Student Spotlight
Fulfilling Her Dreams
Though her future is based in her native Germany, Nina Kauffmann has followed her heart to West Texas and is making the most of her time at Angelo State.
After graduating from the Fashion Design Academy in Hamburg, Germany, with a degree in fashion and textile management, Kauffmann found out that her boyfriend, Bernhard Gierke, had received a scholarship to study international business at ASU. Not wanting to be apart for a year, she decided to follow him. But, that wasn’t the only reason.
“It was also a chance for me to come to America at least one more time,” Kauffmann said. “It was a dream of mine to come back for longer than just a vacation. I wanted to live here and see how the people are. So I am very happy that ASU gave me the chance to come here for a year.”
Now studying international business herself at ASU, Kauffmann is also sharing what she calls her father’s “fascination with Texas culture.” She recently bought a big, red Dodge Ram pick-up truck.
“That was my second dream,” Kauffmann said, “because in Germany, you can’t drive a truck. A lot of Americans are laughing at me about it, but that is fine. I am really happy with it.”
But, it should be no real surprise that Kauffmann is fascinated by America. She was actually born in Chicago, though she returned with her parents to Germany when she was just a year old.
After growing up in Bayreuth, Germany, Kauffmann talked her parents into sending her to the Schule Schloss Salem (School of Salem Castle) boarding school in the German state of Baden-Württemberg for high school. One of the most prestigious elite schools in Europe, it is often attended by German nobility.
“I met a famous German princess,” Kauffmann said. “But, she is not a princess like Princess Diana. She is more like a princess of just a part of Germany, descended from the people who used to own it hundreds of years ago.”
Now she enjoys living in Texan Hall, being able to use the ASU gym facilities for free and attending a variety of campus activities and events, things she said were not as readily available at her German college. She is also enjoying the fabled West Texas hospitality.
“It is a completely new experience and I’m trying to learn everything I can,” Kauffman said. “It is also interesting to see all the different people and live with Texans. I love it.”
Running on the Edge
Student Government Vice President Steven Jackson takes life by the horns, sometimes literally.
Jackson, his brother and a friend traveled to Pamplona, Spain, in July during summer break to run with the bulls in the nine-day-long San Fermin Festival made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Sun Also Rises.”
“Running with the bulls was scary,” Jackson said, “but, it was quite an experience.”
He said all the runners were wearing white outfits with red bandannas and sashes. The object of the run was to lead the bulls about 800 yards to an arena where bullfights with matadors take place. The trio escaped the bulls’ horns unscathed.
Jackson’s daredevil pursuits are not limited to running with the bulls. He also likes to snowboard in New Mexico.
“I’m from Artesia and my family has a tradition of going to Ruidoso, N.M., in the winter,” Jackson said. “I’ve been snowboarding for eight years. I like riding down a hill in the snow. It’s kind of peaceful.”
Jackson’s idea of fun usually involves the outdoors including camping, nature hikes and bow hunting for deer. When he is in San Angelo, he spends time on the South Concho River and at the ASU Lake House on Lake Nasworthy.
“I just started going out to the Lake House this spring,” Jackson said. “There is so much to do out there. They have volleyball courts, a dock and barbecue grills. It’s something that can make life in college more fun.”
Jackson extends his love for the outdoors to his transportation, a bicycle his father gave him when he was a junior in high school. He said he has made a hobby of fixing it up with colorful accessories.“It's a very unique bike,” Jackson said. “Some of my friends laugh when they see it, but I enjoy having something no one else has even if it’s a bit outdated. I live really close to campus, so riding a bike is a more logical choice for me. Sometimes it gets tough when the weather gets cold.” Jackson also competes in triathlons for the enjoyment of the training rides and competition. When it is time to study, Jackson works toward a physics degree with minors in math and geology. He also found an interest in biology after taking an anatomy class.
Jackson plans to get a master’s in medical physics or biomedical engineering. From there, he would go into research related to biomechanics or work alongside oncologists to monitor and plan radiation doses for cancer patients.
In his quest for science, Jackson became acquainted with Seth Chomout, who convinced him to run for student body vice-president while Chomout sought the presidential post. The Chomout-Jackson ticket won during spring elections.
“I actually got into it with limited knowledge of student government,” Jackson said. “I’ve been spending a lot of time on our plans since April.”
Jackson wants to see students access student government more than they do to deal with their concerns.
“We don’t want to just sit around and say we are president and vice president,” Jackson said. “We want students to bring their issues to us. Our offices are open and we have a suggestion box out in the UC. We encourage students to come talk to us. We have more of a say in what goes on than a lot of people think.”
Jackson said the ASU administration gives the student government a lot of respect and is receptive to their ideas.
“If there is an issue that arises and students want it solved, we’ll try to change it directly,” Jackson said, “or one of the senators will author a resolution and bring it before the senate. If it passes, it’s up to me to call whoever the issue needs to go to and to keep plugging away until we make progress.”
Kinesiology major gives his future a workout
Paul Martinez has taken physical fitness and wellness to heart.
The ASU senior kinesiology major from Fort Stockton spent the summer as an intern at the prestigious Cooper Aerobics Fitness Center at Craig Ranch, which was founded in McKinney by Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., author of the 1968 book, “Aerobics.”
Cooper’s book popularized a point system for improving the cardiovascular system and was the origin of the 10,000-steps-per-day plan for attaining a healthy level of fitness through walking.
“Being selected for placement at such a facility is a huge opportunity for this young man,” said Dr. Doyle Carter, head of the ASU Kinesiology Department. “He personifies what we want people to think of when they visualize a kinesiology major and graduate.”
Martinez said that from the first day of his internship he was immersed in Cooper’s fitness doctrine and experienced all facets of working in a fitness center.
“We were on a different schedule and did something new every week,” Martinez said. “We went through a four-day personal training certification course and took a test to be certified as a trainer at the Cooper Center.”
Among the areas Martinez studied during his internship were new member orientations and personal fitness assessments. The assessments included blood pressure checks, height and weight, fat measurements, medical screenings and function of movement, which checks for physical limitations of clients.
“A huge thing for people is core strength – how strong their lower backs and abdominal muscles are. We also check to see how their knees, ankles and shoulders stand up to physical activity,” Martinez said. “We test everything so we can design a fitness program for these people to improve their quality of life.”
Martinez and another intern also helped the Cooper Aerobics Fitness Center’s fitness director develop a mentorship program for personal trainers working outside the center. The program will share Cooper’s philosophy on fitness and teach the trainers new methods for performing fitness tests.
A desire to focus on strength and conditioning training led Martinez to kinesiology, but he said he didn’t want to be a high school coach with classroom duties.
“I wanted to work with different types of people from the elderly to athletes,” Martinez said. “I wanted to do the physical training part, the workouts and to help improve people’s health.”
He said the internship showed him a new path he hadn’t considered. He plans to work at a fitness center after finishing his degree and then explore an advanced degree in radiology.
“After seeing the medical testing, I decided I want to go to the clinical side of kinesiology,” Martinez said. “I want to administer the stress tests and do CT scans.”
That does not mean he is going to give up the physical fitness side of kinesiology completely.
“I can still do personal training and work with individuals and give them one-on-one attention,” Martinez said.
Abiola Okeyode: Inspired to Serve
A native Texan with Nigerian parents, ASU graduate student Abiola Okeyode plans to use the physical therapy skills she is learning in her home state to help the people of her parents’ home country.
Born in Dallas, Okeyode left for Nigeria with her parents at an early age. There, she was raised in Lagos until she was nine years old and then went off to a boarding school about three hours from home.
While still very young, Okeyode was exposed to the benefits of physical therapy after her grandmother, Felicia, suffered a stroke and required help to do even basic tasks like bathing and dressing. Okeyode’s father is a physical therapist and his treatments not only aided Felicia, they inspired Abiola as well.
“I remember my dad would come home from work and teach her some activities such as range of motion exercises, gait training with a cane and how she could adapt to the activities of daily living,” Okeyode said. “I was amazed when I came back from (boarding) school and my grandmother was able to walk again with a cane. My siblings also informed me that she was doing her bathing and dressing by herself again. That motivated me to have a career that could make a difference in the lives of others, especially after some medical diagnosis has left them impaired in functional activities.”
To that end, Okeyode returned to Texas after high school, got her bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Texas and enrolled in the ASU physical therapy program.
“I chose ASU because of the class size,” Okeyode said. “The faculty-to-student ratio is very good and I felt I would get the best learning experience with that. I also liked the fact that there is a great scholarship program for graduate students. Finally, I chose ASU because of the location in a smaller city that would help me concentrate on my studies and strive for the best.””
In addition to working through the intense physical therapy curriculum, Okeyode has volunteered at various community events, gotten married and gave birth to her first child, Damilola Christina Balogun, in September. Once the new mother receives her degree, her ultimate goal is to start a physical fitness program back in Nigeria.
“The fitness program in Nigeria is already in the process as my dad has acquired a property for the center,” Okeyode said. “The center will be focused more on people with risks for cardiovascular diseases and maintenance programs for people in post-stroke rehab.”
But that doesn’t mean that Okeyode will be long gone as soon as she graduates.
“I would first like to get some PT experience in as many fields as possible and secure funds for about five years here in the United States before really pursuing the fitness program,” Okeyode said. “I will still be practicing here in the U.S. even when the fitness program is running in Nigeria, so I can stay current on more advanced technology and new research ideas.”
In the meantime, Okeyode will take some time off with her husband, Yomi Balogun, and their new baby, then return to ASU to finish her PT master’s degree that she is slated to receive in May.
“I think I have made a really good choice coming to ASU,” she said, “because I have learned a lot from this experience and feel I have accomplished a great goal in my life.”
Seth Chomout: Mover and shaker
When Angelo State University junior Seth Chomout sees something he thinks needs improvement, he gets moving.
That attitude spurred the Bastrop High School graduate into starting a lampoon-style alternative campus newspaper and then running for the ASU Student Government presidency.
“My first semester here, some friends and I started a newspaper called the ‘Ramdiculous Page’ after one of my roommates and I had read the ‘Ram Page’ in Texan Hall,” Chomout said. “We were disappointed that it was so serious, so we decided to make our own newspaper and put it in our own format.”
The result was a satirical send-up of topics both on and off campus.
“Most of the things we put in there aren’t even true,” Chomout said. “They are little things that people can laugh at, things the ‘Ram Page’ didn’t have.
“The first year was great. We thought we did a great job and everybody liked us.”
His maverick crew found themselves at odds with some people on campus, though.
“The ‘Ramdiculous’ staff printed on office paper and used 96,000 pages in one semester,” Chomout said. “After that, a 3,000-page limit per semester was put on students because no one on campus but us used more than that.”
The paper also drew flak from some student groups who didn’t like it, Chomout said. The newspaper, which was placed around campus on benches and ledges, was thrown away when it was spotted by its detractors.
To go forward, the “Ramdiculous Page” crew had to seek a new avenue. Chomout petitioned the Student Senate to sanction the “Ramdiculous Page” as an official student organization, but was turned down. He took his case to Student Life Dean Nolen Mears who approved the alternative newspaper’s staff as a student organization. Now, the “Ramdiculous Page” publishes through the Center for Student Involvement.
“We even have racks this year,” Chomout said. “We also have a Web site.”
His experience with the “Ramdiculous Page” inspired Chomout to go into student government.
“When I was at the Student Senate, I thought ‘this is kind of cool. Maybe I should join this,’ ” Chomout said. “I got on the Student Senate and sat there for a month. I thought, ‘what more could I do than that?’ By being student body president, maybe I could change the way something is done without as many hiccups as there are for a student senator. So far, I’ve been able to do that.”
Chomout said that working both in the student government and as the representative of an organization gave him insight into the process of moving funds from the source to student groups.
The math major and business minor said he hasn’t decided what he wants for a career.
“I’m thinking of doing something in business,” Chomout said. “There are a lot of options. I thought about going to a business school, law school or trying to be a city manager.
“I like being student body president because I deal with different things all the time. I definitely won’t end up with a job where I do the same thing every day.”