STUDENT ALUMNI BOARD NEWSLETTER WINTER 2022

The SAB Alumni spotlight for our Winter 2021 edition is John Lantz '02, '12!

Current SAB members would like to thank John for his contributions to the Student Alumni Board and for being an energetic alumnus throughout the years. Go Cats!

Meet John Lantz '09, '12 who earned a bachelor's degree in finance and master's degree in public administration. He became a part of the Student Alumni Board in 2007-2008. John is currently the Assistant Dean of Students at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

"I learned about SAB through word-of-mouth," Lantz said while discussing how he joined this organization. He remembers joining SAB as an underclassman. Lantz said he enjoyed every moment he spent with SAB during his time at K-State, remembering the plethora of SAB activities. From recruitment-related activities to 'For Sophomores Only (FSO),' Lantz said he cherishes the memories of all the fun he had with his SAB class.

Along with all the memories he made, Lantz also remembers all of his colleagues from SAB. He fondly talked about Jamie Ball '10, the recipient of last year's Distinguished Young Alumni Award, and also remembers his friends and SAB colleagues Joe Vossen '08, Sharita Lacey Knobloch '09, Anthony Carter '08, Kelsie Ball Salazar '11, Donnie Hampton '10, and Dena Bunnel '10.

Among his fondest memories in SAB Lantz recollects his time during road trips and hometown tours with SAB members, Just-For-Juniors, and participating in FSO activities. Lantz recalls FSO is an important event as it allows young high-schoolers to experience what college life looks like.

Lantz said he will routinely visit Manhattan with his wife and kids. It was only in 2021 that John visited Manhattan since 2015. He talked about how the K-State College of Business has grown since his time here as a student. Lantz regularly follows K-State information and actively subscribes to SAB Newsletter and the K-Stater magazine. Lantz jokingly mentions that if someone asks his family about his talking habits, they would say he continues to talk about K-State multiple times a day.

One piece of advice that Lantz would like to share with current members of SAB would be to have fun at every event and enjoy the events for their educational value. Lantz also says that everyone should not be afraid to make cuts and compromises to find time for themselves. "Don't compare yourself with your peers, be yourself, and set your eyes on your goals," Lantz said.

We are overwhelmed with joy and gratitude from the past year of serving as your K-State Student Ambassadors. This year was filled with many unknowns due to the pandemic, but our K-State family pushed through together. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to support and represent K-State’s alumni, current students and prospective students. As our term has come to a close we wanted to reflect on our experience.

A note from Bennett:

It has been an honor to serve as student ambassador this past year. Going through the application and interview process alone was a great experience. I was able to share my passion for K-State along with my K-State experience with people who also had a passion for K-State. That alone was worth applying for the position. Being apart of the voting process was a really cool process and I was humbled to see so many K-State students show how they thought I would be a great fit for the role.

Some of my favorite memories were meeting with K-State Faculty and Alumni, going to events across Kansas and presenting to prospective students and alumni, and lastly, representing the student body on campus. As Ambassadors, Marissa and I were able to meet with faculty and alumni throughout the year and it was exciting to hear about their K-State journey and how they have been impacted by the University. I was really excited when we were able to meet and travel with President Meyers. I have always thought highly of him and I really enjoyed getting to know him better throughout the year. One of my favorite events was in St. Joe where our presentation actually got outshined by Bill Snyder himself. I loved hearing about his life and how he worked hard from the beginning to get to where he is now. Lastly, representing the student body on campus was very impactful and meaningful for me because I want every student to have the best college experience possible at K-State and knowing we were able to help just a little bit from time to time meant a lot.

Lastly, I wanted to share what I learned throughout this process. I was able to take away how much K-State is a true family no matter where you go or who you may meet, every K-Stater does have a passion for this University and looks for ways to improve it any chance they get. I think it’s important to look for ways to leave things better than you found them and I hope I can say the same when I leave K-State.

- Bennett Shipley '22

A note from Marissa:

Captivating. Captivating is how I would describe my experience as K-State Student Ambassador. I remember hearing the past student ambassadors speak at my freshman orientation, you could feel their love and pride for K-State; I looked up to the leadership, charisma and kindness of the Student Ambassadors. Inspired by previous leadership I decided to apply. The application process is something I will never forget, it was exciting and uplifting. I was able to connect and meet so many amazing students and alumni during the interview process, I continued being constantly in awe of the support K-State brings to its students. Fast forward to the homecoming game in October when our names were announced and a rush of excitement for this new adventure to begin flooded me.

Our term began in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, this presented new obstacles to overcome while still trying to represent K-State and connect as many people to the University. The first semester of our term we were given the opportunity to tour a few different buildings on campus. Touring Hale Library and the Multicultural Student Center gave me a new perspective of these buildings and how meaningful they are to our campus. During the second semester of our term we were able to travel to different events with alumni. I was delighted by the amount of stories I was able to hear and share through the role of Student Ambassador. I met many different K-Staters that all had different life paths and connections to K-State. I gained new perspectives and learned something from everyone I encountered. One of my favorite opportunities from my role was joining the Riley County Police Department Community Advisory Board. This is a group of community members that come together once a month to talk about happenings in the community. I was able to represent the students' perspective in Manhattan. This advisory board taught me a lot about the meaning of a strong community and the importance of staying up to date with current events.

I am full of gratitude because of the opportunity to serve K-State as Student Ambassador. This role truly made me see the incredible impact that the wildcat family can have on everyone that steps on campus.

- Marissa Lux '22