Student Profiles

Erica Ballard

What was your major?

Business-Marketing and Applied Biology

Graduation Year?

May 2012

Hometown?

St. Louis, MO

Things you did while attending UE?

Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Venturing Crew, Delta Sigma Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, Admissions Ambassadors, (and lots of studying and watching Cardinals baseball with my roommates!)

Most impressionable experience at UE?

It's a three-way tie! I really loved visiting the Smoky Mountains with Venturing Crew my junior year. I had an awesome time whitewater rafting, hiking 14 miles to the top of Mt. LeConte, and just hanging out with other UE students around the campfire. Secondly, another experience would have to be the time I spent at Harlaxton my sophomore year! I was lucky enough to travel to Prague for the Easter Market with one of my best friends, Ashley Majewski (who also graduated from the Honors Program!) as well as Portugal, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Ireland, and Belgium! Also, make sure to enroll in the Meet-a-Family program while you are there because it is awesome! Lastly, while doing homework late at night in October, two of my roommates and I were watching Game Six of the world series between the Cardinals and the Rangers. To our amazement, the Cardinals won, even though they were down to their last strike... TWICE! We were so excited and were jumping up and down (our two other roommates were not as enthused and couldn't figure out what the big deal was!)

Favorite professor and why?

Dr. Cris Hochwender. I feel like he really invests a lot of time and effort in teaching, which can clearly be seen by how much information I have retained from his classes. His high expectations challenge students to do well and turn in only top-notch work. I've used many of the reports and papers I had to write for him as writing samples for future employers. Dr. H is just very personable and a great member of the UE faculty!

Favorite class and why?

Business Law with Dr. Young. It was probably the most useful class I took while at UE. I have always been very interested in the legal system, and this was a great introduction which helped me understand things such as wage garnishing, environmental impact statements, the difference between federal and state courts, etc. Dr. Young's tests focused on applying what we learned to make sure we actually understood the material he presented.

Clubs and organizations in which you were active and which one meant the most to you and why?

Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Venturing Crew, Delta Sigma Pi, Admissions Ambassadors, Phi Kappa Phi. I really enjoyed all of the organizations I was involved in, and it would be hard to choose a favorite. Intervarsity was a wonderful and open Christian community on campus, from which I made many friends. Venturing Crew allowed me to pursue outdoor adventures with very little cost and without having to purchase extensive camping equipment. Delta Sigma Pi, the business fraternity, helped me to get involved with the business school and learn how to be a better business professional. The Admissions Ambassadors are essentially the student volunteers which lead tours around the campus, and this group really helped me to gain confidence as a speaker, while also giving me the chance to interact with prospective students and their parents!

What did you like best about the Honors Program?

My honors project which allowed me to help the rainforest reforestation effort in Costa Rica!

What have you been doing since graduation?

Immediately after graduation, I went to Costa Rica with Dr. Hochwender and several other students and professors for a tropical ecology class. In July, I began working at the St. Louis Zoo as a Zookeeper. Among other things, I get to take care of the meerkats, a box turtle named "Ertle," and Naked Mole Rats which look small but are actually 16 years old! I really love the interaction with the public and answering people's questions. It's a great place to work!

What are your goals (career, education, life, etc…)?

I want to teach the public about conservation and how to become more environmentally-responsible. I feel that so many people believe that environmental-consciousness is limited only to "tree-huggers" and radicals, but I want to make sustainability easy and reachable for all Americans. For my biology senior seminar class with Dr. Ernsting, I wrote a paper on "Nature-Deficit Disorder" and how America's youth no longer have access to the outdoors. This project opened my eyes to the growing need in this country for a change in ideology, and I really want to be a part of the movement to "reintroduce" kids to nature in the future. I'm not sure where this takes me as far as ultimate career plans go, but in addition to working at the St. Louis Zoo, I've already interned with the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, the US Department of Commerce in Washington DC, and the Mesker Park Zoo and Botanical Garden in Evansville.

Do you think your Honors Program experiences have helped/will help you reach your goals?

Definitely! How many people applying for jobs can say that they have completely neutralized their carbon-footprint for the rest of their life?