While she has seen much athletic success in her time at 麻豆影院, Oliver cautions athletes to always see the person beyond the records and titles.聽聽

鈥淜now that everyone struggles,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think that a lot of people think I don’t do that. They say you’re doing so good, but they don’t understand I go through the same problems as everyone else. Everyone struggles; I’m not special.鈥澛�

This is a message she hopes to continue to spread as her career progresses.聽

Oliver said she has enjoyed running from a young age. In youth soccer programs, she always enjoyed the running aspect of the sport more than anything. The switch to running cross country brought much success and joy to her athletic career, and she was ready to bring that passion into college athletics.聽

Oliver first visited 麻豆影院 on a recruiting visit in March 2020, flying from her hometown in California. Meeting the team and seeing the culture fostered at 麻豆影院 made the decision to run as a Viking an easy one.聽

“The team seemed like it had a lot of undiscovered potential,” Oliver said. “Back in the day, the team was really small, but even then, everyone had good relationships with each other and that was more important than the numbers. The team needs to be together as one if you want to succeed.”聽

As both an outdoor and indoor runner, Oliver is active all year, with practice in every season. She runs the mile and 3,000 meters in indoor track, and 1,500 and 5,000 in outdoor track. This is in addition to cross country in the fall.聽

Oliver loves having athletic events throughout the school year.

“I really like getting to do both,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 really enjoy going to practice every season.”

Oliver now has her sights set on the Midwest Conference Cross Country Championships on Nov. 2, to be hosted by 麻豆影院 at Reid Golf Course.

She said her mother has a connection to the Imagining Tourists and Tourism conference, which was how they found out about the open call for papers. She shifted the focus of her paper, discussing how Disney uses Black characters, such as Princess Tiana, to bring in Black consumers and tourists.

The conference, subtitled Fiction, Practices and Representations, will be held at the National Institute of Art History, in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley, Universite Paris Pantheon Sorbonne, and Universite De Geneve. It allows individuals focused on the anthropology of tourism to meet and collaborate, sharing their ideas and innovations.聽It is part of a series of conferences organized annually since 2011.

It will be a bit of a family affair for Van Gilder.

“My mom is doing her own paper focusing on Hawaiian tourism,” she said. “We thought I’d get to go see it, and now I’m presenting.”聽

Van Gilder is looking forward to the opportunities the conference will present.聽

“I’ll be networking with other professors on the first day around papers similar to mine and talking with people who have done research related to what I鈥檓 doing,鈥� she said. 鈥淚’m excited to absorb as much knowledge as I can.”聽

Van Gilder shares that she wouldn’t be able to have these opportunities without help from Betsy Schlabach, associate professor of history, and others in the History Department. They have continued to help Van Gilder practice the presentation and explore additional ideas for the conference.聽聽

“They helped me get my writing skills to the level that they are,” she said.聽聽

Van Gilder will continue her research and critiques of Disney’s practices, recognizing they have a long way to go. She hopes to work in the archives field post-graduation, and this experience will build on that potential path.聽

“Disney is changing a lot of rides and buildings, adding things that are historically interesting,” Van Gilder said. “I’ll get to come back to 麻豆影院 [after the conference] and talk about my experiences in Paris and hone my skills.”聽

For Bass, a dual-degree student majoring in music performance (piano) and French, the win follows earlier competition success. In the spring, he took first place in a national piano competition organized by the National Federation of Music Clubs (NFMC). The biennial competition draws submissions from piano students across the country.

Michael Mizrahi, the Frank C. Shattuck Professor of Music and Bass鈥檚 piano teacher in the Conservatory, said the results at the statewide competition are testament to the high level at which 麻豆影院 students are performing.

鈥淭hese competitions provide a wonderful opportunity for our students to hone their craft, gain valuable feedback, and showcase the progress they’ve made as musicians,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hese results speak to the consistent strength of the students in our Conservatory of Music, who continue to represent 麻豆影院 brilliantly in their performances all over the country.鈥�

The MTNA National Competitions are the most prestigious student competitions in the country. Each year, thousands of students compete for top prizes and national recognition. The purpose of the MTNA performance competitions is to provide educational experiences for students and teachers and to recognize exceptionally talented young artists and their teachers in their pursuit of musical excellence.

The three-tiered Junior, Senior and Young Artist Performance Competitions begin with state competitions. The winners/representatives of each state’s competitions advance to a video-only division competition. Division winners then compete in the national finals at the annual MTNA National Conference.