Taylor Watkins

We lost an Honors angel this week. Taylor Watkins was tragically killed in a car accident on Monday, March 13.  Her loss has affected Honors alumni who went through the program with her and current Honors students as her boyfriend is a current student. Saying she will be missed is an understatement.

Taylor was one of a kind. Talented, artistic, witty, loving, bright, unique, a brilliant writer, and incredibly intelligent are words that describe her, but Taylor was so much more. Taylor gave selflessly to others and spent her life in service to others. She lit up a room when she entered. And when she left the room, people were forever changed.

We mourn our loss in her passing, but our lives are much richer for having known her.

Fall 2016 Honors

The fall semester is wrapping up, and this has been a great group of Honors Students.  Ten new students were accepted in to the program.  Some of them are pictured below!

This group is very diverse.  Some of them have known one another for years, and other started school at SAU Tech without knowing another student on campus.  They come from various backgrounds and cultures.  In an effort to get to know one another and recognize similarities and differences, each student in Honors Seminar created a "diversity collage" that detailed things that make them unique. They then shared those creations with their classmates.

Chase McLelland 

Lauren Stone 

Will Frey

Aaryn Avant

Tori Duvall

Gunner Cook

The Honors Program students are sponsoring a Final Exam Study Session on Monday, November 28 at 4:00-8:00 pm in the basement of the Administration Building. They will be providing snacks and door prizes for students who attend!  In preparation for the event, the Honors students will be meeting to cook snacks and share a meal together.

They also are planning to go to Little Rock to ice skate over the Christmas break!  More pics to come....

2016 Graduation

Graduation 2016 is in the books!  The SAU Tech Honors Program graduated several students who have made a lasting impact on this campus.  They leave big shoes to fill for the next class!

Commencement was held in the Student Center at SAU Tech on May 12, 2016 at 7:00 pm.  It was a packed house, and the Honors Program had 5 students graduate with at least 12 hours of Honors coursework and a cumulative 3.25 GPA.

Our first set of sisters in the Honors Program graduated on the same night! I am so proud of these two young ladies!!  

Blaise Scharbor was the student speaker during the graduation event.  She served as a Student Ambassador while at SAU Tech and was the Academic All-Star.  She even recruited Natalie to come to SAU Tech!

Several of our graduates were awarded transfer scholarships to 4 year universities!

Nicole was accepted into the Honors College at Henderson State University!  

And we were so glad to see Jessica Flannigan return for our graduation ceremony.  This young lady has finished her first year at SAU after graduating from SAU Tech and the Honors Program last year.  

We had to have a little fun along the way!

"There is a good reason they call these ceremonies 

"commencement exercises." 

Graduation is not the end; it's the beginning."  

--Orrin Hatch

This I Believe--Alyssa

The Power of Perspective

          I believe perspective can be rather important when faced with difficult situations.  I have been through many different seasons of life, good and bad.  At the time, that was exactly how I labeled them, good and bad.  Yet when I look back at those game changing moments, I try looking at them in another way.  By doing this, I go back and “re-label” those situations. 

          For example, I recently went through a situation in which I had finally become friends with and eventually the girlfriend of the guy that I had like for three years.  I was ecstatic, and I went on many memorable adventures with him and his friends.  It was a season that I labeled as “good”.  Then there were some trying times in our relationship, and he broke off the relationship.  Though he did it in a kind way, I was devastated.  My best friend began to ignore me, and the other friends I had come to know slightly began avoiding me.  This I labeled as a “bad” season.

          As I went through the months after that, I began looking back and realizing a few things.  I thought about how much I had changed, and how I was not as afraid to be myself.  This was a good thing about the relationship, but then I started pointing out other things.  First, I had compromised college for him.  I had planned on going to a ministry school since seventh grade, and took a totally different direction from that.  Second, I feel like I became more critical.  He and his friends could be rather critical, and unfortunately, I picked up the habit.  Lastly, because I am a Christian, I believe that my walk with God was not as strong.  I put the relationship with my boyfriend as priority over Him.  Looking at it from that perspective, I cannot simply label that as a good season.  Sure it was enjoyable, but I had to put a different label on it.

          So with the break up that I initially labeled as “bad,” I can now go back and see the good in it.  I again decided to go to ministry school beginning in January.  Sure I might not have gone to ministry school right away, but I had the opportunity to further my education.  I now have the opportunity to continue with my college education, and pursue my dreams.  I was also able to make friends at college, and I know that I will make more when I go off to ministry school.  To top that all off, my walk with God became strong again, and I feel blessed to be close to the Lord again.  It is now hard for me to label this season as bad after realizing all of that.

         So, with all of that said, I realized that perspective is powerful.  It has the power to change minds and situations.  It can teach us important lessons that can strengthen and empower us.  So, before you decide if the glass is half empty or half full, or look at a situation for what it seems to be, remember, perspective is key.

          

This I Believe--Natalie

What’s Next?

            At some point in your life you will ask yourself what’s next, what do I do now? As you take steps in life this is a frequently asked question to not only yourself, but to others as well. When you learn to drive or graduate from high school there are questions that follow these major steps in life.  Like what’s next?

            What do I do now that I’m out of high school? What is going to happen next? What steps do I take next? Those are only a couple of questions that I faced when leaving high school and being considered somewhat an adult. You never know what exactly is going to happen next, no one ever will. Having a game plan going into your first year of college or starting a new job is the best method I believe, like what field you are wanting to major in or if you are going to start at a two year school where will you go to finish. You may still ask yourself what’s next, but it won’t be because you don’t know but simply because you aren’t sure what to do in the situation you are put in.

All throughout life there are several decisions that are faced with growing older like simple decisions and more in depth decisions that will affect the rest of your life and you don’t want to be burdened with the what if’s. Some people are certain and know step by step what they are going to take throughout their career path, but there may be some bumps that appear along the way and it all depends on how you deal with the bump in the road to get back on the right track. Even if the bump may be bigger than you think and takes longer to overcome it’s all part of the plan.

            Since I have graduated my life has made a complete 360 degree turn I believe for the better. Starting my first year of college I was two hours away from home living the college athlete life trying to become a nursing major. I was constantly asking myself what’s next, because I was not mentally ready to manage everything that was on my schedule. Some days I felt there was not enough hours in the day to possibly get everything done and some days I felt that I had no clue what I was going to happen the next day. I contemplated several life changing decisions because of the circumstances that I was put in. No, I do not regret going to be a college athlete. I loved every minute of it and miss it like crazy, but now I can say that I am more focused on my career and education than ever before and I do not question myself or doubt myself like before.

            Questions are bound to appear with the process of life whether it be about world crime, politics, personal decisions or a career path. There are several instances that I’ve asked What’s next, for example when you are going through a really tough time in your life and you feel the need to give up because nothing is going right, you simply ask what’s next. 

This I Believe--BrieAnn

“Family”

            If there is one thing that I believe to be true it is that family should be the most important aspect in your life, aside from religious beliefs.

I have found that a family person has always seemed to be happier with life, or maybe they just seemed to enjoy it a little more. Your family will always be there to support you and have your back when nobody else does. If everyone held their families close to them and every family was close, then I feel like people would be happier with their life. Sure there would probably still be “family drama” and such, but it probably would not be as bad as if families were not close.

Your family should be the people that you can always count on and call up anytime you are in need. To me family is not always who you are “blood kin” to either, family can mean many different things; I consider my really close and true friends to be apart of my family.

The older I get the more I realize that family really is forever. The worse this world gets the more I begin to tell myself that you should hold your loved ones close, even closer than ever before. The love that your family has for you, is a love that you can not get from anyone nor any other thing in this world; it is one of a kind.

When my grandparents were growing up the world was a whole different place, which of course it was right? Because things are always changing and nothing stays the same. My grandparents talk about their family and how it was growing up, and I just think “man I wish I had that, I wish things were how they use to be.” Of course I am close to my “immediate family” as we call it, but half of my family I barely even know if I know them at all which to me, is sad.

I just believe that newer generations should make a difference, change the way things have become, make sure your kids know their family, make sure it is close. At least try your best to.

This I Believe--KJ

      In my 18 years of experience in life, I’ve come to realize that it’s all in the music. Now I know, that probably doesn’t make sense right now, but it will in the end. Every step you take makes a sound, and those steps take you on a journey. Your steps are in rhythm, just like the beat of a drum. The ambiance of your breath, the reverb of your voice, all come together to make the song of life. Not just life in general, but your life, one that will never be duplicated, it’s as if you have your own personal copyrights.

            Just like your every step makes a sound, your every decision sends out a sound wave into the universe. Just like your voice echoes off into the distance, causing the action of hearing to happen within another’s ears, the same thing happens with the choices we make in life. There is always somebody who looks up to you and watches your every mood. May it be a younger cousin, baby brother, or sister, or maybe just a kid in your community? They see the things you do and try to imitate. Therefore if all you do is send off waves of negative behavior, that’s what they will pick up. Some of us just don’t know how influential we are.

            If you were a rapper, or a singer, would you spend all of your time trying to promote a song that was terrible, or one that could be one of the world’s greatest hits? You see, I actually do music, and I’ve come to realize that it’s not always about who you are and what you do, but about the sound or quality of the music. This holds to be true in life. You may not come from a 2 parent home, had the best grades in school, or have been the most popular, but you can still turn out to be someone. Some of the world’s greatest music have been stories of struggle, and so have some of the world’s greatest people.

            So no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, if you let God pattern your steps to a steady rhythm, let the ambiance of your breath, and the reverb of your voice come together in perfect harmony. You can compose one of the greatest songs of all time.