What is your NMU connection?
I was a student at NMU and now I work at NMU.
Your favorite NMU memory or story
I came up to NMU for the first time for the Presidential Scholars competition in the fall of 2014. Having hated winter and cold weather for most of my life, my parents didn't anticipate that I would fall in love with the campus and, ultimately, come up to college the following year. During the Presidential Scholars Competition, I met someone who introduced me to my roommate, and best friend, Tera. Tera and I hit it off and moved in together in 119 West Hall (West Hall, Best Hall!).
Through Tera and her involvement in the Pride of the North Marching Band, I met my future husband, Sam, shortly before Halloween 2016. Sam and I would frequent Campus Cinema’s movies of the week for date night, volunteer together for Wildcat Weekend, and cheer on the ‘Cats at hockey games—him in the pep band and me in the student section. In the warm months, we would go to the beach or the farmers market downtown, and we studied at coffee shops and in the library and Jamrich Hall. Sam was an orientation leader and I was an RA, we loved to represent Northern together. Eventually, though, we graduated and moved away.
Sam lived in Minnesota for a while before joining me in Missouri, where I was attending graduate school. After grad school, we moved out to Colorado for a job opportunity. While hiking through the mountains one sunny day, Sam proposed. When we started planning the wedding, we knew without a doubt that we wanted to get married in Marquette, where we met. Though Colorado was beautiful, it never truly felt like home to us. When a job position here, at NMU, opened up, Sam encouraged me to apply so we could go back home. Two weeks before our wedding, which took place on Presque Isle, we packed up our lives and relocated back to Marquette. We came back home. Now, we both work for NMU, and our dog, Moon, is a Wild Pup on campus.