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Student of the Month
September
Some Cowley College students choose to live off campus their sophomore year after
living in the dorms as freshmen. Rusty Wallace did just the opposite. Since the
Enid, Okla., sophomore knew he wanted to become more involved in campus life,
he decided to leave the apartment he enjoyed as a freshman and move to the D.
Robert Storbeck Dormitory this year. Wallace is the son of Clarence and Pat Wallace.
Being involved on campus is important to Wallace.
He is president of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Student Government Association
secretary, co-treasurer of the International Student Club, is a Student Ambassador,
and is a member of the Math & Science Club and the Young Republicans. “It’s
been a wonderful experience at Cowley,” said Wallace, a nondestructive
testing major. “Every day is something new. The more you get involved,
the more you experience about Cowley. I’ve always been able to find something
positive.” As a senior at Enid High School, Wallace wasn’t sure what
he wanted to do, so he began taking welding classes at Autry Technology Center
in Enid.
While at Autry, his instructor told Wallace about Cowley. “He told me about
Cowley’s agreement with the vo-tech (schools) in Oklahoma where you can
transfer your hours to Cowley and take basic courses and get an associate’s
degree,” Wallace said. While touring the campus, “Bob Moffatt, welding
technology instructor, told me to look at NDT and the inspection part of welding,” Wallace
said. “I had plans to graduate with my associate’s in NDT, then (NDT
instructor) Bruce (Crouse) told me about the different transfer programs like
Pittsburg State and Oklahoma State.”
Next year, Wallace plans to transfer to OSU and major in industrial engineering.
As the recipient of various Skills USA/Vocational Industrial Clubs of America
awards in welding while at Autry, Wallace was an accomplished welder. However,
he got the attention of Bombardier Learjet officials following an NDT exercise
last year. “My partner, Richard Burke, and I were doing an X-ray in the
NDT lab, and Bombardier gave us three or four different parts that had a determined
crack in them,” Wallace explained. “We wanted to see how far away
the part could be from the focal center of the X-ray tube before it would be
distorted and not clear enough to inspect.” The men presented their findings
to Bombardier officials last spring, and they made a positive impression. In
what little spare time Wallace has, he likes to make movies on his computer.
One of his videos was of a pumpkin patch operated by his church back in Enid.
