by Collin Brunner B.S.H.E.S. ’10, Annual Member

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE OR MEMORY FROM YOUR TIME ON CAMPUS?

There’s no greater feeling than being surrounded by hundreds or thousands of your fellow students showing pride in your school, whether that was at sporting events in Razorback Stadium, Bud Walton, Baum, Barnhill, or the HPER, at Chi Omega Greek Theater for a pep rally or Homecoming event, or on the Union Mall teaching incoming Freshman to Call the Hogs, sing the fight song, and dance to William Tell. I still smile thinking about the connection I feel to every other Razorback alumnus who has experienced the community that is the University of Arkansas. I’ve been caught initiating a Hog call in states and countries across the globe! Woo Pig Sooie!

DID YOU HAVE A MENTOR, CLASS OR ACTIVITY THAT ENHANCED YOUR CAMPUS EXPERIENCE?

Starting each year off with R.O.C.K. Camp was certainly a valuable part of my U of A experience. It was fulfilling to be a part of incoming Freshmen learning about the U of A, cultivating pride in their school and building friendships to become comfortable in a new environment. Director of New Student & Family Programs Quincy Spencer was certainly a mentor to me in leading the R.O.C.K. program and staff. As a lead mentor for R.O.C.K. Camp, I had the opportunity to work closely with him and learn from his model of using humor to cultivate relationships and tough love to empower his team to be creative, passionate and impactful.

WHY IS MENTORING IMPORTANT?

As young people are growing academically, emotionally and professionally, having an adult or team of adults to look up to, learn from and emulate is a crucial part of the college experience. I was fortunate to have models of leadership, ethics and ambition in both adults and older students throughout my University of Arkansas experience. I had examples through my fraternity Sigma Nu, in the Honors College, while serving on the AAA Student Alumni Board, and in my work with Student Programs and First Year Experience. Mentorship empowers you to push your limits and improve yourself, while feeling supported by the investment that someone is making in your growth.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE ACTIVITY OR EVENT WITH AN ARKANSAS ALUMNI ASSOCIATION CHAPTER OR SOCIETY?

I was part of the group that reignited the Washington D.C. alumni chapter in the early 2010s. It was such a fun (and formative!) time in my life as we built something that started with football watch parties but grew into community building, fundraising and pride-raising for the University of Arkansas that local alumni in the D.C. metro area had clearly been craving. Everyone has a memory that they want to share about our alma mater and I loved hearing those memories from alumni as young as recent graduates to our older alumni who were on campus many years before me. What they all had in common were the smiles and pure happiness that those memories brought to each alumnus.