Student Stories

Gretna, NE

The on-campus learning experience that has been the most beneficial and transformational for me has to be my peer mentor position. That has helped me develop as an individual and really reflect on my own experiences as a college student and give that to people who are looking up to me.

Before coming to college I really had no idea what I wanted to do, but as I have been able to start to find leadership experience here, I have really been able to find what I love to do. Through jobs like my peer mentor position and my student ambassador position with the Explore Center, I have found that I love helping others find their passion. I want to be an academic advisor and go into higher education to work with students like myself who did not know what they wanted to do.

Hanover Park, IL

"As chair for the Environmental Sustainability Committee within ASUN and a part of the McNair Scholars Program, I have developed my leadership skills a lot in different ways and broadened my experiences within my time here at UNL. Technical-wise I learned a lot of lab procedures through McNair, and through ASUN I learned more socially how to properly communicate with people and how to be a more effective leader and work with a team."

Rapid City, SD

Working as a staff assistant for sport programs at Campus Recreation has helped develop me into the strong and confident woman I am today. Having the opportunity to strengthen my communication, problem-solving, and adaptability has already and will continue to benefit me in my future career. Husker GROW has helped me to realize that these skills I use at work are applicable in many areas of my life.

"Being surrounded by all of the women who have likeminded mindsets as me and goals and aspirations, or come from similar backgrounds as me has been very beneficial with making sure that I keep my motivation. We study together. We cry together. We rant together about frustrations about being a minority, often, and that keeps us very close-knit, but also keeps us safe within one another as well."

Marysville, KS

"I got involved my sophomore year in standing committees - just made a lot of good friends and connections on campus with administrators, faculty, and just students as well. I have stuck with them through the entire time and excelled in my leadership through ASUN, going through positions and moving up to the executive team."

Saint Charles, IL

"It was during my freshman year seeing a friend battle with his struggles with mental health and with suicidal ideation that I realized just how important the resources here on campus were. Without question working here with Big Red Resilience and Well-being as a REACH trainer has been the most transformative experience I have had as a leader on campus."

McCook, NE

My campus leadership role that has really impacted me as a student is my president position in my RSO, Christian Student Fellowship. That experience has helped me to meet other students, grow in my faith as a person which helps me be confident in my school. It has helped me become more responsible as a person having to meet deadlines and just kind of help run the show a little bit.

If you are really just going to college and looking to get all of your classes done, that is all of the experience you are going to get. So, doing this and becoming a leader has definitely brought a bunch of experiences back for me that have made college an amazing experience and I just would not trade it for the world.

Dalton, NE

"The Gamma Phi Beta sorority has pushed me to pursue my goals in college, and also pushed me outside of my comfort zone to pursue officer positions that I normally would not have. It has given me the confidence to do anything that I set my sights on."

Humboldt, SD

It is truly an honor to serve the residents at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and our goal is to make it feel like a home away from home.

The friends that I have made and the knowledge that I have earned through the RHA is something that I will forever cherish. I hope that everyone gets an opportunity to find something on campus that they love to do whether that be RHA or not.

Lincoln, NE

"It was in the summer of 2020 a lot of us black students were watching the news and it seemed like life after life being lost all across the media. And at the same time, all the national news channels were telling us that black communities in the US were dying at a higher rate because of COVID-19. As a student and as a black woman living in this country, I understood I had a duty to my community.

I think every single leadership experience that I have tried to gain or step into since then has been to advance that idea of giving people the resources they need and making sure that there is always a seat at the table."

Lincoln, NE

"I am the internal vice president of ASUN right now and it has really let me develop as a leader, figure out my leadership style, and how I am best able to interact with others and communicate. I am not going into something government-related right away - I am going to be a tax accountant. But even so, the communications skills that I have been able to develop have really allowed me to set myself apart in the internships that I have had because I am comfortable communicating with people that are higher up in organizations because I do it all the time working with administration at the university."

Las Vegas, NV

They can just be applied anywhere. It is an awesome opportunity to practice and strengthen those skills.

Huntley, IL

I am a pre-med student, with biochem major, so one of my aspirations is to go to medical school. I have always been a little nervous about that just thinking about 10, 15 years down the line how that is going to feel, but I think this position has really opened me up to that idea and concept. It has taught me a lot of how that would work with people.

Nashville, TN

We get together and we talk about all of the things that involve student life and what housing has to do with - how RAs work, how we as students collectively come together and represent the student body of workers within the Housing department. And it is really cool to see how we can change those types of things, and it gives us the opportunity to really give a voice to the students who may not feel like they have a voice.

Husker GROW has definitely impacted my on-campus experience, not only with my bosses and supervisors along with my coworkers just in that I can become closer with them, have a discussion and really understand what I am getting out of this job through community and speaking to each other.

There is just a lot of different problem-solving opportunities every time that I go into work since I never really expect what is about to happen that night.

For me personally, I lacked confidence in the beginning, was very shy, did not really want to talk to anybody that was giving me a hard time. I really kind of avoided conflict at all cost, but through this experience I have been able to acknowledge that I have improved and worked on my leadership, my communication and just all around conflict management so that I can work with other people better.

"Freshman year I was a part of FCLA. That was incredibly impactful for me because being an out-of-state student I was able to meet 20 other wonderful people and get to connect with them; and take what I thought I knew about leadership in high school to a whole new level and turn it into college leadership. It has also taught me skills about how to speak in front of large groups of people. I love the people and opportunities ASUN gives."

Grand Island, NE

Most of us are first-generation, which is a pretty big obstacle to complete because a lot of people already know what is ahead of them. For us, we are first generation, but we already have so many connections on campus that we know who to reach out for and who to go to for academic support, even financial support, or social support, which is definitely very necessary for mental health.

I was a New Student Orientation Leader which is something that Moi had recommended me for. I would have never applied for that! He was just like "I think you would be great for this" - and it was one of the best experiences ever. I got to meet new parents. I got to lead in the Spanish life of a Husker sessions, which was speaking in Spanish all day which is something that I do not get to do on campus. I got to connect with so many, well over a hundred, freshmen students. It really encouraged me to show them that I know this campus, that I am proud to be here.

The stuff I am learning from being an SA, and learning to get through conflict, will help me be really prepared on the go and not have to stay behind. That way I can be more of a leader.

Lincoln, NE

"The leadership experience outside the classroom that has been most transformative for me has been last year when I served as FCLA co-director. Serving in that role was really beneficial because I got to learn about leadership in its truest form. Just being able to grow as a leader by being that role model for 20 other people was such a meaningful experience."