Class of 2021: Rachel Hicks

We celebrate the Class of 2021, what they have achieved during their years at Ripon and what they hope to achieve in the next chapter of their lives.

Rachel Hicks ’21 of Endeavor, Wisconsin, is majoring in educational studies and history. She plans to teach.

“Though learning this was a great challenge of mine, I learned that being human means making mistakes every once in a while,” she says. “There is no need to be perfect all of the time, but if you can tell yourself that you tried the best that you could and you now know what you can do better next time, that means you are doing something right.

“As a future educator, I do my best to stay humble and admit to any mistakes I make because I want my students to know that I am human just like they are. As I model self-love and acceptance of my own mistakes, I have noticed that my students are more forgiving of their own failures. I will do anything to remind my students that they are smart and capable, and many of my professors had to remind me of my strengths during times of failure.”

She says a favorite memory from Ripon was working the Bridge Program through Student Support Services during her junior and senior years. I loved getting to meet some of my first-generation students that I was going to mentor during their first semester of college,” she says. “Providing information and resources that would help guide first-generation students and students with disabilities through college was rewarding and encouraged me to be the best mentor I could be for my students.”

To read stories about other members of the Class of 2021, visit ripon.edu/class-of-2021.

Posted March 30, 2021 in Class of 2021, Student.

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