As the school year comes to a close, so too will the undergraduate careers of many Drury seniors. Commencement will be on Saturday, May 12 at 11:00 a.m. in the O’Reilly Family Event Center. Before our seniors walk across the stage, The Mirror asked them to reflect on their undergraduate experiences. 

We interviewed a retinue of different graduating seniors to get their take on what these years have meant to them, what they plan to do after graduation and what their favorite Drury moments are. We also outlined several senior events that will take place before graduation.

Seniors reflect on experiences

Tulley Beard, an Arts Administration and Design Arts & Graphic Design double major, hails from Fort Worth, Texas. She confessed that she has cried many times already due to the sadness of leaving Drury and all her friends. For Beard, Drury has become a second home. After moving eight hours away from her parents, she was scared her first year on campus. However, she quickly felt accepted by the Drury community.

“Drury is so much more than a school. It’s a collection of intelligent, compassionate individuals who are making the world a better place everyday. I am excited to graduate and go onto new things, but I am heartbroken that I have to leave this Drury community,” said Beard.

Beard will be working at a musical theatre company for children called “Kids Who Care” for the summer. After her position ends in August, she could go anywhere.

Gabby Menendez, a Biology and Chemistry double major and member of the women’s soccer team, fondly remembers her debut on the team. In her first game against Indianapolis University, she scored the game-tying goal to salvage a point in the second to last minute of regulation time. The game ended 1-1.

“It was an amazing experience,” recounted Menendez, “to share with my teammates and one that I waited for my entire life as it was always my dream to play college soccer.”

In the future she plans to attend medical school.

For Bre Legan, it was hard to choose a favorite Drury moment. Legan is a Writing, Graphic Design and Fine Arts with a concentration in photography triple major.

“I’ve made insane friendships,” said Legan, “studied under some of the brightest and kindest minds this world has to offer, traveled to 26 countries, had my own solo photography gallery show, and lived my truest life.”

Trevor Cobb, a Writing, Spanish and Graphic Design triple major, believes his study abroad experience was important.

“I studied abroad the summer after my sophomore year. That was the first time that I had left the country without being a tourist. I think that experience taught me about travel more than anything else I had done,” said Cobb.

He explained, “Studying abroad definitely helped prepare me to figure out how to adjust to different cultures. Now it’s an objective of mine to be able to work at a job where I get to travel around the world a lot.”

Alumni are still panthers

Despite the fact that students are leaving the university, it doesn’t change the connections that they have made during their time at Drury. The university’s Career Planning and Development department ensures that not only are graduates placed into jobs that they will succeed at, but that they will continue to thrive for years to come.

“Most recently I interned at The Academy of Hair Design running their social media,” said Cobb. “It was a great experience that helped me learn how to handle social media professionally. I also interned at the GLO center, which is a local LGBTQ+ center that provides programs and resources for the community.”

“Both of these helped me discover two separate passions of mine, and hopefully I’ll be able to pair them together in my career!” said Cobb.

Alumni can also still use the Career Planning Office after they graduate if they need help networking or revising a resume.

Memorable Faculty 

At Drury University, you’ll be hard pressed to find a student who doesn’t have a professor that inspired them, or who they grew to see not just as a teacher but also as a mentor.

“There’s so many people that I can’t even think of them all,” said senior Mady McColm. “Dr. Meidlinger, Dr. Henderson, Greg Booker, and Debbie Huff are just a few. But they’ve all helped me.”

“The students takeaway from Drury is a top-tier education taught to them by professors who care and push their students to succeed,” said Dylan Lyon. “Professors and professionals who I know I will remain in touch with long after my time at Drury ends. It’s the professors and these professionals who are with these students every day and give Drury, what we call, the DU difference.”

Career plans

Just as they had high goals during their time studying at Drury, many in the senior class have big future plans.

“After a couple months in Europe, I’ll be off to Seattle, Washington to start a marketing job for a scholarship and leadership program called Alexander Hamilton Scholars,” said Legan. “I’m planning on applying for the Fulbright Scholarship in the coming years as well!”

McColm is excited for her future with another nonprofit in St. Louis, Missouri. 

“In August, I’m going to be working with an organization called the National Benevolence Association and they pair you with a nonprofit, and I think that I’ll be interning with an LGBT+ organization,” said McColm.

But furthering her education isn’t out of the cards just quite yet.

“Beyond this, I hope to go to grad school, get a Masters in Fine Arts, and be a working writer in some capacity,” said McColm.

An end in sight

While the soon-to-be graduates are eager to finish their education at Drury, there is still more to come. Projects are due and senior seminars are concluding, and the graduates are scrambling to do the best that they can.

“For my senior capstone project I directed a one act play,” said  McColm. “Along with this, I’m writing an analysis paper for Writing and English, and a creative project for my Women and Gender Studies minor.”

“One of my final projects is for Apex Studio,” said Beard. “I’m doing a series of five portraits of people’s gender expressions by asking them questions and how they perform it, and basing the portrait off of their answers.”

“For my arts admin, I curated a show with Hannah Beckmann titled Meme-ography,” said Beard. “The show was at the C-Street Gallery, and celebrated internet culture and history.”

Cobb used one of his senior projects to cover a major and minor, Photography and Women and Gender Studies. Along with writing a paper, Trevor took photographs to help him create the project that he truly wanted.

“The project is a study of gender and how we en-gender certain words,” said Cobb. “The photos are a series of self-portraits of me styled in outfits that are on a spectrum of very masculine to very feminine.”

“The project represented words that are traditionally gendered in ways that might not reflect the gendered biases of society. For example in the ‘tough,’ picture I’m wearing a dress. It’s a commentary on how one person can have traits of all different gender associations and how these words don’t really have a gender even though we assign them one,” said Cobb.

Article written by Johan Englen and Ryan Smith.