Oct. 29, 2014 | honors.missouri.edu

Nicholas Akins

Student Spotlight

Advice from the Newest AdviserHC Adviser Kristina Bradley

The Greatest Homecoming in HistoryA look at Homecomings past

explorateUniversity of Missouri Honors College Newsletter

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A Guide to Early Registration Advising

in this issue3

9

Announcements

Sports: The Greatest Homecoming in History

11 Faculty: Advice from the Newest AdviserHC Adviser Kristina Bradley

5 A Guide to Early Registration Advising

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FacebookUniversity of Missouri Honors College

Twitter@MUHonors

explorate contributors

editorRachel Koehn

staff reportersSiyu Lei

Kate MaxcyJacob Renie

Kelsie SchraderCongrong Zheng

faculty adviserMegan Boyer

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explorateexplorate (ex-plo-raht) is a plural imperative form of the Latin verb explorare, “to ex-plore.” Drawing on the Hon-ors College motto, Explore. Dream. Discover., explorate invites students to seek out every opportunity available to them.

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Cover photo by Sam Vickery.

7 Nicholas AkinsStudent Spotlight

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AnnouncementsSpring 2015 Honors Courses

A list of Spring 2015 honors courses can be found here: http://honors.missouri.edu/courses/catalog.php.

Please bookmark this page. The catalog will be updated on a regular basis.

Spring 2015 Honors Tutorials

Based on the Oxford style of teaching, “Honors Tutorials” pair a small group of honors students (typically two to five) with a distinguished MU faculty member to discuss a topic, author, book/s, or issue very intensely over the course of a semester. Meetings take place in the faculty member’s office (or other, non-classroom setting.)

Please find a description of each tutorial at http://honors.missouri.edu/courses/tutorials_spring_2015.pdf If you would like to participate in one of these tutorials, please email a one-page statement to the tutorial professor about why you’d like to enroll in the tutorial, addressing the following questions: · Why does a tutorial method of learning appeal to you? · What do you think you’ll gain from the experience? · And why are you interested in the particular topic? · Make sure to indicate your major/s as well as your overall GPA. Tutorial Applications are due Friday, November 14th.

Talk Sports and Math with the Mizzou Math Club

The Mizzou Math Club is excited to host Matt Fischer, president and founder of SportsFormulator on Wednesday, October 29th from 7:30-8:30pm in Switzler Hall 101.

SportsFormulator, a Columbia-based company, predicts sports outcomes through a data analysis and proprietary formulas. They predict teams’ chances of winning and points scored for their upcoming match-ups in the NFL, Col-lege Football, NBA, College Basketball, NHL, and more! Founded two years ago, they beat ESPN Insider predictors in College football and NFL for the 2013-14 season, their first full season!Questions? Email Anne Marie Coultrap at avcz98@mail.missouri.edu

Civic Leaders Congressional Scholars

The Civic Leaders Internship Program is very excited to announce scholarships to support students interested in representing MU in the offices of Missouri Congressional Delegates in Washington, D.C. For the last three years students from degree programs campus-wide—for instance English, Journalism, Agriculture, Political Science, and Business—have worked with our Missouri Delegation at the same time as earning academic credit and advancing towards graduation. We now have funding to support your travel and the additional expenses you incur when you move to and live in Washington, D.C.

The Civic Leaders Congressional Scholars Program awards academic credit and congressional internship experi-ence to Mizzou sophomores, juniors, and seniors. Additionally, Congressional Scholars receive scholarships to sup-port their time in Washington, D.C. Over the years, Congressional Scholars from a diversity of degree programs and majors have served in the following offices: · Congressman William Lacy Clay (MO-1) · Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-3) · Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (MO-4) · Congressman Sam Graves (MO-6) · Congressman Billy Long (MO-7) · Congressman Jason Smith (MO-8) · Senator Claire McCaskill · Senator Roy Blunt · House Small Business Committee We are looking for students interested in leadership and public service from all academic majors and backgrounds. You should have excellent communication skills and a strong interest in exploring and understanding public policy. Interning in Washington D.C. is truly a life-changing professional experience. You will interact with our nation’s leaders while shaping your future professional profile. You will be immersed in the history and prestige of our na-tion’s capital. Most importantly, you will represent MU with our Missouri state delegation. For more information and to schedule a workshop that will assist you in applying for the program, please visit our Online Scheduler. While we highly recommend attending a workshop and feel as though it will make you more competitive, we understand that schedules are tight. Please email us at clip@missouri.edu if you cannot attend a workshop, and we will forward on to you the application packet. Help Start a New Major on Campus

To all MU students: We are a team of faculty members planning to launch a new major at MU in Fall 2015. Please take a few minutes to complete this four-question survey so that we can assess student interest in the major: https://missouri.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_dbgfjlR3oHKJnlX. Thank you!

Announcement sponsored by Digital Storytelling Committee.

Medical and Dental Application Program (MDAP) (for Juniors and Seniors)

MDAP provides comprehensive support for students in the process of applying to health professions schools. This program is open to students applying for 2016 entering class and features a series of detailed informational semi-nars, an individualized application assessment conference, a personal statement conference, and a committee in-terview designed to mirror an admissions interview. Participants also have the opportunity to receive individual guidance from the Medopp Advisors regarding their Health Professions Resume, personal statement and letters of recommendation. Applicants who complete the requirements of program are eligible to participate in the Commit-tee Interview process, which results in an evaluator letter from the Pre-Health Professions Committee, a group of faculty and senior staff with a range of interdisciplinary expertise. This is an important component of an applicant’s file. To register for the program, students must complete an application (found on http://premed.missouri.edu/ap-ply/mdap.php) and return it to the Medopp Advising Office.

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When you call to schedule an appointment, please have your registration date and time available. You can find your registration date and time in your MyZou student center. Advi-sors will try to meet with you one or two days before your registration time so that they have a clear indication of what classes will still be open for enrollment at the time of your regis-tration date.

Note: Walk-in general advising is available for non-premed specific questions Monday—Friday from 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 am and 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Honors College Students may schedule an advising appointment by calling (573) 882-3893.

Who can be advised by the Honors College?

For “Undecided” Honors Students Honors students who have not officially de-clared a major are assigned to the Honors Col-lege for academic advising. Undecided stu-dents may meet with an advisor in the Honors College to discuss possible majors and career goals, compare degree programs, select cours-es, and get assistance with registration. In ad-dition, advisors can assist and/or make refer-rals for students on any number of academic or non-academic issues. For All Honors Students Any honors student may see an honors ad-visor to discuss such things as career goals,

changing a major, honors courses, etc. Howev-er, honors advisors do not serve as the primary advisor for students with declared majors and cannot substitute for a student’s assigned aca-demic advisor. A student’s assigned academic advisor will be able to provide the most com-prehensive information on requirements in the student’s degree program. Medopp Advising For Premed/Dental/Optom-etry/Podiatry Students Students who are pursuing pre-professional tracks in medicine, dentistry, or optometry are encouraged to meet with a Medopp Advisor in the Honors College. Medopp Advisors will be able to provide advice on course selection, in-formation on professional school admissions tests, guidance in making application to pro-fessional schools, guidance about letters of recommendation, and information about re-search, healthcare and shadowing opportuni-ties.

Medopp Freshman Connection Sessions Registration is now available for the Medopp Freshman Connection advising sessions. These intimate group sessions are designed specifi-cally for first year pre-health students (Medi-cine, Dentistry, Optometry, Podiatry and Phy-sician Assistant) who want to maximize their time and competitiveness for professional school. In these small groups, we will touch on a few important topics such as courses for the Spring semester, shadowing and volunteering, research, study abroad and other topics first

A Guide to

Early Registration Advisingin the Honors College

Reporting by Kate Maxcy

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year students need to know, but the groups will also be interactive and there will be plenty of time for Q&A. Sessions will be held during several time slots on Oct. 24, 30 & 31 and Nov. 6, 7, 13 & 14. All small groups will meet in the Lowry Hall Con-ference Room (2nd floor). Space is limited, so register early by calling 882-3893. Each ses-sion is limited to 8 students.

Medopp Sophomore/Junior (Pre-Application Year) Connection Sessions Registration is now available for the Medopp Sophomore/Junior advising sessions. These intimate group sessions are designed to pre-pare pre-health students (Medicine, Dentistry, Optometry, Podiatry and Physician Assistant) for the application process for professional school. These sessions are not for those stu-dents currently enrolled in MDAP. In these groups, we will cover important topics such as standardized test prep, timeline of the applica-tion process, what’s a competitive candidacy and prerequisite courses. The groups will be interactive and there will be plenty of time for Q&A. Sessions will be held during several time slots on Oct. 24, 30 & 31 and Nov. 6, 7, 13 & 14. All small groups will meet in the Lowry Hall Con-ference Room (2nd floor). Space is limited, so register early by calling 882-3893. Each ses-sion is limited to 8 students. Prepare for Registration and Advising Appointment

To have a successful Advising Appointment:

• Know the specific dates for registration.• Note the date and time you may register.

This will be sent to you from the Office of

the Registrar via email to your MU account. You may also use MyZou to view your en-rollment date.

• Resolve any outstanding holds (immuniza-tion, transcripts, etc.). This will be noted in the email from the Office of the Registrar that notifies you of your registration date and time.

• Make an appointment to see your advisor. You need to make an Advising appointment as soon as you can, but the actual appoint-ment time should be as near to your Regis-tration time as possible.

• Review the online Schedule of Courses on MyZou.

• Look through your college catalog and degree requirements/general education checklist. The college catalog lists require-ments for each major, prerequisites for courses (requirements that need to be com-pleted before a course can be taken), and provides course descriptions for each class.

• Using your college catalog and the Schedule of Courses, develop a list of possible cours-es. At this initial planning stage, it is proba-bly best to develop a list of possible courses and not worry about the specific times and days the classes meet. Since you may not be registering until late in the registration pe-riod, the specific sections for a course you choose may not be available.

• Meet with your advisor. Bring the list of your potential courses, degree requirements or general education requirements and a list of all of your questions to your advising ap-pointment.

• On the appropriate day and time, register for your classes.

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Moving out of an on-campus residence hall and adapting to living off-campus is an adjustment for many MU sophomores. In Nicholas Akins’ case, this process might have been easier. After all, Akins is now living with three of his best friends — all three of whom lived just down the hallway from Akins’ Schurz Hall dorm room during his freshman year.

“Two of [my roommates] were in a journalism FIG,” Akins said. “My other friend wasn’t in a FIG, but he was just in the general Honors community.”

Before moving into Schurz Hall, Akins said he had some preset notions of what Honors College students may look like. He expect-ed them to be “trying as hard in school” as he is. This was definite-ly true, which he found out once he moved in and started getting to know other people who chal-lenged him academically. Accord-ing to Akins, the challenge didn’t end with academics.

“They push me as a person,” Akins said. “And they push me in other areas of my life.”

Besides finding his best friends and roommates, Akins had some great times during his first year at MU. He was on the executive board of the hall government in Schurz, home of the Honors Learning Community (HLC). As a member of the Honors College pre-med FIG, Akins also took classes with his fellow FIG members and

socialized with many other Honors College students. The socializing in particular stood out as one of Akins’ best experiences in the Honors College.

“Schurz is just a great place to live your freshman year,” Akins said. “It’s a great place to get involved, a great place to meet people who are like you, and also people who aren’t like you. It’s just kind of a great

taste of Mizzou all in one building.”As an executive board member

of the residence hall, Akins landed the opportunity to organize various events throughout the year. Among them was Schurz’s annual barbeque last October, the event that made a strong impression on Akins.

As part of the MU Homecoming tradition, each residence hall orga-nizes a barbeque every year where all the residents are invited to come together to experience the tradition and, of course, share some good food. Judges, who are usually fac-ulty members around campus, rate these barbeques based on the hall decorations, general atmosphere, display of hospitality and quality of food.

“The barbeque is kind of a point where everyone in the residence

hall, and people from outside of the residence hall, get to celebrate together,” Akins said. “It’s just cool because everyone comes in and appreciates what you have done for all that time.”

Although Akins no longer lives in a residence hall

Nicholas Akins by Siyu LeiST

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What’s Your Story?

Do you have a story that deserves to be in the

spotlight? If you or some-one you know has a

story that you would like to see in the Honors Col-lege Newsletter ’s student

spotlight, let us know!

Send your story idea and contact information to

siyulei@mail.missouri.edu.

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this year, his tie with this par-ticular Homecoming tradition is only strengthened. This February, Akins applied for the 2014 Home-coming Steering Committee.

“Homecoming just has its spe-cial spot in my heart,” Akins said. “I really like the celebration of our school. Just a great way for basi-cally everyone to get involved.”

Akins went through two rounds of interviews before being select-ed as one of the three members on the Special Events Committee. More specifically, Akins was in charge of this year’s “M-I-Z B-B-Q” event.

This year’s “M-I-Z B-B-Q” took place the afternoon of October 16. Instead of organizing the bar-beque for Schurz Hall, Akins was in charge of communicating with more than two-dozen residence halls about the details of the bar-beque, providing the residential life staff with assistance and find-ing the judges. Akins did every-thing he could to make sure the event ran smoothly.

On a larger scale, Akins and the rest of the Homecoming Steer-ing Committee met for the eight months leading up to Homecom-

ing weekend to prepare for the time-honored tradition.

“It’s such a well-oiled machine,” Akins said, “because here at Miz-zou, this is like our 103rd Home-coming. So many people have done this before that basically ev-erything has been organized for us. It’s just a matter of executing.”

Since February, Akins has at-tended weekly meetings and “sometimes more than that.” This month is when almost all of the Homecoming events have taken place, so he and his fellow com-mittee members have been meet-ing every day.

“It’s not a stressful overwhelm-ing. It’s just overwhelming in the time sense,” Akins said.

Among all the Homecoming events, Akins definitely has his fa-

vorite: talent. For the talent com-petition, which took place from October 20 to October 22, groups of students create and perform 10-minute skits based upon each year’s theme. Akins thought of this event as a great time to just sit back, relax and enjoy a good show.

“Homecoming can be very, very serious for good reason, because we have a blood drive,” Akins said. “But it’s always nice to get a little comic once in a while, so I [was] excited for [talent], for sure.”

As the planning phase for Home-coming ends, Akins wants to focus more on classes and keep raising his GPA. Leaning toward pediat-rics or oncology, Akins knows it will take effort to reach his goal: getting in to a good medical school.

Photo by Siyu Lei.

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They say Homecoming was born in Missouri. It began on that fated night in 1911 when the border war between two states was immortalized in history forever. MU’s Director of Athletics, Chester L. Brewer, had a vision. He wanted the season ending game to mean more than just playing the hated Jayhawks. He wanted it to be more than the signal of the end of a season of football. He wanted a celebration of all things MU. And what better way to celebrate than having MU alumni “Come Home” for a season-ending hurrah? So he gathered a crowd of over 9,000 and they flocked into Rollins Field. The game ended in grand fashion when Ti-ger captain Glen Shuck kicked a game tying field goal with four minutes left to play. During Kansas’ final play, Mis-souri’s Billy Blees completed an open field tackle to maintain the tie, and the exuberate Tiger crowd carried him off the field.

Thus, Homecoming was born. Since then, MU has added more and more fanfare, making it into the great tradition it is today. At its Homecoming, Missouri boasts the nation’s largest student-run blood drive. The university also hosts a day of service, a parade, a food drive and a talent show. On the eve of the game, the whole town of Columbia comes out to view the Greek houses’ decorations. It carries the atmosphere of going to Christ-mas lights and is a perfect symbol of the school embracing the community. In its 103 years of celebrating Homecoming, Mizzou boasts a 59-38-5 re-cord. But there is one game that will forever remain in the annuls of Mizzou Homecomings as the greatest. It happened four years ago. When the then No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners trav-eled to the No. 11 Missouri Tigers. The game was set up to be one for the ages. Both teams were 6-0 and on pace to win their half of the Big 12 and were competing for a spot in the conference championship. The two weeks prior had just consecutively seen the No. 1 teams get beaten, and the Tigers were looking to see that streak continue. College Game Day came to Columbia for the first time and dubbed the day “Show Me Saturday.” A crowd of 18,000 fans packed around the columns, setting a record for most attendance in Game Day history that still stands today. This Sooners team was stacked. Among the notables are Saint’s receiver Kenny Stills and Cowboy’s running back DeMarco Murray. In fact, every Oklahoma player that scored that night would go on to be drafted by the NFL.

The Greatest Homecoming in HistoryBy Jacob Renie

SPORTS

With this year ’s Homecoming victory in the books, MU reflects on Homecomings past

The Missouri Tigers celebrated their 103rd Homecoming with a 24-14 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Oct. 25, 2014. In the spirit of Homecoming, Tiger fans made a “Tiger Stripe” pattern across Faurot Field.

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On the very first play of the next drive, Missouri’s Zaviar Gooden intercepted Landry Jones and the Tigers went 17 yards before being forced to kick a 23-yard field goal. MU now led 29-21 and the crowd could taste victory with only 10 minutes left to play. Three minutes later, James Franklin scrambled 3 yards to put MU up 36-21. The Sooners responded by returning the kickoff 77 yards to the Tigers’ 15 and Trey Millard finished the job with a 2-yard carry into the end zone. The score now stood 36-27 after a failed two-point conversion. Missouri then recovered the Sooners’ attempted onside kick but was halted on offense and forced to punt. The Ti-ger defense then forced the Sooner of-fense to go three and out and punt with 2 minutes left. With that punt, Missouri knew it had done the impossible. It had upset the No. 1 team in the nation. This was the first time ever in school history that the Tigers beat a No. 1 ranked opponent. It truly was the greatest Homecoming in MU history. And it all began with a touchdown by a backup sophomore.

Sources: ESPN, University of Missouri, Rock M Nation

It started raining a little before game time, but not even the weather could stop the gaming from taking place. It was the Tigers’ destiny to be there. On the opening kickoff, sophomore back-up Gahn McGaffie went 86 yards to the house. It was his first and only touchdown of his career, and as his teammates tackled him in the end zone, the nation began buzzing. Just last week, Wisconsin had upset the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes, and it had start-ed on a returned opening kickoff. The MU defense then halted the Sooners on the ensuing drive, but special teams fumbled the punt return and the Sooners got the ball in Missouri territory. OU’s quarterback Landry Jones hit Kenny Stills for a 27-yard touchdown pass and the game was tied again at 7-7. Neither team scored for the next 10 minutes, but as the first quarter reached its final minutes, OU began stringing a couple of plays together and reached MU’s 12-yard line. Then lightning struck for Missouri as Aldon Smith intercepted Landry Jones’ pass and went 58 yards to the Sooners’ 28. With its second play of the second quarter, Missouri pushed another six across with a 1-yard rushing touchdown by De’Vion Moore. MU was now up 14-7 and kept the lead until the fourth minute when DeMarco Murray caught a 4-yard touchdown pass. MU quickly responded and marched down field to kick a 36-yard field goal with 1 second left in the half. The Tigers successfully kicked another field goal in the eighth minute of the third quarter to go up 20-14. Oklahoma responded on the following drive, going 69 yards and culmi-nating in a 3-yard pass to James Hanna. The Sooners now led for the first time of the game at 21-20 -- a lead that would last all of 5 minutes. Missouri went 72 yards on its opening drive of the fourth and Blaine Gabbert completed a 38-yard pass to Jerrell Jackson to put MU up 26-21. Missouri then failed the two-point conversion, but wouldn’t surrender the lead for the rest of the game.

Photo by Jonathan Thompson.

The Missouri Tigers celebrated their 103rd Homecoming with a 24-14 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Oct. 25, 2014. In the spirit of Homecoming, Tiger fans made a “Tiger Stripe” pattern across Faurot Field.

their schedule, that’s not at 8 a.m., that’s close to their previ-ous class, that’s with that one professor that everyone rec-ommends, that sat-isfies some specific requirement, and that—of course—

only has more than one open spot left. And then students must cre-ate a backup schedule, full of the same classes but at different times in case that one class fills up before they have time to register. And then, when the time finally comes to click

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Honors adviser Kristina Bradley on Early Registration

“enroll,” it’s a race be-tween 300 other stu-dents to hit the “enroll” button before someone else gets into the class.

It’s a long process that academic adviser Kris-tina Bradley knows all too well.

As a former Honors student at MU, Bradley has had much experi-ence with Early Reg-istration. She knows the struggles of find-ing the perfect class, of creating the perfect schedule, of fulfilling requirements while also taking interesting classes. Now, as a new academic adviser for the Honors College, she is using her knowledge and expertise to help other students navi-gate the process and make it all a little less stressful.

Bradley first came to MU for her undergrad-uate degree in Psychol-ogy, which she gradu-ated with in 2007. She later returned to earn a Master of Education in Counseling Psycholo-gy. She has since spent most of her time in Co-lumbia.

Early Registration can be a stress-ful time. It sneakily creeps up and adds itself to an already-massive to-do list. It forces students to engage in in-depth searches on myZou for the one class that will perfectly fit

FACULTY

Advice from the Newest Adviser

By Kelsie Schrader

Photo by Kelsie Schrader.

“Columbia and Miz-zou have become my home,” Bradley said, which has encouraged her to work in a variety of positions at MU be-fore recently accepting a job within the Honors College. “I don’t want to leave this college bubble,” she joked.

Having been a member of the Honors College during her own studies at MU, Bradley truly un-derstands the full ben-efits of Honors classes. They expose students to new ideas, making them more well-round-ed. The classes are fo-cused on student en-gagement and critical thinking. Students who may be a bit apprehen-sive about a class may find that the Honors section of that class is more manageable. As for classes that stu-dents are already in-terested in, the Honors sections are even more in-depth and engaging.

“It’s sort of like the best of both worlds,” Bradley said. “It’s nice to balance the required classes with something a little more stimulat-ing.”

With all of her experi-ence in the Honors Col-

lege, Bradley is a great resource for Honors students looking for Honors classes to fulfill the Honors require-ment. She can assist students in their search for an Honors class that fits their interest, fulfills their require-ments and aligns with their sched-ules.

Bradley suggests that, upon receiv-ing their registration date and time from the Registrar’s office, students make an appointment with their ac-ademic advisers. Those advisers will provide students with all the infor-mation they need on required class-es and other such requirements for their specific majors. After students have met with those advisers, they should begin making their schedule on myZou. They can then also meet with their Honors adviser to ask any questions they may have.

Whether students are in need of an Honors class, seeking ways to get in-volved on campus, looking for infor-mation on study abroad or just need-ing a refresher on how to use myZou, the Honors advisers can help, and if they cannot, “we get them in touch with the right people,” Bradley said.

According to Bradley, for freshman especially, Early Registration can be a big change. Most freshmen have never had the freedom making their own schedules.

“With great power comes great re-sponsibility,” Bradley said. “You don’t want to just be taking all of the class-es that look really fun and don’t do anything towards your degree plan.”

That is why it’s so important for stu-

dents to first see their academic ad-visers, who can ensure the students are on track. Then, students can meet with the Honors advisers to discuss Honors classes and other such de-tails.

The Honors advisers are available every day from 9 -11 a.m. and 2:30-4:30 p.m. for walk-ins. Students can drop by any time during those hours. They can ask any questions during that time, but Bradley suggests that students who have in-depth ques-tions that take more time to answer call ahead and make an appointment. However, if a student suddenly thinks of a question and stops in at the Hon-ors College between class to ask that questions, they will not be turned away. Students are encouraged to at least check in with their Honors ad-viser before registering for classes.

Bradley is a great resource for stu-dents, and during the stressful time of Early Registration, her humor can certainly help to lighten the atmo-sphere. Stopping in to meet with her may just allow students to learn of her interesting hobbies, such as her weekend DJ-ing at Eastside Tavern under the name DJ Glitterstorm. Any students needing advice or even just a laugh should drop by her office at the Honors College. As Bradley said, though students may walk into her office stressed, they almost always leave feeling less stressed—an as-pect of the job Bradley finds to be the most rewarding.

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Oct. 29, 2014 | honors.missouri.edu

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover.”

— Source Unknown