By: Derek Hottenstein
When you think of St. Norbert College, one thing that comes to mind right away is communio, right? Bringing people together, forging a connected community, and having fun along the way might as well be the SNC motto. And bringing all the fun times home to you is the assortment of different campus social media accounts. One of them, the Honors Program Instagram, just added a whole lot of new faces behind the scenes to help provide honors students with all those fun times and all the information and events they could possibly need to know about this year. Introducing Freshmen Patrick Roberts, Kaleah Alles, Savannah Muraski, and Ruby Nass, along with returning team members Abbeygale Langer and me, Derek Hottenstein.
First off, we have Patrick Roberts. A first-year majoring in Sports Management with a minor in Communications. He’s been living up the Bergstrom lifestyle and has quite a bit to share about his journey here. He “chose SNC because of the community and campus life, and later joined the honors program because I wanted to have high academic standards and advisors who were dedicated to helping me find my passion.” And when he’s not making the most of the academic opportunities here, he enjoys, as he put it, “playing baseball with the boys.” He joined the team in order to learn more about the ins and outs of social media and how it’s incorporated in our community. For the team, he hopes to “contribute work that leads to people feeling inspired to attend events around the honors program and grow closer to those surrounding us.” Upon graduation, he seeks to become a sports broadcaster.
Next, we have Kaleah Alles, a first-year majoring in Marketing with minors in Graphic Design and Spanish. She chose SNC as the institution for those pursuits because she said that it simply “felt like home.” Agreed. She stepped forth to join the social media team because she wanted to work remotely around her own busy schedule in order to help highlight and involve fellow honors students in the kinds of things that go on here. She has many goals for the team, describing how she wants to “create videos to highlight the balance of life, school, sports, and extracurricular activities” to draw in future Green Knights, all the while “contributing many good laughs with the Almost Friday posts.” She enjoys pickleball, thrifting, watching movies, and one day hopes to run her own wedding planning business.
The third new member is first-year Savannah Muraski. Her major is along the biomedical track, with a minor in Pre-Health Professions along the way. She joined the SNC family because she wanted to stay close to home and chose to join the Honors Program after her honors experience throughout high school and her desire to challenge herself. She also helped run her high school’s Instagram and wanted to bring that skill set to the team here. As she stated, “I hope to contribute my creativity and talents with my ideas while getting to know more people and just having fun.” Outside school, she likes hanging out with friends and hopes to attend medical school one day.
Finally, there’s Ruby Nass. A first-year Political Science and Psychology major, with a minor in History as well. She chose SNC for its tight-knit community and top-notch relationships with other schools and went with the Honors Program so that she could “live with like-minded people!” The social media team appealed to her on account of her love of photography and graphic design, along with providing a way for her to meet upperclassmen that she otherwise likely wouldn’t have gotten an opportunity to meet. As she mentioned, “I hope to contribute my angle on what the Honors Program is about beyond the academic demand.” And when she’s not committed to these goals, she enjoys hanging out and getting coffee with her sister. Upon graduation, she wishes to pursue a master’s degree in public health and one day become a malpractice litigator or attorney.
And that’s all the new faces! We have a pretty big team this year, with myself and Abbey (who will be heading off to graduate school for nursing at Bellin College at semester’s end) offering our own expertise and skills as the new members make themselves at home. Keep an eye out on Instagram; we’ve got lots of really cool plans. And the next time you open it and see something that entertains, informs, or just brightens your day, now you know all about the six students behind the page working hard to make it all happen.
