Honors College Graduates: Fall 2021

 The SAU Honors College graduated five students in the Fall Semester of 2021. The are (L to R) Caitlyn Dean, Jordan Scrivner, Sarah York, Dana Hernandez, and Mackenzie Downs. We congratulate them and wish them the best in the future.

Bucket List: Christian Wiggins

 

Bucket lists show what others value: experiences, things, relationships, or a blend of all three. They show what people find important. For me, there are many small items on my bucket list, but the major items are long term. Others may find my list bland, but its items are important to me.

    Before I die I want to be a videogame developer and create a few successful video games. I don’t care about being famous. What I finally want to do is get the ideas in my head out and make games I’m proud of, games that people can enjoy. I want to give people a little bit of the fun that I’ve had with my favorite hobby. By doing that I would be accomplishing several things for myself while making something to let others have fun with as well. 

    Another item on my bucket list is more long term; I want to get married. I want to find someone I love and who loves me back. I want to make my spouse happy and live happily together. Others may find this item incredibly boring and sappy, but it’s something I want to do. I want to be with someone I love and trust and to be someone that they can love and trust too.

   I want to spend time with my family while we are together. I even want to give my dogs attention and make them happy while they are with me. I want to have good friends who I can hang out with. Living with as few regrets as possible is my goal.

Bucket List: Riley Payne

 

Bucket lists consist of the goals in life a person wants to achieve before dying. The lists can be simple or extraordinary. Everyone has a bucket list; some people write them down while others keep them their minds. Either way, bucket lists help people stay focused on their life goals.

My bucket list is simple but challenging. First, I want to graduate college and pass all my college classes. Most people overlook this goal, but to me it is important. After I graduate from SAU, I want to be accepted by the University of  Central Arkansas to continue my education and become a physical therapist. Before setting out on my career path, I want to find and observe physical therapists working at local hospitals and at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital. The goals above are some of my bigger goals in life. Others are quite simpler: getting married, starting a family, and to having a color guard solo during one of the SAU Band’s halftime shows. I love world travel either for vacations or mission trips. I want to see the Seven Wonders of the world. My mom has always wanted to go to Hawaii. So, I want fulfill a goal from her bucket list by taking her and my family to Hawaii.

    Bucket lists are very easy to create. People add to their bucket list throughout their lives. I hope that I 

achieve my goals and will be happy wherever I go in my life.

Bucket List: Jacob Brown

 

Growing up I never thought of having a bucket list. But today I can think of so many items that I could add that list, items that would make my life ideal. My items range from watching a Red Sox game, getting married under a willow tree, and to serving overseas. My items are not extreme but they will not bore me either. Those items will be a major factor in how I live my life.

            I plan to be a family man but  also to serve in the military; goals that may butt heads. My first goal is to first graduate college and then enlist into the U.S. Army. I’ve always wanted to be a soldier since I was a young boy; I’ve always told myself that I would serve someday. I’ll combine my goals of being in the Army with another goal, being a law enforcement officer, by serving as an MP officer in the Army.

            Beyond those two main goals are other minor but fulfilling goals: attending Razorback football, baseball, basketball games, and one of their track meets. I’d like to watch the Red Sox beat the Yankees. As a sucker for landscapes I would like to visit the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park. [FYI, neither are in the Midwest, ;-)] I have a fear of heights, but that fear may keep me safe. Still,  I would love to climb a mountain or two in the USA, just to help overcome my fear of heights.

Bucket List: Ashley Martin

 

Bucket Lists have never been a big hobby for me. I am very impulsive when it comes to ideas, but now that I think about it, I have some things that I have always wanted to do.

The first item on my bucket list is visit Yellowstone National Park. I have heard it’s extremely beautiful and I love going on hikes and outdoor adventures. Another item on my bucket list is becoming a travel nurse. That way I could  travel the world, something I love, and work in the pediatrics, my nursing field, at the same time. I would love to visit Alcatraz in San Francisco, CA. I find the whole “prison on an island” concept fascinating. Being an athlete all of my life, running a marathon would be something I would like to add to my list. I would have to train super hard, but it would be worth it.  Something I have always thought about doing is adopting a child. I am not set on adopting from any particular country, but I believe that fulfilling a child’s dreams and giving them love, maybe for the first time would be something we would cherish forever. The last and final thing on my bucket list is living on a ranch of over 50 acres. I have always lived in the city where everything is busy and crowded. So, living a calm and peaceful life is something I have always dreamt about it. My bucket list is rather simple and small, but it is filled with memories I would never forget.

Bucket List: Jiri Semrad

 

The only thing certain about the future is that it is not certain. What I am doing now may not be what I do in the future. Life will take me through all sorts of paths. What I do know is that setting myself up for success in whatever the future may hold is important to me.

The first and foremost item on my list is self-improvement. No matter what field or path I take consistent improvement will be the key to success in meeting my goals. Becoming stagnant will only hinder any moves to future goals. Those include art, coding, and traveling.

Before I die I want to host an art show. I was supposed to host one before Covid 19 but the pandemic forced its cancellation. I want to reach the point where I can comfortably understand code and coding. Whether or not I choose writing software as a career I’d like to practice and get better at it for my own satisfaction. I would like to go on a long road trip around the country and surrounding countries to just learn about the world I live in and get some stories before I settle down.

The last and most important goal for me is to not only let myself live a comfortable life but have the rest of my friends and family live comfortably. Going forward I want to be hired in a place I can passionately work because personally, it is less about the pay and more about enjoying what I do.

Bucket List: Joey Tan

 

I prefer to drift through life taking what is expected of me. As I grow older, I struggle to imagine what my future path will be. Yet, there are still things I know want to do before I die, my bucket list.

            I want to attend a League of Legends (LoL) eSports world final. I have followed up on the LoL eSports scene since 2018 and support many favorite teams and dislike others. Though I have never attended any large stadium event, I have heard many stories about the crowd’s electrifying energy, their roar making the game and the announcers inaudible, and no one seeming to care. Honestly, I am not sure if I would even enjoy such a scene, but I would like to find out for myself regardless.

            A cosplay, (short for costume play), is when people dress up as a character from a movie, show, video game, or any other media. Many people in cosplay attend comic or gaming conventions. I have been to some of these conventions before, but always in normal clothes. I know nothing about makeup, sewing, or prop design, but I would like to show up to a convention in cosplay one day. I find the idea of dressing up as a character exciting, since I would not really be “myself,” but I would be the character.

            Both these hobbies have always been something I have enjoyed or spectated from afar, but I want to participate in them fully, even just once.

Bucket List: Aspen Thomas

 

The first item on my bucket list is to graduate with my chemical engineering bachelor’s degree. I can’t wait to expand my knowledge in that field and finally be able to call myself an engineer, something I have always wanted to be.

The second item on my list is to get hired as a process engineer. Those engineers set up new factories and factory lines; they decide on how many workers to hire; and determine the ideal setup for the factory. It is my dream job and I am sure I’ll be good at it.

Third on my list is to have a family of my own. I have always loved being around kids and cannot wait to have my own children. While growing up it seemed that anytime and anywhere, when there were kids around, I would look up and see them staring at me or gathering around me. While I love hanging out with other people’s kids, I am much more excited to one day have a little mini-me.

The last thing on my list is to travel more. All throughout my childhood, I have been lucky enough to travel the world. I was able to spend two weeks in Sydney, Australia. I have gone swimming with dolphins and enjoyed the Caribbean and Bahamas. I was fortunate to experience time in Mexico and Canada. I also have explored many places here in the United States. I had amazing road trips from coast to coast that lead from Civil War Battlefields to the Woolworth's counter. I had other trips planned, but then COVID happened. So, I have gotten to see many things throughout the world that we hear about every day and can’t wait to see some more great places once again.

Bucket List: Allison Wood

 

As a goal-oriented person, I have always kept a bucket list. I do not have many extravagant dreams. Instead, I write small, manageable items down because they make me happy and remind me of my larger and more wonderful goals to come. These goals are deeply meaningful and relate to connecting to others.

I greatly enjoy spending time with people and molding my environment to convey positive emotions. So, my first goal is to have a medium sized house, filled with people and decorations! I never want an empty house. Although I don’t value material goods just for their own sake, I do want to use them to create the emotions of wonder and joy and have a house filled with people! I don’t need to be rich to accomplish this goal, but I will need a well-paying fulfilling job.

Another long-term goal is to travel to other countries. Growing up my parents hosted many exchange students in our household. I want to visit them all in their own country and explore their different cultures and histories. I want to see the sites they consider meaningful, rather than the “must see” sites ordinary tourists flock to .

These are my main goals and they relate to exploration and personal growth. I have many more goals I hope to complete and those revolve around making personal connections, bringing people together, and doing so in exciting and fun ways. I have full confidence that I’ll one day achieve everything I hope for and more.

 

Bucket List: Collin Savell

I have always wondered about what I wanted to do in my life while I can still enjoy them. Many of my ideas are simple and not exciting as many other goals could be, but those simple things are far more important to me. 

My first goal is to create a band with my friends, not that we will become well-known or make any money. The band is about being with my closest friends and creating music together. The second is to participate in a variety of competitive tournaments of many different kinds. I like the idea of competitions. I am not sure why other than they are fantastic personal challenges with well-defined end goals. Finally, I want to travel to several places in the world to learn and experience diverse cultures, especially those who are yet to be greatly afflicted by Americanism. 

I believe these goals will be among the most enjoyable and beneficial ways for me to learn, experience, meet challenges, and to enjoy my life more completely. Although they may not come to pass in the ways I hope, I still want to pursue them along with other similar goals and experiences.

 

Bucket List: Truli Bates

 

My bucket wishes would be endless In a world with no monetary restrictions and me not having any responsibilities. But, that is not the case. I still pray to experience: swimming with pigs in the Bahamas and gazing at the amazing ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. While in Europe I imagine being in awe of the Colosseum and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea.

Bearing children and having a successful marriage is extremely high on my bucket list and has been a life-long goal. More dramatically, I want to be a surrogate for someone who struggles to have children. Both these goals will depend on whether I can bear children. Time will tell.

Other goals are more mundane and personal. For fun, I would like to fake an engagement. That would be an exhilarating prank to pull.  As an everyday activity I would like to learn to drive a stick shift. I believe that is a valuable skill and would allow me to drive all kinds of different vehicles. As an aspiring coach and teacher, I want to coach at least one high school volleyball team to a state championship and one club volleyball team to a national championship. Being a  teacher and a coach will offer many avenues to my next item on the bucket list- acting as a life altering person in an individual's life. I have had many coaches who have changed my life and hope to do the same.

Bucket List: Rylee Griffis

 

There are many things that I would like to accomplish before I die. One is bungee jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I have wanted to jump there since I was a child because bungee jumping would be a cool experience and the Golden Gate Bridge is one of the world’s most famous bridges. I have not already done it because I could not afford the trip to California. That state is known as one of the most beautiful places in the world where a lot of people go to make their dreams come true, whether it be in the music business, television, or the movies. I’d like to see the sights. I have never been to that part of the country before

I would also like to travel Europe, something that I have dreamt of since childhood. In Italy I’d eat pizza while taking a tour of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. In France, I’d visit the Eiffel Tower. It is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world and is located in Paris, a city that has amazing food and some of the most beautiful architecture in the world.

I would also like to help perform or assist on a “humpty dumpty” heart surgery when I become a surgeon. Although I don’t have an affinity for cardiothoracics, this surgery would still be amazing to see. That type of surgery doesn’t happen very often and the doctors who perform those incredible operations are some of the best surgeons in the world. It would be a great opportunity to work under someone who can teach me so much.

Bucket List: Teressa Hedglin

 

Everyone has a bucket list – at least in their hearts – starting when they are children. I have never written down what I want to accomplish before I die. I have always felt like if I focus on what is right ahead of me, it will lead me to the next step. Thus far, this technique has worked out great for me, and I feel I am on the right track! However, I do still have these long-term goals in mind. 

I have a few goals for my future family and home life. I would like to travel the world with my children, though that sounds stressful, and let them experience many different cultures while they are young. When my family has settled down, I would like to have a nice spacious home for my children to grow up in. I dream of raising a healthy family. I would also like to have a variety of animals such as a mastiff dog, hamster, hedgehog, snake, and more. 

I have big dreams as far as my work goals go. The first thing I want to do after I get my Bachelor’s degree in Music Education is direct while teaching music theory classes at a high school. I also plan to sell my musical compositions throughout my career to bands and orchestras to perform. While I am directing at my high school, I will be getting my Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Music Theory and Composition. With these degrees, I will be directing and teaching music theory at a college. Number one on my bucket list is to direct a Drum Corps International (DCI) band one day. They travel the world performing shows for millions of people daily. Travelling the world doing what I love sounds like bliss to me. 

Bucket List: Wei Han Won

 

I have a couple of things I would like to accomplish before I grow old. First off, I hope to finish my studies and graduate with a degree that will get me into the energy sector. I am intrigued with renewable and nuclear energy. With the world’s increasing demand for energy, I believe this interest of mine can contribute to society in the future while also giving me a sense of accomplishing a worthwhile goal.

Traveling around the world has also been on my checklist for a long time. Few years back, I traveled to Egypt. I can safely say I loved every moment. I realized that people from different cultures and countries and I shared so many similar interests. Some travel destinations that I have in mind are Australia, England, Japan, and Russia. I want to visit them to expand my worldview.

Many years from now I want to retire in a comfortable cottage by the countryside. Living in Magnolia for the past months has pushed this goal up the list. Being in a quiet city like Magnolia got me appreciating the silence and laid-back lifestyle. Though this seems far from the present, the thought of it just brings a smile.

Bucket List: Zachary Rennard

 

I never thought about making up a bucket list until this moment. Now, I have decided to make a list that represents how I go about life. In my opinion, everyday should be adventurous and productive.  

The first couple of items on my list deal with traveling. I want to visit every continent to experience all the many different cultures and people. Baseball has been a passion of mine since I was three, so my second travel goal is to visit all 30 Major League Baseball Stadiums and see how those cities differ while I enjoy watching some baseball. 

Moving onto more personal goals, one day I would like to get married and start a family that I can enjoy the rest of my life with. I also have always wanted to own a beach house if for no other reasons than that beaches are awesome and a beach house would be a great place to settle when I retire. A sillier personal goal is that I want to hit a hole in one in golf because it’s extremely hard to do and it would definitely make a great memory.  

The things listed above are just a small portion of what I wish do to with my life. I can’t wait to see where life will take me and I hope I can add many more adventures and goals to this list. 

Bucket List: Bryan Lok

 

I would like to travel the world either solo or with good company. Having only traveled to a few parts of Asia, I would like to experience more cuisines and cultures as well as to have friends all over the world. A small but exciting thing on the bucket list would be to try out Michelin star restaurants once or more often, if my wallet permits.

Having experienced working customer support with its tedious phone calls, I would like to start my own business and enjoy operating it. The entrepreneur world is daunting and entering it requires insightful planning, years of experience, and perseverance. Before that happens, I want to land in a place where I enjoy practicing my craft and look forward to it every single day. I hope that I can connect with my coworkers on a deeper level than just that of “coworker”. My superiors would appreciate my work and understand my determination and effort to complete my tasks; I am always working with that in mind. Lastly, I would like to be “successful”. What is “success” in my eyes? For me, success is being happy with where I stand, what I have done, and what I am proud of. I aim to reach a point where I enjoy my work every day and have a loving family. For them, I seek lives free from worry or from financial constraints.

Bucket List: Stinson Battisto

 

Bucket lists have always felt odd to me. I believe in them and like the idea of them, but I dislike the idea of dying and leaving the list unfinished. Plus, making a list might set me up to forget it and do other things not on the list. Still, I have always had one “fun” goal and one career-oriented goal in the back of my mind that I consider to be my bucket list.

            The fun goal is to climb a mountain. I do not have a specific mountain in mind, but I do know it will not be Mt. Everest. I want to climb a mountain that is low risk for the single reason of seeing the sky from the mountaintop. I would like to see an unobstructed view of the sky from a very high point for at least a few minutes of my life. Stargazing or just looking at a clear sky calms me in some unknown way.

            The second big goal I have on my bucket list is to teach abroad. I would like to be well off enough in life to where I can do this as volunteer or charity work. I chose to go into education because I want to help children and I feel that every child in every country deserves a fighting chance at a good education. So, I have always wanted to go to the low-income areas of struggling countries and help teach. It does not matter to me what I teach, or who I am teaching, I just want to help.

            This list may be short, but it feels big to me.

Bucket List: Nicholas Wilson

 

Honestly, I have lived a sheltered life. I’ve never left Arkansas, only visited a few cities, and until recently, rarely got out of the house. Therefore, my bucket list should be rather large, but I’ll keep it nice and practical.  

My first goal is to get out of the state, anything will do, even just going to the Texas side of Texarkana. In 10th grade a friend and I, while looking at a map in class, discovered the town of Circle, Montana. We thought it the funniest name for a town. Since then, it’s been a pipe dream of mine to visit it.  

More practically speaking, I hope to get a good job with good career opportunities. It needs to come fruition because I believe I’ll have a new family soon after college and I know I need to do all I can to support my them. I hope to marry the person I’m currently dating and spend the rest of my life with her. Hopefully, we’ll create a healthy and happy family, one that’s more financially stable than both our parents’ were.  

On the entertainment side of things are playing airsoft, going to amusement parks, seeing national monuments, traveling the world, and visiting museums as well as attractions would all be wonderful. However, these desires are by no means my priority and are something I’ll sacrifice for more important goals. 

Bucket List: Emily Lewis

 

As far as bucket lists are concerned, I have already checked quite a bit off mine. I have parasailed, ziplined, and flown. Still, there is plenty that I desire to accomplish and experience before I kick the bucket. 

The most important, soul-fulfilling item on my bucket list is to visit Alaska; I intend to go alone. That way I can soak in its raw nature without distractions. Alaska is so alluring to me that I know I will not want to leave once there. Megan Shull’s book inspired my fascination with Alaska. At the same time, I could check off another item on my bucket list− stargazing in the mountains. I love stargazing at home, but a mountain view would be incomparable. I would love to see Aurora Borealis too. 

The last major item on my bucket list is to design my dream house. I want to draw the layout, design it exactly how I want, and pay someone to build it. This will take a long time. To pacify myself in the meantime, I have drawn out several plans, researched different styles of houses, and downloaded a remodeling app. 

Bucket List: Zhen Ze Ong

 

Bucket lists are pretty cool. I’ll list a couple goals I wish to achieve before I die, and then check them off after achieving them. These goals may not be very significant, but they also can be a major part of life.

The first item on my list is to graduate from Southern Arkansas University and find a good career. Regardless of whether I go to graduate school or not, completing my education and moving into the workforce will be a huge part of my life. I wish to use the skills that I learn to benefit the community as a whole.

Although I’m still young, I would like to get married. One of my goals is to find a special someone who loves me for who I am. I wish to spend the rest of my life committed to her and start a family.

Next up on the list is to get a dog. I am particularly fond of dogs even though my family never owned one. Huskies or wolfdogs are breeds I really like. Honestly, any dog would do fine; chihuahuas are an exception; they terrify me.

Lastly, I would like to travel to Japan. I have always liked Japanese culture and I hope to see it in person. I also wish to visit Germany again. I have been there twice when I was very young, so I do not remember much, but I do remember liking the country very much. I hope to go back now that I am older.

Even though these things may never happen, who knows? I will go where God leads me, and that is all that matters.

Bucket List: Alexis Goodwin

 

To be asked to write an exhaustive list of everything I want to do before I am laid to rest is an impossible task. There are many things I would like to do in my lifetime including reading all the books in the world. Clearly, that is impossible but it is a cool idea. However, I realize that unrealistic aspirations are not the point of this essay. For that reason the goals that follow are those that I most likely will complete during my lifetime. 

I would like to graduate college with a 4.0 GPA. After getting my bachelor’s degree, I would like to return and earn my master’s degree. After both of those, I want to complete a doctoral program to get a doctoral degree. Because I am pursuing a degree in education one of my goals pertains to teaching. I want to change students’ lives, but more specifically, I want to be a kid’s favorite teacher. Other than the few professional goals I have mentioned I aspire to travel the world. I would like to visit every continent on the planet, and also every state in the United States. There are many more things I would like to do, but hopefully I will live a long enough life to at least complete all of the things mentioned above because they are the most important to me.

Bucket List: Sidney Crews

 

Being only nineteen years old, I have a long list of different experiences I will want to work toward and accomplish during my lifetime. I have always had an interest in healthcare so I am pursuing a nursing major on the BSN track at Southern Arkansas University. So, the first item on my list is to earn my BSN. After I graduate, I have a couple of ideas on how to further my education. After obtaining the BSN, I hope to land a job in a critical care field within a hospital. My dream specialty would be to work in a neonatal intensive care unit with premature newborns. Working in this specialty is crucial because in order to be admitted to the graduate program I plan to attend I must have worked at least one year in a critical care setting. After, I plan to take the GRE and apply to the doctoral program of Nursing Practice at Northwestern State University in Shreveport to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, one of the highest items on my list. After I have completed my education, I hope to have a family. I have always wanted to be a mother and have one or more children to love on. As my life goes on, I am sure that I will add several things to my list. But for now, these are just a few things that I look forward to completing and that seem important to me at this time.

Bucket List: Roger Ward

 

Before, I had never thought of writing a bucket list but had heard of them, but when younger I did not see the point. Now, I realize their logic. Growing up and getting a job used to be  far-off, but now both are closer and closer. My bucket list is not extensive but it lays out my plans for life.

            My main goal is to graduate college completely debt free. I am set up for that, but I know that I need to keep working extra hard to make that future a reality. Before I graduate though, I want to get a summer internship with Intel, Google, The FBI, or Tesla. I am majoring in computer science and am leaning into data analytics or cyber security. If I can secure one or more of these internships I will have good experience before I graduate and, hopefully, a way in for a job with those organizations.  My final career/lifestyle goal is to just make enough money to buy a small house with internet so that I could potentially work from home.

            Some more of my fun focused goals is to relearn piano, to travel and to cook. I took piano lessons when I was 7 to 9 but then I dropped out; I regret it every day. I still love music and know how to read it; I just need to practice it more. I also plan to travel the world. Some places that I want to go first are France, Japan, and Switzerland. I want to be able to see all of the great sites in these countries and experience their culture in ways such as music and food. I would like  to learn more cooking skills from these places, because I love to cook in my free time. My favorite style of cooking is Japanese and I think it would be really cool to visit Japan and see how authentic Japanese food is made and maybe learn a few things while I am there.

Bucket List: Jonathan Parker

 

I haven’t  thought about things I want to do before I die. There are many small items, but for the most part they are close at hand. The items that are more distant make up my bucket list.

First item is attending  a Yes concert. I’ve been listening to their music and they quickly became my favorite band. I also want to learn how to play the song Clap by Yes’s guitarist. Learning to play it will take a long time. It requires musical mastery.

Another item is to summit a mountain before sunrise. In 2017 I hiked up Mt. Baldy in Cimarron, New Mexico with some of my old Boy Scout troop. We had hoped to make it by sunrise but we missed it by about two hours despite getting up at 2 am.

The last item is to learn how to cook my mom’s gumbo from scratch. Every winter, she makes gumbo from scratch and it’s my favorite meal. I want to watch her closely to learn exactly how she makes it and to be able to make it myself.

             Ultimately I don’t know what the future has in store for me. While modest, these goals seem like the most meaningful and realistic goals that I could achieve within my lifetime.

2021 Honors Seminar Classes

 Here are the two Honors Seminar classes from 2021. Note the symbolism...FYI, their masks were off for only a second or two and everyone held their breath.

9 am class:

 

 

10 am class: