Throughout the spring semester, we are honoring our senior student-athletes with a "Senior Salute" series. Today's featured senior is Kate Schlegel, an art history and education major from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Schlegel is a member of the swimming and diving team.
Q: Why did you choose to attend The College of Wooster?
A: I chose to attend Wooster because of the reputation of the team across campus. The swim team has an unofficially reserved table in Lowry where we eat all our meals together. This family dynamic within the team, as well as the research and leadership opportunities available at the College, were unique to Wooster and made my decision easy.
Q: What does it mean to you to be a Fighting Scot student-athlete?
A: Being a Fighting Scot student-athlete means I get to combine my love for my sport with high achievement in academics. My professors try to support me as a student and an athlete. My coaches support me as an athlete and a student.
Q: What are some of your favorite memories as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: Some of my favorite memories come from our team dinners in Lowry. We sit together, and some nights we don't say a single world to each other since we are so worn out from practice. Other nights we sit there for hours talking and laughing.
Q: What's the best part about being a student-athlete at The College of Wooster?
A: The best part about being a student-athlete at The College of Wooster is hearing what my teammates are learning. We have a wide range of majors on the team. With so many different classes being taken, it is always interesting to hear what they have to say about what they are studying.
Q: What else were you involved with on campus besides your sport?
A: I am the president of Kappa Delta Pi (education honor society) and the secretary of the Art History and Museum Studies Club. I was part of the Sophomore Research Program, which allowed me to work closely with one of my art history professors on a lecture she was preparing. I also was a digital curation assistant with the library.
Q: Which College of Wooster faculty or staff member has made the greatest impact on you and why?
A: Dr. Tracy Cosgriff. I had my first class with her in spring 2020. The end goal of the class was to create an exhibit in The College of Wooster Art Museum. Obviously, with the outbreak of COVID, that was no longer possible, but Dr. Cosgriff found a virtual platform which enabled us to still create the exhibit. She has been so supportive of her students throughout the pandemic, has helped me dramatically improve my writing, and is now my Independent Study advisor!
Q: Which other people or resources impacted your Wooster experience in a positive way and how did these people/resources set you up to be successful at Wooster?
A: The whole Wooster education department has set me up to be successful at Wooster. There is a joke within our department that if you don't end up crying in one of the education professors' offices, you aren't ready to graduate. Not only have those professors helped me develop a semester-by-semester schedule for my college career, but they are always there to talk about the joys and horrors of college life.
Q: Tell us a bit about your Independent Study project?
A: I am investigating the potential of integrating art history into elementary school social studies classrooms. In order to do so, I am investigating students' developmental milestones and developing lesson plans for art history lessons both within a traditional classroom and for field trips.
Q: Tell us a bit about something cool you did as a student at The College of Wooster?
A: I had the opportunity to work with Wooster's digital collections department last spring. We digitized a set of letters from the Noyes family. Emily Noyes was the first female graduate of the College and her older sister was a missionary in Chine from 1868-1923. I had the opportunity to use those digitized documents to curate an exhibition about missionary life in China in the 19th century. It was interesting to read those documents and untangle family relationships, political tensions, and their way of life.
Q: Reflecting back on your time at Wooster, what is one piece of advice you would give your first-year (freshman) self?
A: Trust the process. It's a really difficult thing to do, even as a senior. I feel like if I do not hold everything together it will fall apart. The best things that have happened to me at Wooster have really been happy accidents, so you just have to trust that it all will get done and you will get what is meant for you.
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