Student Spotlight

By Gary Ballinger, Center for Student Involvement & Leadership

Laurel Cox is an actively involved senior who currently hangs her hat in two different "hometowns" Tucson, AZ and Atyrau, Kazakhstan. She is a Molecular and Cellular Biology major with a minor in Arabic who has been very involved in a number of campus activities. Her experiences at the University of Arizona have kept her involved as an active member of Chi Omega Sorority, in intramural sports, Wildcat Off-Road, Primus, Sophos, and Mortar Board Senior Honorary for which she currently serves as President.

She chose the University of Arizona for the wide variety of classes and majors, and because of a scholarship that she received. Laurel also knew that the U of A has a large Fraternity & Sorority community and a number of intramural sports to get involved in and those experiences were important to her. She believes that a student who comes to college should work hard, but still enjoy themselves. "It is important to get involved with a club or organization on campus. My college experience would not have been the same without Greek Life. There are so many opportunities for meeting people, and you realize that there is a lot more to gain from college than just academics. For classes, take whatever interests you, and don't worry if you don't declare a major until the last semester sophomore year."

Like many college students coming to campus each year she was given a lot of advice from her family. Her dad, being protective like many fathers are, gave her pepper spray and a German Sheppard when she moved away. His advice to her was, "do whatever makes you happy." Her mom encouraged her to go through the sorority recruitment process and to "live in the house until I was kicked out." They did both agree on one thing for their daughter and that was that she should enjoy college and take as long as she needed to finish.

Laurel believes that the best thing that families can do for their children who are in college is to be supportive, but treat you children like adults. Families should, "give us advice and a reasonable budget, but let us make our own decisions." It will be important to send the occasional email, care packages, and of course the all important plane ticket home for winter break. "I always loved getting upbeat letters from home."

As Laurel's time at the University of Arizona comes to a close she is able to reflect on the last four years and will always cherish the time she spent "people-watching between classes, playing soccer on Friday afternoons, and watching the huge bonfire during Homecoming that is lit each year after the King and Queen are crowned." "I can't wait to come back as Alumnus and look down the long stretch of grass towards Old Main. Many of my favorite memories happened right there on the mall."

Laurel plans to spend the next few months and a little time after graduation applying to medical school, and looks forward to traveling around. She hopes to spend this summer in Beijing, China to see the Olympic Games. No matter what the future holds for Laurel she knows that she can always seek comfort and a little bit of humor in her grandmother's advice, "Life is a bumpy road, so get ready for it."

Gary Ballinger can be contacted via email at garyb@email.arizona.edu.