April 10, 2020

Tania de Sostoa-McCue
Doctoral Student Writing, Rhetoric and American Culture

"Tania has been an amazing editorial assistant even through several personal and family medical difficulties *and* while making good progress towards her degree. She's made my work as journal editor not just do-able but pleasant and enjoyable. My work truly wouldn't be possible without her, and I am grateful for her presence in my work life!"

Tania, we are grateful for you!

Tania is being recognized by Malea Powell

Ida Djenontin
Doctoral Student in Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences

"In addition to maintaining high performance on her own work, Ida has been a great support to both me and students in her role as TA for two of my classes this Spring! She has done a yeoman job with grading, but more importantly, has taken many other steps to get to know the undergrad students and to help with management. These have been crucial in helping us all successfully navigate the transition to 'remote' instruction. I deeply appreciate her work ethic and positive demeanor."

Ida, we are grateful for you!

Ida is being recognized by Gary Schnakenberg

Jared Milburn
Student in Writing Rhetoric and American Culture

"Jared brings his whole creative and intellectual self to the tasks in front of him. This means you get a filmmaker, songwriter, emcee, beat maker, music engineer, and more. He shows that we should never leave parts of who we are outside of the classroom. Brining all of who we are creates a rich reservoir of assets and insights available not only to ourselves but to the people around us."

Jared, we are grateful for you!

Jared is being recognized by Emery Petchauer

Clare Grall, Shelby Wilcox, Nolan Jahn
Graduate students in Communication

"The grad students are to me the main reason that keeps the university alive. They are the future of science. Just as humanity would die out without kids, the university would do so without grad students- and within one generation science would cease to exist. Thus, training the next generation of scientists is just like raising a family. And - in joy and pain - we stand together as a team. This sense of community, mutual responsibility, and a common goal is to me what makes it so meaningful to work together with grad students. I can honestly say that I probably learned more from them than I've provided as input."

Clare, Shelby, Nolan, we are grateful for you!

Cadaelia Turnage
Master’s Student in Accounting 

"Cadealia is the graduate advisor for the National Association of Black Accountants. She has served as a mentor and role model to MSU students from all backgrounds who want to become Certified Public Accountants. She supports a 10-person executive board that plans professional, social and community service events for MSU students. She helps create supportive environments for students of color to achieve academic and professional success. She has full time job offer from KPMG, one of the world's largest public accounting firms. In addition, she helped me plan and execute the 2020 Black History Month Multicultural Heroes Hall of Fame Case Competition. She transitioned the application online, helped recruit teams and provided feedback to teams during dress rehearsal. She spent 10 hours on a Sunday watching teams rehearse, providing feedback and deciding which teams should move to the final round of the competition. During the final round, she hosted the judges, served as a timekeeper and tabulated the judge's scores. She was critical to the event's success."

Cadaelia, we are grateful for you! 

Cadaelia is being recognized by Ann Crain

Katie Greulich
Doctoral student in English

"I want to shout out Katie Greulich, who has just finished writing a brilliant dissertation titled "Fieldwork: Ecological Pedagogy in Modern Fiction and Film," and is set to defend it next week. It's been a joy to co-direct this project with my colleague Dr. Judith Stoddart, and to see Katie bring it to completion in such a smart, surprising, and truly interdisciplinary way. Katie's work demonstrates so many of the hallmarks of exceptional scholarship. It is very carefully researched, relevant, ambitious in its range, and conceptually adventuresome. To me, Katie is a model of a thinker who has the courage and determination to follow her interests. In this project, that means showing us--in a groundbreaking way--how "the interesting" itself was a mode of thinking and feeling through which modernist artists and intellectuals learned modes of ecological awareness and pedagogy. Katie is also a delightful and generous person, who embraces all challenges with poise, grace, and unflagging cheer. It is a pleasure and an honor to work with her."

Katie, we are grateful for you!

Katie is being recognized by Justus Nieland.

Alyssa Harben
Doctoral student in Packaging

"Alyssa is a shining example of a Graduate student. She is a thoughtful and reflective instructor, a productive and creative researcher as well as a fabulous mentor who carefully tends the path for those who travel it behind her. I have immensely enjoyed watching her grow in all aspects of the University mission as she has transformed from an emerging undergraduate into someone that is more like a colleague. She will be sorely missed when she graduates later this year, but I know that the discipline will be the benefactor of her presence."

Alyssa, we are grateful for you!

Alyssa is being recognized by Laura Bix

Claire Schertzing
Master’s in Human Medicine and Public Health

"Claire is an excellent role model for the students she works with in our program. She works extremely hard to ensure the first-generation, low-income students she mentors receive all possible information about post-secondary access. During this present time while we are working remotely, Claire is part of staff meetings offering her help and expertise in anything we may need her for. Most importantly, she wrote and $40,000 STEM grant for the Talent Search program and was awarded in fall 2019. While her career goals are in Public Health, we would LOVE for her to stay and continue to positively impact our programs. On behalf of KCP and ETS, THANK YOU Claire!!"

Claire, we are grateful for you!

Allyson Rumler and Sarah Drumm Chu
Master’s students in Plant Soil and Microbial Sciences 

"Allyson and Sarah dove into their master’s research headfirst and have been dedicated hardworking students since day one. Allyson and Sarah have spearheaded their research project and it has been rewarding to have conversations with them about how to design a research project to test her hypothesis and achieve their goals. Sarah and Allyson have inquisitive minds and are always striving to not only understand the Weed Science principles underlying their projects, but those of other projects at MSU also. In addition, Sarah and Allyson strengthen my extension and research vision daily through discussion about Weed Science principles. Their inquisitiveness fosters active daily learning, which is essential to my life in academia and the broader community."

Allyson and Sarah, we are grateful for you!

Allyson and Sarah are being recognized by Erin Burns

Joelyn de Lima
Doctoral student in Plant Biology

"I want to thank Joelyn for everything she has brought to me and to all the members of our lab over the last 5 years. Joelyn will soon be defending her dissertation, and I am so saddened that she may not get all the hugs and full-throttle celebrations she so desperately deserves. Joelyn has been a leader, master organizer, and unofficial cat-herder for our group from the moment she arrived. She is the kind of person who can make you smile even while she's scolding you for not using the right kind of label or improperly loading the paper tray. I am so proud of her and all she has accomplished. I will miss her so much - she will never know."

Joelyn, we are grateful for you.

Joelyn is being recognized by Tammy Long

Brandon Arnold
Master’s student in Student Affairs

"I am so thankful to have met Brandon Arnold. As my Assistant Community Director over these short few months, he has helped me grow as an RA and a better person. I am forever thankful for Brandon for always checking in on his staff and going the extra mile. Our mandatory one-on-ones never felt as a drag, but days I looked most forward to. These talks lasted over an hour and were how we truly connected over our love for the show ‘How to Get Away with Murder’ and over Psychology. Honestly, he is the best listener ever and has helped me through extremely tough times. Brandon is the true definition of joy and the type of person you feel so comfortable to tell anything. I will forever cherish the moments I had with him and the guidance he provided. I hope to always keep in touch and hear all of his successes and great contributions he makes to the world. Thank you, B, for everything."

Brandon, we are grateful for you!

Brandon Arnold is being recognized by Alexia Davis.

Mohammed Ruthan
Doctoral student in Linguistics and Languages

"Mohammed has been a wonderful mentor for me during my time at MSU, especially in my final year of my program. Mohammed works tirelessly as a researcher and is always willing to help other graduate students while working on his own projects. He is a kind, caring, and patient individual who has brought so much light to the department during his time here, and I am forever grateful to call him a role model and friend. Congratulations on passing your Ph.D. defense and best wishes for your future teaching position!"

Mohammed, we are grateful for you!

Mohammed is being recognized by Kaylin Smith.

Ryan Adolph
Doctoral student in Theatre 

"Ryan Adolph is an amazing actor. I am so sorry our time together this semester was cut short working on a project, but I look forward each time to seeing him on stage. He also knows more movies than I do."

Ryan, we are grateful for you!