USF
College Monthly A print production of USF student media.
Kelli Kissack Kaitlynn Wornson
Alumni February 2016 Volume 3 Issue 5 | usfcollegeweek.com
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USF
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College Monthly A print production of USF student media.
Editor Applications Due March 1st
USF Alumni Kelli (Bones) Kissack uses her degree to take on the rodeo of life. Don’t have a Valentine’s Date yet? Check out these ideas for couples or groups! USF Alumni Kaitlynn Wornson created her own degree and you can too!
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Get more connected by Bridging the Gaps with Spanish at USF.
Interested in being the next Co-Editor of USF College Monthly?
New Semester Preparation 1. Buy Supplies Get your essentials ready to go with a good planner and monthly calendar. The most important step to getting organized and staying on top of assignments is with a planner that gives you weekly and monthly reminders. Get some notebooks, pens, highlighters, and sticky notes. 2. Double Check your Schedule The worst thing is having to drop and re-add a new class to your schedule at the beginning of the semester. Double check your requirements for your major and for the Liberal Arts Core. If you need to, stop by the Registrar's office to see what classes you may be missing. 3. Buy Books A couple weeks before classes start, go on-line to find cheap books for your class. If you know someone in your class, ask them if they would be willing to share textbooks and split prices with you. This will really help your pocket book if you are like every other college kid on a budget. 4. Write Down Assignment Due Dates & Events Stay on top of your class assignments with your planner. Circle your big test, presentation or paper due dates to keep away surprise deadlines and procrastination. 5. Check for Scheduling Conflicts Doctors Appointments, vacations, or sporting events often interfere with class schedules. Talk with your professor as soon as you can to see what his or her policy is and if they would be willing to work with your schedule. 6. Look for Tutoring Schedules To stay on top of your studies and to gain the most out of each class, go to the free tutoring sessions that are provided by USF. Mark the tutoring dates in you planner and make time for them outside of regular school hours. Even if you are not struggling in the class, you can gain knowledge by giving your perspective to other students.
FEBRUARY 2016 | 3
University of Sioux Falls Alumni
Kelli (Bones) Kissack September 2010 - December 2013 Photos courtesy of Kelli Kissack
Story by Paige Petersen
Kelli Kissack
Kelli (Bones) Kissack attended the University of Sioux Falls and is one of our featured alumni in this month’s issue. Kissack was selected because of the exciting and interesting life her and her husband (a professional bull rider), Dane Kissack, lead. Read on to find out what she’s been up to since post graduation and what bits of advice she gives to other current students.
What Kelli Has Been Up to Since:
Life Post Graduation: Amazing! I enjoyed college, but I LOVE life after college. I’ve traveled extensively (both domestically and internationally), learned skills that allow me to work form wherever I am, gotten married, moved to Texas (winters only), and weather the obstacles in life that come with being a 20 something trying to make her way int he world. I’ve dealt with bad employers, learned from great employers, found mentors, gained friends, moved on from some old friends, learned what it’s like to be out of money, felt the responsibility of having more than enough money, bought property, sold property, changed about 10 blown out tires, and a cornucopia of other crazy life experiences!
Dane Kissack, Kelli’s husband
We (Kelli and her husband) have driven a lot! Last season, we traveled about 40,000 miles. We got engaged on December 31st, 2014 and were married May 24th, 2015. We took three days off for a honeymoon in the Hills, and then jumped right back into preparation for the June and July rodeo run. Rodeo goes in phases. There’s a big push in the month of April where we rodeo primarily in California and Nevada, it slows down for most of May and the first week of June, and then it’s ON hardcore for the remainder of June and into July. The most intense part of the season is the “4th of July Run”. This encompasses June 25th - July 6th. During this time we went to 13 rodeos in approximately 10 days. This means a LOT of all night drives, little sleep, and some very tired cowboys. You run on adrenaline, caffeine, and hope. They call the 4th of July run “Cowboy Christmas” because there’s opportunity to win a bunch of money. Some cowboys win $15,000 - $22,000 in this 10-day stretch. In a crazy turn of events, our truck engine blew up during this stretch so our season was cut short. We went home to the Hill at the end of July to regroup, but the horses’ injuries kept us out of the rest of the season. We spent the rest of the summer seasoning our young horses and prepping for the 2016 season.
Advice for USF Students: 1. Be open to exploring an industry or job you might not have thought you’d be interested in. If someone would’ve told me I was going to end up working in the tech industry, I’d have laughed at them! So try to think outside the box. 2. Build relationships! People do business (or refer for jobs) those that they know, like, and trust. You can have an army of advocates out there for you simply by being real and genuine. Be bold enough to express what you do and what you want to do, and be humble enough to ask lots of questions and learn from people who are in the industries or positions that you want to land.
Kelli and Dane 6 | COLLEGE MONTHLY
Favorite USF Memory: My whole sophomore year. I roomed with one of my best friends, Jaden, and we had so much fun.
Parting Thoughts from Kelli: Shout out to Bruce Watley and Maggie Owens for being incredible teachers. I have only wonderful things to say bout the two of them! Also, a huge thank you to my aunt LuAnn Grossman (Director of the Degree Completion Program) for persuading me to go to USF. She was the one who got me there.
Kelli and Dane’s Wedding DECEMBER 2015 | 7
Valentines Date Ideas for You and Your Love 1. Ice Skating & Coffee Date
Go Ice Skating on V-Day at Scheels IcePlex for $6 each from 1-3 P.M. Afterward head to Coffea on Louise Avenue to warm up over a cup of coffee.
2. Wine and Canvas & a Walk Downtown
Paint and laugh together at Wine & Canvas's Date Night from 2-5 P.M. for $35 each. Remember to sign up early as spots fill up quickly. Follow up painting with a walk downtown and around Falls Park for free!
3. Cook Together & Play Board Games
Get cozy in the kitchen by making a new dish together. Shop Asian cuisine at Thanh Mai LLC on Rice St. to buy ingredients to spice things up. End the night with a new board or card game to battle your wits.
4. Dance Classes & Coldstone
Not everyday do you get an excuse to learn ballroom dancing, so take the opportunity to learn something new! DANCE Studio offers ballroom dance class for beginners on the 15th at 8 P.M. Call ahead as prices vary dependent on how many classes you attend. Cool down with a sweet treat from Coldstone to finish off the night.
5. Workout & Scavenger Hunt
Strengthen your love together by working out together. Next, prepare a scavenger hunt for one another and see who can finish first! 8 | COLLEGE MONTHLY
1. Brunch & Color-Me-Mine
Start off by meeting downtown at M.B. Haskett's for brunch. Head over to Color-Me-Mine and paint pottery together. (Hint: be sure to schedule an appointment for how many people and what time you will show up!)
2. HuHot and WestMall 7
Eat as much as you can at HuHot Mongolian Grill before munching on some popcorn at the cheapseats of Sioux Falls. Be content with a full belly and an equally full wallet.
3. Movie & Puppy Chow
Save a lot of money by spending the night in and watching a movie together. Have everyone bring an ingredient for the puppy chow. Kick your feet up and relax together.
4. Great Bear & IHOP
Head to the slopes together out at Great Bear. For the less experienced snowboarders or skiers there's a tubing hill with three lanes to race your friends on. After a long day in the snow enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and a pancake or two at IHOP Original Pancake House.
5. Potluck & Games
Since Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday, go to church together, afterward everyone can bring over their favorite dishes to share as a potluck Sunday. Keep the bonding going with a few board games.
Date Ideas for You and Your Friends FEBRUARY 2016 | 9
University of Sioux Falls Alumni
Kaitlynn Wornson
Interdisciplinary Degree Program September 2011 - May 2015
At USF, students have the option to create their own major through an interdisciplinary approach. Through this approach students can combine course requirements from two or more academic disciplines in order to create their own degree program. This gives students the opportunity to create a major better suited for their specific career goals. In the beginning, designing a degree program from the foundation up can seem like a strenuous task. However, getting the opportunity to create a program that accommodates your goals and interests can be a rewarding process. USF Alum Kaitlynn Wornson graduated in May 2015 with her interdisciplinary major, which mainly focused on art and the basics of communication. Looking back on it now, Wornson says, “I would never do [college] any other way.” Creating her own interdisciplinary degree was not an initial plan for Wornson. Originally, she decided to attend USF for its art program. “I sat in on one of Ceca Cooper’s art classes and [I thought} she was really awesome and I wanted to learn from her,” says Wornson.
Story by Whitney Fryer
At first Wornson was a little reluctant about the programs, as she was warned by several students and faculty that an interdisciplinary degree can be seen as indecisive and a “cop out” major. “I also knew a good number of people who said, ‘oh yeah, I thought about that, but I did not want to put in the work that it takes to get there,’” says Wornson. Then at the start of her junior year, Wornson pushed passed all of her uncertainties and decided to pursue her interests by piecing together her own major. She looked through the course catalogues of a varying number of other colleges, including the Kansas City Art Institute and the Savannah College of Art and Design, to help form the basis for her degree program. “I had all of their catalogues and I ripped out all of the pages. I sat on the floor and highlighted all of the similarities and this is kind of how I pulled it all together,” says Wornson.
Along with being an art major, for a short period of time, Wornson also majored in communications, attempted a minor in entrepreneurial studies, and even contemplated theology.
It was during this process that Wornson discovered the degree program that she was most interested in pursuing. “I found out that what I really wanted to learn was closest to an advertising major,” says Wornson.
“Actually, my current roommate, [who] I’ve known since freshman year, likes to joke that she had a tally of how many times I would come in our room saying that I was going to change my major,” says Wornson.
After completing her extensive research, Wornson took her compiled research, along with USF’s course catalogue and attempted to mimic the advertising programs she had seen at other schools.
Late in her sophomore year, Wornson was still unable to find a major suited for her career years and unwilling to part ways with USF, began to consider taking on the challenge of creating her own interdisciplinary major. “I had a specific idea of what I wanted to learn and there was not any one program that could do that for me,” says Wornson.
“A good number of the classes kind of focused on the basics of communications,” says Wornson. Along with her art courses, Wornson also took a persuasion course from Dr. Nassif, a professional theater class from Joe Obermueller, and a couple of design courses.
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How to Create Your Own Major (in four simple steps) Step 1. Ask Yourself: Why am I in College? What's the End Goal? The key here is to take an honest look at where you're headed and why. Don't expect to have an instantaneous answer to the questions, because this will take some serious self-reflection. It took me two years to figure this out! But along the way I learned so many things, and so it was so worth it.
Step 2. Gather Information. How are others getting where you want to go? Is there a program you admire at another college? For me, this step meant looking at how a few different Illustration, Graphic Design, and Advertising majors were designed.
Step 3. Write Out Your Findings. The point here is to discover themes that your research has revealed. For example, I discovered these themes: being rooted in design thinking and business strategy; learning how to tell a compelling story that would engage the hearts and minds of consumers.
Step 4.
Design Your Major. This is the fun part. Putting together everything that you've found out and going through the paperwork is actually super exciting because it's like putting in the final piece of a puzzle. In the end, my major combines Art, Entrepreneurial Studies, and Communication Studies/Theatre. There you have it. Have fun.
courtsey of kaitlynnwornson. com/my-thoughts-are-loud DECEMBER 2015 | 11
Before immersing herself in the process, Wornson explains that the most crucial part of the process was getting a few people on her team. Having advisors to guide and help her through the process were essential. “Get some people on your team because it is definitely a group effort,” says Wornson.
for you,” says Wornson. By selecting a major already established, a student has a structured plan already set in place. There is already a clear plan established for them to follow and they have access to an advisor who is already familiar with the program. Whereas Wornson, on the other hand, had to have three advisors, none of which who had previously advised anyone on her type of plan.
Once you set up your major, take to your advisors and make sure to get plenty of feedback. During the process, Wornson says, “I think I went through two full drafts of my major.” She also explains that you should be prepared to fight for why each Choosing an interdisciplinary major for the wrong reason class you selected is necessary for your specific plan. gives students who are actually invested in the program a bad reputation. “If you don’t know why you are doing it, you are not Therefore, with all of the time needed to complete an going to have a clear plan anyway,” says Wornson. However, interdisciplinary approach, students should not select the if the interdisciplinary program is something you are truly program simply out of indecisiveness. The program should be interested in pursuing, then do not hold back. selected with a purpose and specific goal in mind. “If you are going to invest all of the time it takes to do the research and pull it all together, if [an interdisciplinary major] is a ‘cop out’ then pick something else that is already designed
Photo courtsey of Kaitlynn Wornson
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“It was a lot of work, but it was worth it,” says Wornson. “If you do it for the right reasons, all the hard work pays off.”
One of the challenges Wornson experiences during the process things that are starting to take shape that could be something that I could do in five years, but at the same time, I do not was making sure she got the most out of each discipline she know for sure what it looks like concretely.” had chosen classes from. Wornson is also taking the time to focus and fine tune all of “I think one thing that gets difficult is [that] you do not belong her skills. “People do not want to hear that you graduate from USF and then spend the first year just figuring out what you are to one specific program you have to belong to multiple, different studies or groups on campus. This can be challenging good at,” says Wornson. because you cannot always be completely a part of any one of In college, people become so busy that it can be challenging to them,” says Wornson. find everything you are good at, and the year after college can really help with that. “That’s what I find so interesting, is that Wornson was able to overcome all of the challenges and the people I really admire started out just by following what graduated with her interdisciplinary visual communications they were interested in,” says Wornson. major in 2015. Currently, she is working at Coffea, where she assists in setting up art and music shows with local artists. According to Wornson, the year after college should be about “With that comes the chance to write stuff for their blog and exploring your interests, as well as growing and capitalizing on communicate with the artists,” says Wornson. She is also a the contacts you formed in college. In the end, hard work and blogger and editor for Jam Art & Supplies. focus pay off, especially when doing things a little unorthodox in order to pursue your interests. “I am just working with people I like working with right now, and that is really fun for me,” says Wornson. “There are a lot of
Photo courtsey of Kaitlynn Wornson
Photo courtesy of Kaitlynn Wornson
FEBRUARY 2016 | 13
Bridging the Gaps “I want to teach Spanish because it will make a difference in someone else’s life” These are the words of Spanish education major Amanda Thomson. Thomson, who is in her last year at USF couldn’t be happier with her chosen area of expertise. “As I’ve learned the language, I’ve come to value it as I have experienced it in its community. Not only is it a tool when trying to travel, it’s also a valuable tool when trying to connect and communicate with our fellow citizens.”
Story by Natalie Miller
USF Students at “Las Ramblas” Spanish conversation group
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And that, according to Thomson fuels her drive. “I work in a retail store,” says Amanda. I often come into contact with those who only speak Spanish. Having the ability to communicate and assist them, reminds me of how applicable Spanish is to our lives here in Sioux Falls.”
Because Thomson so strongly values the ability to connect with those of different cultures, she is pleased with the changes the USF Spanish department has made in recent months. The addition of a new professor brought along curriculum changes as well as a renewed appreciation for the value of bilingualism. The new courses, according to Thomson, delve deeper into what the roots of the Spanish language are and how it’s used in different contexts. “This helps to truly develop the language in our students rather than just teaching them enough to get by,” says Amanda. Last semester, Thomson was enrolled in Spanish Composition and this is where she began to see these positive changes in the curriculum. “Dr. Sinnot is giving the students a reason to enjoy the language as well as a real context for using it; she’s making it applicable. She’s making it real.
Spanish in order to improve the doctor-patient relationship, as there are more Hispanic people in the United States than ever before. To enhance his relationship with his Hispanic patients, taking classes at USF was the first step. Yet, according to Dr. Masannat, the learning process does not stop there. “There are different aspects involved in learning a new language. Class is essential, but it is not enough; you have to do work on your own and interact with Spanish speaking people. That way you can begin to understand the culture. You see the way people interact and learn some of the slang language or expressions you wouldn’t normally learn in the classroom.”
USF students interested in pursuing the rewarding challenge of learning Spanish can take the first step by choosing among the variety of courses offered this Also pleased with the direction spring by Dr. Sarah Sinnot. These of the Spanish department is courses include Introduction non-traditional student Fares to Spanish II, Intermediate Masannat, MD. Dr. Masannat is Spanish II, Spanish Phonetics and an infectious disease specialist Phonology, and Spanish in the here in Sioux Falls and has been United States, with more classes taking Spanish courses at USF for being offered in the fall. In the past few semesters. addition to these deeply rooted courses, students have the “There’s no limit on how opportunity of participating in much you can learn,” says Dr. the USF Spanish speaking group Masannat, who is fluent in 2 titled “Las Ramblas,” occurring languages, with Arabic being his every Wednesday night led by native tongue. “I think everyone Thomson. should be bilingual either in Spanish or any other language “I encourage everybody to you are comfortable with. It learn Spanish,” reiterates Dr. helps you connect with others Masannat,” and maybe a third and bridges the gap between or fourth language after that. It cultures.” opens up horizons and makes you think in a different way. After having been established in his career for 13 years, Dr. Masannat saw a need to learn Pictured Top: Amanda Thomson, USF Spanish Tutor and Education Major. Pictured Second: Olivia Boese, USF Spanish Student Pictured Third: Left- Dr. Sarah Sinnott, USF Spanish Professor. Right- Dr. Fares Masanat, Infectious disease specialist and USF Spanish student Pictured Bottom: Thomson, Natalie Miller (USF Spanish Student) and Masannat Photo of Dr. Sinnott courtesy of USF Marketing.
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