Published on Nov. 27, 2023
A handful of University of Missouri Honors College students recently had the opportunity to share more about their Honors experience during the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) Annual Conference. The group spent four days in Chicago, Illinois, for the conference, which included a variety of sessions and workshops for administrators, faculty, staff and students.
All four students had the chance to present on the final day of the event. Two members of the Honors Communication Intern team, Maggie Courtney and MJ Montgomery, presented on their work and how they’ve helped highlight the Mizzou Honors experience. A current member of the Honors Programming Board – Willow Amann – was joined by a former member and recent MU graduate, Rachel Sacharin, to present on the activities the board has helped develop, with a specific focus on Geek Week.
“One thing that was really exciting about this trip was realizing how much trust our Honors College has in its students,” said Sacharin, who graduated in May with a human development and family science degree. “Time and time again, people at the conference would ask, ‘How do we know what our students want?’ Or they would ask, ‘How do we get our students to engage more?’ It really made me realize that we are doing things differently, and for the better, by allowing students to take active leadership roles in their education and extracurricular activities.”
Sacharin and Amann shared the different themes that Geek Week has taken on over the years, as well as what events are featured. They discussed how important the Geek Week tradition has become for Honors students, plus how much fun it is to pick the theme. The duo also presented on the social events that the board organizes, such as crafternoons and professional development opportunities.
“Presenting at NCHC was an amazing experience!” said Amann, a junior social work major who is an executive member of the programming board. “It was awesome to share everything the Honors College Programming Board does here at Mizzou, and it was really cool to be able to get input from other people. It was also really amazing to be able to meet other students who are leading groups similar to MU’s Honors Programming Board. I got a lot of new ideas that I hope to implement here, and I was able to help share the wonderful things happening at Mizzou with other universities!”
Courtney and Montgomery, who are both senior journalism majors, presented on the digital and social media strategies that they help implement. They also had an opportunity to share the importance of highlighting the Honors experience on a variety of platforms. They showcased how the college promotes students, courses and fun events.
“It was exciting to be able to share our work from the past few years with people who were interested in the subject,” Courtney said. “I really appreciated getting the chance to present at a conference like NCHC during my senior year and get to celebrate all the work that we’ve done.”
The four Honors students were also joined by Olivia Flagg-Bourke, an academic advisor in the Honors College, and Hannah Lister, who serves as the executive assistant of the college. The two were able to sit in on several sessions as well.
“I loved being able to attend with our group and learn new things from other people who are passionate about honors in higher education,” Courtney said. “There was a lot of really great research done by students that we got to hear about, as well as sessions that helped us workshop skills and learn more about learning strategies for honors students. One of my favorites sessions was on perfectionism and the importance of leaning on social support to lessen the relationship between perfectionism and stress or depression.”