[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.17.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.17.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.17.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2022\/04\/Jessica-Anderson-1280.jpg” title_text=”Jessica-Anderson-1280″ _builder_version=”4.17.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.17.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.17.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.17.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
Jessica Anderson will be leaving Winona State University as a graduate this Spring, but the impact she’s left behind won\u2019t be leaving with her. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As she heads out into her new chapter, she has no plans of letting her effort toward making an impact fade after graduation. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The Cell and Molecular Biology major has been involved in at least five campus clubs and organizations during her college experience, including the WSU Mentor Collective, Pre-Med Club, Spanish Club<\/span>,<\/span> and the Mock Trial.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Her biggest impact<\/span>,<\/span> though<\/span>,<\/span> has come through her work in the Volunteer Club, which she’s now the president of after formerly being the treasurer. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI love serving my community and helping to improve the quality of life in those around me,” Anderson said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Her passion in being involved with the Volunteer Club has been in linking students, especially new ones, to places in the community to volunteer.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Despite the struggles of keeping a student club active during a pandemic, Anderson was a key player in keeping engagement high within the club and finding creative ways to help the community.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n During the 2021 Fall semester, the club logged 212 hours of volunteer work under their belts and 180 (and counting) hours this Spring semester.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Because of her hard work and dedication, Anderson received the 2022 President\u2019s Civic Engagement Student Leadership Award, which recognizes students who show extreme passion and commitment to civic leadership and responsibility.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s such an honor<\/span>,<\/span> I love this club<\/span>,<\/span> and it\u2019s fun for me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s awesome that it\u2019s getting recognized.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Anderson is looking forward to finding new ways to continue her passion of helping others after graduation, including pursuing a Doctor of Medicine.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI want to put my drive and passion for helping others to good use by going into the medical field<\/span>,<\/span> so I can not only do what I love, but also improve the world around me,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Before going back to school<\/span>,<\/span> however, she plans to take a gap year to receive her EMT certification while continuing to volunteer\u2014and hopefully continue to assist WSU\u2019s Volunteer Club.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Anderson said there\u2019s a lot she\u2019ll miss about Winona State, from the tight-knit community to the accommodating professors.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPeople really advocate for you here,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Looking back, she\u2019s thankful for the many impactful mentors who helped guide her through the ups and downs of the past few years.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n From the Volunteer Club advisor Laura McCauley to professors Dr. Heinz and Casey Finnerty, she had a support system that ensured she always had someone to turn to.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Anderson did her best to repay kindness she received by being a mentor for others within the clubs she’s involved in. She hopes to inspire others to get involved on campus in whatever way they feel pulled to do so. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Not only will it be fun, but also it might just lead to connections and relationships that make a difference later.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou really make the most meaningful connections in the most unexpected places at the most unexpected times,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WSU is all about improving the world, and graduate Jessica Anderson is living the Warrior Life as a student who\u2019s eager to help others by volunteering in the community and getting involved on campus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":3498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,354,305,52,360],"tags":[396,282,119],"class_list":["post-3484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-biology","category-commencement","category-feature-post","category-featured-post","tag-biology","tag-commencement","tag-commencement-profile"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/28\/2022\/04\/Jessica-Anderson-1280.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb2ffS-Uc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3484"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3506,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3484\/revisions\/3506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/academics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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