Students of the Month

November 2002
Julie Cleveland, president of the Student Government Association, is the daughter of Helen Thilsted and Rick Cleveland. She is a sophomore liberal arts major carrying a 4.0 grade-point average. She’s proud to receive the award. “It is a great honor to be considered this early (in the school year) and with the people previously honored,” she said. “It’s a great honor to be in that category with them.”

Cleveland, an Arkansas City High School graduate, is a busy student at Cowley. Besides holding the highest student office, she’s also a member of Campus Christian Fellowship, Act One drama club, the concert choir, and she is a Student Ambassador. In October, she was first runner-up for Queen Alalah, and was nominated for the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship. She also was crowned Homecoming Queen. She also was a member of the cast of the fall musical, “42nd Street,” and is a member of the spring play cast, “Crimes of the Heart.” She holds a part-time job at STAGE in Arkansas City, and has work-study jobs on campus for the Social Science Department and the Student Life office. She also is a resident assistant in the Fifth Avenue Dorm. She said, a student of the month “is somebody who goes the extra mile. Somebody who does their very, very best all the time. Not everybody can do it all the time, and I feel really, really bad when I don’t.” Cleveland, plans to transfer to Kansas State University.

December 2002
In all likelihood, Andrew Walker has a choice. He can work toward his lifelong goal of playing Major League Baseball, or he can become an artist. Not many 19-year-olds have those kinds of options. Walker, a sophomore computer graphic arts major, is the son of Brenda and Walter Christensen. He is a graduate of Prague (Okla.) High School.

At Cowley, he is a member of Phi Theta Kappa and Campus Christian Fellowship. He’s a starting pitcher on the Tiger baseball team, the biggest influence in his choice of colleges. “I had the letter of intent (to Pratt Community College) on the table ready to sign,” Walker said. “But I said ‘mom, this doesn’t feel right.’ She said to give Cowley another call.” Walker has fit nicely into an academic and athletic program. He was surprised to receive his latest award. “It’s a good surprise in that people think of me that way,” he said. “Cowley has been nothing but a blessing. I don’t think I would have gotten drafted, and I don’t think I would be going to Alabama” had he gone elsewhere. Walker compiled an 8-0 record on the mound as a freshman, helping the Tigers reach the NJCAA World Series for the fourth time in six seasons. He’s also a talented artist. Some of his tiger drawings hang in The Jungle where students hang out in the Nelson Student Center. Last Nov. 15, Walker signed with the University of Alabama.

January 2003
From chemistry teacher and tennis coach to an attorney, that’s how far Josh Cobble has traveled in his choice of careers. Cobble, a sophomore, is a native of Duncan, Okla., who switched his major at Cowley to pre-law. “It (practicing law) was always something I thought about doing,” said Cobble, the son of Larry Cobble and the late Lori Cobble. “Over Christmas break, I decided I wanted to go to law school. It was kind of a big switch when I changed classes.” Cobble knows what he wants.

He is transferring to Cameron University in Oklahoma, a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II school, to continue his pre-law studies. He’s going on a tennis scholarship and hopes to improve his game this spring for Cowley men’s tennis coach Larry Grose. That may be difficult, given the fact that Cobble was a National Junior College Athletic Association All-American as a freshman. He finished runner-up at No. 6 singles at the national tournament. “I just want to keep improving,” said Cobble, who has two younger brothers, Darren, a freshman on the Tiger tennis team, and Sean, a freshman at Duncan High School. “I want to finish in the finals again this year, but hopefully win it this year instead of second place.” After Cameron, Cobble will apply to get into law school at the University of Oklahoma. As a freshman, Cobble played No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles for the Tigers.

Spring 2003