More Reasons to Love La Crosse

Hear from student body president, Jacob Schimmel and students around campus talk about why they love the University of Wisconsin La Crosse

There's No Place Like The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse

Video Video produced by UWL students Jacob Rogness & Travis Judell

This is my 25^th year at UWL... 

Nearly every day I have the good fortune of observing the people and great work being done that makes this a special place.  In my role as Director of Admissions, I share with prospective students and families why this is a special place.  One of the reasons UWL is a great choice for students to continue their education is because of the Residence Life program. UWL students are active, driven, engaged, and welcoming.  They find a strong connection to the on-campus programming both inside and outside of the halls.

 I am thankful I become involved in Residence Life at UWL as an undergraduate – first in hall government and later as a student staff member.  The Residence Life Team keeps the tradition of residential living at UWL strong.  It is awesome to work with the Leadership Team that includes those that I looked up to as role models when I was a student, those that were student staff with me, and those that I had an opportunity to supervise and mentor.  

This is such a special place and I love telling others about it!  

-Corey

University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Campus Fast Facts

Starting at the very beginning with the recruitment process...

I felt cared for and valued by the professionals in Residence Life at UWL. I chose to join the Residence Life team at UWL because I felt like everyone really took the time to get to know me during the recruitment process. I knew that they cared about me as an individual person and valued what I could bring to Residence Life. 

I felt seen, heard, and validated in every step of the process. I remember that my graduate supervisor Chris came into my office after completing a reference check phone call for me with Patrick Heise. Chris was so excited about UWL and said that after the reference call with Patrick, he knew that Residence Life was going to take care of me and that I would be a good fit there. This has been so true. I feel cared for and valued here. I feel like people care about my opinion and trust my ability to do my job.

UWL has helped me grow personally and professionally in so many ways. I’ve always been a little shy in larger groups and have a hard time sharing my thoughts. In the past year and three months at here, I’ve found my voice and have been able to share my thoughts and feelings with everyone in Residence Life in different settings. I know that people listen to me and want to hear what I have to say. I feel that I’ve come into my own and am more confident in sharing my thoughts and opinions with other professionals in the department. I have had so many opportunities to take on new things in my first professional role. The professional trust and autonomy that I’m given at UWL are incredible. I know that I was hired for a reason and that I am trusted to fulfill my role as a Hall Director.

Not only do the professional staff members at UWL make me feel valued and appreciated, but the students are also wonderful at making me feel like I am an important part of Residence Life. My students are the reason I continue to love my job and to love UWL. Everyone said that the students were wonderful when I interviewed, but I did not understand the magnitude of that until I started working on campus. My students are compassionate, caring, and motivated individuals, who are making real differences in the lives of their students every day. 

I am constantly impressed with the time and dedication they put into their positions. They care and give of their time and are always looking for ways to improve Residence Life and UWL. I know that they care about my well being and who I am as a person as much as they care about their residents. Last year, my staff and students threw a surprise birthday party for me, complete with two ice cream cakes, presents, and a good number of residents standing in front of Sanford Hall to sing to me when I got back from dinner. I felt an overwhelming amount of love and appreciation for my staff and students. This represents UWL Residence Life and the University overall to me. An outpouring of love and support from the students who live and work here for someone else. I saw my staff and students show this kind of love and support to each other all of last year and have seen it this year as well.

The La Crosse community is also a wonderful place. The natural beauty of La Crosse has turned me into an outdoorsy person, when I have never been one before. I love the bluffs and the Mississippi, and generally spend more time outside now than I ever have before in my life. La Crosse has an incredible public library, where I spend a lot of my free time, volunteering and checking out some amazing books. I also enjoy drinking great cups of coffee in so many of the coffee shops in La Crosse. Overall, the city and UWL Residence Life have been wonderful places for me to live, work, and grow. I love it here!


-Theresa Luensmann

Why University of Wisconsin-La Crosse?

My name is Megan, and I am a first year Hall Director at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. However, this is not my first year at UWL. I had the opportunity to earn my Masters degree and serve as an Assistant Hall Director for two years prior to this year. I have gotten the question many times—why did you stay at UWL? The best way for me to answer that question is the pictures above. Whether I am at staff camp trying to hurdle 10 staff member over a wall, advising an RA Conference, having a Drake Hall fort night, moving in over 250 residents, engaging in dialogue surrounding rape culture, or hitting the golf course with valued colleagues to support Multicultural Student Services at UWL every memory I have made at UWL has been valuable. 

I have grown professionally and personally, and I would make the same decision to come to UWL and stay at UWL over and over again. 

-Megan

Lauren Guzikowski

I feel so valued as a student staff member. Over the course of the last two and a half months, I have made so many connections across campus. Every time I go into ORL, the lovely receptionists Carol and Michelle know me by name, as well as many of the other Central Staff members. When I am walking around campus, I would feel comfortable saying hello to and having a conversation with all of the Pro Staff.

Res Life has allowed me to be more aware as a college student. There were so many issues I was blind to before I got educated about them in Res Life. Something we have been talking about recently is the Inclusive Negligence video and how we can make ALL of our students who live in our residence halls feel welcome and safe. I am able to appreciate and celebrate our differences as a diverse community, but not be ignorant to them. One of the most interesting topics I continue to learn about this year is the idea of different identities. Not only does this include gender, but also ability, race, religion, political views, among many other things. I have had so many opportunities to work with my staff team and discuss some of the different identities we carry with us every day, and how each human is different in their personal identities. Some identities we seldom think about, may be someone else’s main identity that they feel occupies the largest part of them.

Being a Desk Coordinator has been one of the most amazing experiences I have had. I believe I am a natural born leader, and this was the perfect step for me to take in my leadership career. Having the opportunity to be a supervisor to 16 other college students is a very unique role to have. I am learning many valuable lessons many people do not have the chance to learn until they are well into their professional career. Not only do I get to work with my desk team, but I also have an amazing team of student staff members, and also the community in which I live. I get to live in an all-freshman community, which is so awesome. They really utilize both our RA, Kara and me as resources whenever they need something. The chances I have to bond with so many people in my building, and all across campus is so special, and something I definitely value so much. I get the opportunity to converse with so many residents and their friends on a daily basis about their lives or things they are struggling with. Being a student staff member has taught me many things and I will forever be thankful for my time with Res Life here at UWL.