Orientation Leaders

Paige Klaphake

Hometown: Belgrade, MN 

Major: Broadcasting and Digital Media  Minor: Marketing 

Why I chose SMSU: Smaller campus that feels like home!

Favorite Gold Rush Event: Courtyard Corral 

Arlo Riemer

Hometown: Winsted, MN 

Major: Psychology

Why I chose SMSU: I chose SMSU because of the personal connection that it allows me to have with the faculty and staff. 

Favorite Gold Rush Event: Silent disco!

Kayla Browen

Hometown: Worthington, Minnesota  

Major: Music Education  Minor: Design and Technical Theatre  

Why I chose SMSU: I chose SMSU because it is close to home and I loved the community.  

Favorite Gold Rush Event: My favorite Gold Rush Event was writing a letter to my future self. 

Katrina Timm

Hometown: Lamberton, MN  

Major: Management with a Concentration in Entrepreneurship  Minor: Animal science 

Why I chose SMSU: SMSU has a great business program and it was close to home and affordable.  

Favorite Gold Rush Event: My favorite event will always be headphone disco.  

Paul Woestehoff

Hometown: Jordan, MN 

Major: Vocal and Instrumental Music Education 

Why I chose SMSU: I chose SMSU because of the small-campus feel and because of the friendly staff and students I got to meet.  

My favorite Gold Rush Days Event: The headphone disco! It's really fun dancing to all the music, and to take off your headphones every once in a while, to remember that the music isn't actually playing out loud. 

Sydni Badertscher

Hometown: Leaf River, IL 

Major: Exercise Science Pre PA   Minor: Spanish  

Why I chose SMSU: The size and to be able to compete in track.  

Favorite Gold Rush Day Event: I most liked the mud volleyball for gold rush days.  

Tristian Primus

Hometown: Buffalo, MN 

Major: Creative Writing  Minor: Philosophy 

Why I chose SMSU: My mom moved to Marshall when she got a new job, and I decided to follow her down here to go to school. After being in Marshall for a week I fell in love with the town and the people. I toured campus and was really impressed by the effort the staff put in to make you feel welcome. That was when I knew SMSU was the place for me. 

Favorite Gold Rush Day Event: My favorite event is the campfire. Growing up in a small Minnesota town, bonfires were a big part of my life—whether for relaxing, socializing, or cooking while camping. That same warmth and connection carry over on campus. It’s the event where I’ve met the most people and seen others step out of their comfort zones. The laid-back vibe makes it easy to form friendships and build community. 

Seely Stockmoe

Hometown: Fargo, ND 

Major: Communications & Broadcasting and Digital Media  Minor: Spanish  

Why I chose SMSU: The track and field opportunities and the program for my major here is awesome! 

Favorite Gold Rush Days: definitely mud volleyball without a doubt 

Olivia VanderBeek

Hometown: Eden Valley, MN 

Major: Exercise Science 

Why I Chose SMSU: I chose SMSU because it’s sort of close to my home and it’s affordable for me. 

Favorite Gold Rush Event: I really liked headphone disco because I was popping out every move I had in my book! 

Natalie Appel

Hometown: Bryon, MN

Major: Agribusiness

Lacie Fetters

Hometown: Fairmont, MN  

Major: Elementary Education 

Why I Chose SMSU: I chose SMSU because it is affordable and not too far from home. Also, because I wanted to be at a smaller campus to have a better sense of community. 

Favorite Gold Rush Day Event: I really liked play slip n slide kickball! 

Jaden Jay 

Hometown: New Ulm, Minnesota 

Major: Justice Administration  Minor: Psychology 

Why I chose SMSU: It is close to my home and everyone is always so friendly!  

My favorite Gold Rush Event: Mud Volleyball 

Kaitlyn Sharp

Hometown: Jordan, MN

Major: Communication Studies  Minor: Business Management 

Why I chose SMSU: I chose SMSU for the community and to be a part of the cheer team.  

Favorite Gold Rush Event: Headphone disco! 

Elsie O'Neil

Hometown: Pipestone, MN 

Major: Exercise Science  Minor: Psychology

Why I chose SMSU: I chose SMSU because it offers a close and affordable option for me. I appreciate the small-town atmosphere, and having all the buildings connected is great during the harsh Minnesota winters. It just feels like a place where I can truly belong! 

Favorite Gold Rush Event: Headphone Disco! 

Cecelia Parmeter

Hometown: Proctor, MN 

Major: Culinology  Minor: Nutrition

Why I chose SMSU: My major, this is one of the only schools that has my desired food science degree, Culinology. 

My favorite Gold Rush Event: The Bonfire! I love the smores and friendly conversations. 

Azhar Hassan

Hometown: Marshall, MN 

Major: Exercise Science 

Why I Chose SMSU: I chose SMSU so I could be closer to home. 

Favorite Gold Rush Event: Playfair, I enjoyed it because I made some good friends because of that event. 

Shenal Alexander Peries

Hometown: Colombo, Sri Lanka 

Major: Data Science & Finance 

Why I Chose SMSU: I chose SMSU for its close-knit community, reasonable tuition, and the incredibly supportive staff and faculty. 

Favorite Gold Rush Event: Mud Volleyball. Who doesn't love the mud? 

Daniel Olson

Hometown: Nashwauk, MN 

Major: Social Studies Education 

Why I Chose SMSU:I chose SMSU because when I visited something about it felt like home.  

Favorite Gold Rush Event: Mud volleyball because I am very competitive. 

Emily Blaskey

Hometown: Lakefield, MN  

Major: Music Education   

Why I chose SMSU: Feels like home! Every time I was on campus when I was younger, I always thought that it was a beautiful place with many opportunities. As I started looking for colleges, I made a list of qualities I looked for in my future school and found that SMSU was the school I was describing!  

My Favorite Gold Rush Event: The volleyball game. It was the first time that I realized how fun my time was going to be while I am here.