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Past Honors Mentors
2010-2011 Honors Mentors
Hannah Blackburn
Major: International Business, Economics, and Journalism
Year in School: Sophomore
Email: hannah.blackburn@yahoo.com
Advising Area: Hunstman Scholars, International Bus/Admin
I love to be active, whether its indoors or outdoors, and my newest passion is kickboxing! I am a complete girly-girl. More often than not, I can be found wearing a dress and heels, even in the bitter Logan winters. I absolutely love Utah State, and yes, am an official True Aggie. I am so excited to be an Honors Mentor this year, and look forward to working with all the new Honors students!
Ben Carroll
Major: Electrical Engineering
Year in School: Junior
Email: ben.carroll@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Area: Engineering
I enjoy spending time in the outdoors camping and backpacking. I also enjoy the more extreme sports of fishing and paintballing when I can find the time. I like trying crazy new things and have a hard time refusing a dare, but my true passion is talking to pretty much anyone. I also play the guitar and work as a professional toy salesman.
Jylisa Doney
Major: Sociology
Year in School: Senior
Email: jylisa.doney@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Areas: Humanities and Biochemistry
I absolutely love country music, Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, and musicals like High School Musical 3 and Hairspray. Throughout the day I constantly have song lyrics in my head and could probably sing most Keith Urban songs. If I could travel anywhere in the world I would go to Italy because of the delicious food and the amazing art and architecture. My dream job is to be a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but I will settle for being a public interest lawyer. I hope this year we can get to know each other and have some amazing times along the way.
Emily Ferry
Major: Pre-Med Biology
Year in School: Junior
Email: emily.ferry@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Area: Pre-Med Biology
Hey AGGIES! I'm excited to work with you all this year and help you out in any way I can. I LOVE basketball, and volleyball, and any other sport. I enjoy Utah State and living in Logan. Did I say I love basketball? I play at least twice a week and it's a great stress reliever. That's right--I wakeboard and tube in the summer and hit the slopes in the winter--that's me!
Sara Hegsted
Major: Communication Disorders - Speech Language Pathology
Year in School: Sophomore
Email: sara.hegsted@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Areas: Communication and Education
Hello! I love being outdoors, hiking, rock climbing, and playing ultimate frisbee. I also enjoy playing the piano, cooking, singing, reading, laughing and meeting new people. Basically, as long as I am with people I am happy!
Hesper Kohler
Major: Environmental Studies
Year in School: Sophomore
Email: hesper.k@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Area: Natural Resources and Various
I call three places home: New Mexico, Florida, and now Oregon. When I "grow up" I want to be an ocean coastal zone ecologist. My nerd passion is water. I love playing any sport, especially soccer. When I have time I read novels like crazy, especially ones on cloning and societal issues in the future. Aggie Basketball or Hockey games are my favorite things on campus, if you ever want to cheer on our Aggies give me a call!
Nikelle Hunsaker
Major: Human Movement Science: Pre-Physical Therapy
Year in School: Senior
Email: nikelle.holbrook@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Areas: Undeclared & Various
I have loved being at Utah State University! When I am not doing homework or having a blast with Honors, I love spending time with my husband and our friends. I absolutely LOVE to cook and have made a hobby of trying out new recipes. I also love camping (especially in my living room, and yes, you can roast smores over the stove), hiking, biking, quoting movies, playing awesome card games and reading. I am excited to get to know many of you in the fall and I hope that you love being here as much as I do!
Karen Nielson
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Year in School: Sophomore
Email: karen.n@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Area: Mechanical Engineering
Born in Logan and raised in Las Vegas, Karen has returned north to attend Utah State, studying Mechanical Engineering. When she is not spending late nights in the Engineering building, Karen can most likely be found in a near-by canyon hiking or climbing to her heart's content. On weekends, she enjoys traveling with friends and playing rugby on the USU Women's Rugby Team. Some of Karen's goals are to eat at every restaurant in Cache Valley (a surprisingly difficult feat with more than 100 restaurants in Logan City alone), to go skydiving, and to be accepted into graduate school after earning her bachelors at USU.
Andrew Marquette
Major: Aerospace Engineering
Year in School: Sophomore
Email: a.marquette@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Area: Aerospace Engineering
Aside from the lack of a major in arcane practices and a Jedi training academy, Utah State is still a magical place that I love, and which the force is with. On the more generic side of things, I am from Pocatello, Idaho (and no, I don't grow potatoes...sorry to disappoint.) I am easy to talk to, but if you grace me with your presence you will indubitably have to suffer a lot of Lord of the Rings comments. I love the mountains, biking and snowboarding.
Lance Petersen
Major: Physics
Year in School: Senior
Email: lance.petersen@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Area: Physics & Biology
I am a 3rd generation Aggie from Pocatello, Idaho. As a physics major I have had the opportunity to participate in research since the beginning of my freshman year and my research has taken me to conferences around the United States, including Washington D.C. My hobbies include playing racquetball and ultimate frisbee, reading, and spending time in Logan Canyon. In my opinion, the most exciting thing about college is that you really get to control your life. You have the freedom and ability to choose your direction in life and here you have the support to accomplish it.
Matthew Petersen
Major: Nutrition and Food Sciences; Pre-Medical Emphasis
Year in School: Sophomore
Email: matthew.petersen@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Area: Biological Engineering
Born in 1989, I'm proud to qualify as a child of the 80's and even more proud to be an Aggie (win or lose!). My top five favorite things are, in no particular order: Christmas, fireworks, creme brulee, music and smiling. I love to snowboard and play tennis and my favorite band is the Decemberists. I love school and thrive on being busy. I graduated in 2007 from Layton High School, served an LDS Mission in Oregon, I speak Spanish, and I'm almost too excited about the thought of going to medical school. I love to be helpful so ask me any question and I'll give you my advice.
Taryn Rowe
Major: Pre-Health Biology
Year in School: Sophomore
Email: taryn.rowe@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Area: Biological Engineering
I am from Idaho and grew up on a potato farm eating the best potatoes the world can offer! If I could only keep one hobby for the rest of my life, reading would be the winner. I love playing tennis, attending Cardio Sculpt, traveling the world, and playing cards. As much as school really puts a strain on my brain, I love the challenge! I hope to either attend a dental or medical school after I obtain my undergraduate degree.
Morgan Summers
Major: Mathematics Education
Year in School: Senior
Email: morgan.e.summers@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Area: Math/Statistics
I am SO incredibly excited to be an Honors mentor this year! I love life, learning, and anything hot pink. When I'm not studying, working, or hanging out with friends, you can find me catching up on the latest episode of Grey's Anatomy and NCIS, or watching re-runs of Gilmore Girls. I love being a part of the Honors Program, and am always eager to share my experiences or answer questions.
Rebecca Tanner
Major: Music Therapy
Year in School: Senior
Email: rebeccamariemt@gmail.com
Advising Areas: Psychology and Performing Arts
I love everything about music from Chopin to Coldplay! I play the piano, guitar, drums, and I love to sing as well. Composing and arranging music is a favorite hobby of mine, and I am about to record my first two albums of all original compositions. Other fun hobbies and interests of mine include dancing, ice-skating, traveling, dance parties, baking cookies, performing with my family, learning new things through research, and making new friends. My dream is to be the music therapist at a children's hospital, while being the singer-songwriter everyone loves to listen to! I have loved being in the Honors and Research Fellows programs for the past 3 years here at Utah State, and I'm so excited to be a senior this fall! Go Aggies!!
Hannah Thompson
Major: English and Physical Education Coaching
Year in School: Sophomore
Email: hannah.thompson@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Area: English
I love to Irish dance, play basketball, read, listen to the radio show Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!, hike and watch the TV show Chuck. My secret talents include leprechaun heel clicks and making snow dragons. My favorite book of all time is My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult (read the book, don't watch the movie!) I have a twin sister studying Civil Engineering at Gonzaga, I dislike people painted as statues, and I would eat cheesecake at every meal if the opportunity presented itself.
Kaylee S. White
Major: Graphic Design
Year in School: Junior
Email: kaylee.savage@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Areas: Arts & Research Fellows
My story began in Kaysville, Utah twenty and a half adventurous years ago. Somewhere in that stretch of time I completed thirteen years of ballet school, learned to play the "William Tell Overture" on my face, drove tractors at work, came to USU with an undeclared major, dove into the honors program and graphic design, danced for the USU Swing Team, and married the cute guy who always said hello in the halls of jr. high and high school. I'm excited to be an Honors Mentor and help new students see how they can mold a regular education into an extraordinary adventure as they begin to live their life's passion to the fullest.
Kayla Woodring
Major: Political Science and Journalism
Year in School: Senior
Email: kaylawoodring@gmail.com
Advising Areas: Research Fellows in HSS, Journalism, and Social Sciences
Kayla's interests are politics, current events, international development, philosophy and traveling. She also enjoys yoga, hiking, camping and cooking vegetarian cuisine. Kayla worked on Capitol Hill as an intern in Washington, DC in 2009 and spent a summer volunteer teaching in Vina del Mar, Chile in 2010. She plans to move on to law school and pursue both a Juris Doctor and a Master's degree in International Affairs. Kayla hopes on day to work for the U.S. Department of State or the United Nations as an advocate for women and children in developing nations.
Carson Young
Major: Accounting
Year in School: Junior
Email: carson.young@aggiemail.usu.edu
Advising Area: Business
I graduated from Uintah High School in 2006 and was the Mathematics Sterling Scholar. I competed on the USU rodeo team riding bulls until I broke a vertebra in my back last summer. I served an LDS mission to Brazil, and have been married for 6 awesome months! I enjoy camping, hiking, fishing, basketball, and rodeo.