Advising Day!

It’s about that time of year again for SMSU students to meet with their advisors to seek guidance for their spring semester courses and schedule. SMSU is very supportive during this time as many students become stressed about what courses they should take. They give us Wednesday, November 2nd off for students to meet with their advisor. At this meeting students address any questions or concerns they have, they go over what classes they need in order to full-fill their LAC’s or their major requirements. At this meeting their advisor will type in the code that is needed in order to register at the time the specific time the student’s registration window opens up.

Although this can be a stressful time for SMSU students, and maybe for some staff here at SMSU, it is also a relief to know that after registration, students will be set for the next semester and this also means that first semester is coming to an end. We only have a month and a half until first semester is officially over with, how time flies!

Kassi Hague
Sophomore-New Ulm, MN

SMSU Campus Buzz

Hey All,
Wow, this semester is flying by! I can’t believe the semester is already half over! Well as always campus has been buzzing! We’ve had a ton of home soccer, volleyball, and football games lately. Our football team had a great win this weekend against Upper Iowa. With the month of October being breast cancer awareness Mustang Maniacs themed the game a pink out. Our whole fan section was in pink and our dance team made new costumes so they could show their support. This weekend we will be celebrating Halloween so everyone has been stopping by goodwill and other thrift stores to find the perfect pieces to their Halloween costumes. Thursday night is the annual Mustang’s Basketball late show. Each of the basketball teams will scrimmage at the late show then there will be a 3 point and dunk contest. There are usually tons of prizes and I believe one of the grand prizes is a S1000 tuition waiver! It’s always a great time and our Mustang fans love checking out each of the teams before the season starts! After the late show there is a Halloween Dance held in the conference center. Can’t wait for this week’s events! Here are some pictures from the game Saturday and be sure to check out the SMSU Dance Teams Performance by clicking on this link! SMSU Dance Team Performance

Bertina Miller
Senior-New London, MN

A Beautiful Mustang Weekend!

What a weekend it was! The weather was just beautiful; mid to high 60’s brought fantastic playing and cheering weather. Volleyball played Winona State Friday, the 21st, and won in 3 matches. Saturday brought a 3-1 loss for soccer against Upper Iowa, another win for volleyball in 4 matches also against Upper Iowa, and a glorious 28-24 win for Mustang football also against Upper Iowa. Sunday then brought a close 2-1 over-time loss for soccer against Winona State.

The Beautiful weather welcomed many families for Family Day on Saturday. It also welcomed wonderful cheerleading that night, didn’t even have to put on our warm-ups until half-time. By fourth quarter, we felt no need for the jackets thanks to constant dancing and the school song.

Due to bad health last weekend, I hadn’t cheered since the homecoming game and was forgetting everything! Luckily, I’m a person that can just laugh at my mistakes and not be embarrassed. And that’s exactly what I did; I just laughed and kept on cheering the Mustangs to a victory. My mom was just thrilled to be able to watch me laugh at my goofs and watch the Stangs win.

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend at SMSU and I can’t wait to perform at Late Show, the 27th, nor for the final home game on November 5th.

Go Mustangs!

Rebecca Lockwood
Sophomore – Fenton, IA

SMSU Basketball Season!

Hey! Tonight is college movie at the Marshall 6, so I’m going to see Paranormal Activity 3 in the spirit of Halloween. On Thursday night ,the Men’s, Women’s and Wheelchair Basketball teams are going to be center court showing the SMSU campus what they’ve got at the Late Show. Last year Lavione West won the dunk contest, so we will have to see who’s going to win the title this year! This weekend is going to be pretty busy, we have a home volleyball game, along with our Men’s Alumni Basketball game, where previous team members come and play against the current SMSU Men’s team. This week is going to be great kicking off the start of Basketball season, Go Stangs!!

Andrea Hanson
Senior- Monticello, MN

Girls Night!

The craziness of senior year is finally setting in and I am starting to understand the concept of ‘senioritis.’ It is both an exciting and scary point in my life. I can count the number of classes I have left until graduation on my fingers, but I am also nervous about entering the “real world.” With this said, it is always a stress relief to have a fun night with the girls.

The past few weeks some girlfriends and I have been getting together on Thursday nights to watch Jersey Shore. Although this is the reason we get together, it usually turns into story telling, reminiscing, and laughing…. Lots of laughing! :) And of course you can’t have a girl’s night without popcorn! The time we spend together definitely refreshes the week, jump starting my motivation and focus. Sometimes a night off is the best thing for an overworked brain! Not only does it provide a well-needed night of relaxation, it allows me to keep in touch with friends throughout the week, and even meet new people.

I have come to realize that a fun night doesn’t always require going out. When you have the friends, no matter where you go a good time is guaranteed. :)

Amanda Schmitz
Senior – Sleepy Eye, MN

SMSU On & Off Campus

First of all, as a student who commutes to school every day I am really enjoying this Marshall weather! In past years the middle of October is greeted with snow shoveling. The amazing weather followed me on October 4th when myself and other dedicated students and staff from SMSU traveled to Minneapolis to attend the National College Fair. This fair is a two day event and is the largest college fair in the United States. Thousands of students come through the doors hoping to find the college that best suits them. For me, it was a great experience mostly because I got to brag about Southwest to prospective students the whole time. I can honestly say that for plenty of students I talked to, SMSU is where they belong!

As far as events happening on campus, Mustang Days took place on October 21st and 22nd. These two visit days are filled with information about Southwest and all it has to offer. Hundreds of students heard about the admission process, visited a career fair, and took a tour of the school. As an ambassador, my favorite part was giving students a tour around campus and hearing all of their questions and concerns about college. I found myself looking back and remembering I had a lot of similar questions as they did while I was going through the search for the right college. At the end of my search, however, I landed on SMSU and could not be happier with the outcome!

Laura Johnson
Junior - Maple Lake, MN

Hey there Mustang Nation!

This past weekend was an entertaining one here at Southwest! With volleyball and football both participating at home, Saturday turned out to be a pretty eventful day for many students. For me, the day got started a little late as I was able to get out early Saturday morning to hunt some pheasants across the beautiful Marshall prairie. Later that afternoon though, I was able to meet up with the also beautiful, Kassi Hague, for an exciting afternoon. We started by gathering with friends, families, and SMSU alum and tailgated before the game. As we made our way to the field, we experienced the ultimate college football experience with the band playing and the cheerleaders cheering. The football team played St. Cloud St., who has been playing very well this season. The Mustangs still participated extremely tough. Despite a 24-3 lead for St. Cloud in the fourth quarter, Southwest came up just short when they threw an interception with twelve seconds left in the game at the SCSU fourteen yard line. The final result was a 24-17 defeat, but the game was enjoyed by everyone in attendance.

Josh Anderson
Sophomore - Springfield, MN

Fall Freshman!

This fall has been a CRAZY ride. When I first arrived here, I was surprised on how so many people helped me bring my stuff to my dorm room. It was great! Before I got to college, people always said you don't get very much room in the dorms, and you won't like living there. I really enjoy living in the dorms because I'm on campus close to everything and to all my new friends! With everything being all so new including: getting lost, a lot of free time, staying up till the break of dawn, and meeting some wonderful friends. I've also learned to take my towel with me to the shower, no rollerblading inside and where to find quarters. It's hard to believe that it's already the middle of October.

After the first couple weeks it seemed like I was at a camp with all these new friends and experiences. But now with homework and tests, it's starting to seem more like "college." I do miss my friends and family but I am still able to keep in touch with them.

Well, back to homework!

Go Stangs!

Kayla Stenzel
Freshman-Wells, MN

Go Mustangs!

On Saturday, October 14th, Josh and I went to the Volleyball game against Concordia-St. Paul. Concordia is ranked number one in the nation and SMSU is ranked nine. The Mustangs were ahead two sets when Concordia came back and grabbed the next three, pulling off the win. SMSU Volleyball is now ranked 14-6 overall and is 8-3 in the NSIC.
At this game, Brooke Burmeister got her 1,000th kill making her the 11th member of the 1,000th Kill Club here at Southwest Minnesota State University. She is now at 1,008 and kills so far this season.

Following the Mustang Volleyball game, we then went to catch the end of tailgating which is always a great way to get together with friends and socialize before the game.
Mustang Volleyball is always an exciting event to be at. There is always a fairly large crowd there to cheer on our Mustangs. While the crowd it hoottin’ and hollerin’ the players are also doing a large part in making some excitement with many digs, kills, and ace serves going on. They keep each other enthusiastic about the game and cheer after every point they earn.

Kassi Hague
Sophomore-New Ulm, MN

Mustang Days!

With Mustang Days approaching, many high school or transfer students are taking time out of their schedules to come and visit SMSU! Mustang Days is October 20th & 21st this year. Students and their families will come and get more of a feel of what the university is all about. There is two sessions each day that those students can choose from, 9:00am and 1:00pm. Throughout the time that they are here, they will listen to an Admissions representative speak, have a chance to talk to SMSU faculty in their area of interest, and will be given a tour of campus.

During the Admissions presentation, parents and students will receive more information on financial aid and how to go about signing up. They will also explain how to apply for scholarships that students can receive.
Students will have a chance to talk to faculty members in their area of interest. If they are not sure exactly what their area of interest is going to be, students will be able to explore the possible areas that are offered at SMSU.

Also, students will be given a tour of SMSU from one of the University Ambassadors. They will learn where different things are located on campus, from where dining services is to where the lecture halls are at.

As a freshman, I remember going to my campus visit here at SMSU during my senior year of high school. I really felt that during the short time I was here at SMSU I got a feel of what the university had to offer. I got to talk to a faculty member in the Education Department and she was very helpful with answering my questions. All the faculty members are more than willing to answer your questions. I also really enjoyed getting a tour of campus. It wasn’t one of those tours were you could hardly hear what the tour guide was saying, it was an individual tour. You could ask questions whenever you wanted throughout the tour and you could find out more about the organizations or clubs that are offered. I really liked how SMSU set up their visit days and that is one reason I enjoy helping with them. SMSU has a lot to offer!

Go Mustangs!!

Shawnalisa Reed
Freshman – Bruce, South Dakota

Fall Break at SMSU!

With the first few months of school being very busy and chaotic and midterm exams right around the corner, students needed a much deserved Fall Break. This is always one of my favorite times of the year, because I get to look forward to a four day weekend full of relaxation and lots of fun!

Fall Break is a great time for students to go back home and visit their family and friends and to just take some time off from classes and school work. Our students always work extremely hard in the classroom, so it is always fun knowing that a nice long weekend is awarded to us.

The tension of Fall Break was building weeks before it got here. With this great fall weather, it was no surprise that students were anxious for some time off. all of my friends had very fun plans for Fall Break, and I wanted nothing less from mine.

For my Fall Break, I headed up to Duluth, MN to visit Lake Superior and the great tourist attractions there. I traveled to see a few of my high school friends who go to school there. It was a lot of fun to hang out with them and to just relax and enjoy the great city. They showed me a lot of the town that I had never seen before. It was great catching up with them and seeing them again. Going to different schools, you do not get the chance to see each other every day anymore.

With the long Fall Break weekend over, it is now time to go back to class and continue to work hard this semester. Mid-term exams and projects are coming up, and students need to know the importance of going to class and getting good grades in order to graduate in a timely fashion. Before you know it, this semester will be over, and half the year will be over-where is all this time going?!

Go Mustangs!

Tyler Glynn
Sophomore-Jordan, MN