me to leave USF and feel like I was going to be okay.” Grisham is taking his experience from his time at USF and trying to instill that same confidence through his work. “The best part about it [work] is being able to impact the next generation. Being able to meet with and mentor these kids where they’re at with my own life experiences to show the real-world application of what God’s love actually looks like.” Grisham said. “Also, having my own office is great.”

As a parting word, Grisham gave some advice for any student who is in a similar major or looking to work in

BY: MATTHEW STERUD

a similar field. “Never ever allow the Bible to become a textbook. It was a pitfall that I think I and many other Theology students have fallen into. We study theology so much and we use verses so much for grades and for figuring out lessons that we treat as another textbook, and we start to get burnt out of it.” Grisham emphasized, “Always take time to be in the Word but be in the Word for you. Be with the Word and be with God for you.”

If you are interested in theology work, specifically youth theology, you can contact Will Grisham at Will@firstchristianreformed.org. “We would love to have USF students on our team. We have children, middle school, and high school mentor programs to staff. High school is the best because that’s the one I’m in charge of. That’s the one to be a part of. Just saying.”

“Always take time to be in the Word but be in the Word for you. Be with the Word and be with God for you.”