Chloe's formula for success

Chloe's formula for success

What is it like to be a student at Northwest today? Look no further than Chloe DeVries, a recent graduate who took advantage of all it offers and has the skills, confidence and memories to prove it.

Days before she graduated from Northwest last May, Chloe DeVries looked around a laboratory in the Dean L. Hubbard Center for Innovation with a mix of emotions. Sadness that a transformational chapter of her life was ending and she was leaving the people and places that had become so much a part of her routines. And happiness as she thought about all she had accomplished and the confidence she gained in herself, eager to take her knowledge and skills to a new challenge.

"I came in as this small-town girl who didn't really know where she fi t in, didn't really know what she wanted to do, didn't know anybody," she said. "I'm most proud of the self-confidence that I've gained, the leadership abilities that I've grown into and how I've grown well-rounded as a person."

When the spring semester ended, DeVries completed a bachelor's degree in chemistry with a biochemistry emphasis and earned summa cum laude honors. She also graduated as the reigning Homecoming queen and the outgoing Student Senate president.

Choosing Northwest

DeVries comes from Red Oak, Iowa, a town of about 5,500 people just more than an hour's drive north of Maryville across the state border. In high school, she was a four-sport athlete, competing in cross country and volleyball during the fall, basketball in the winter and track in the spring. Plus, she managed baseball during summers.

Organizations, including the student council and National Honor Society, were part of her high school involvement, too. She worked as a bank teller and thrived on her busy schedule as she explored different interests.

"I don't like being known as the girl who does one thing," she said. "I love all of my involvement because I get to see and interact with many different amazing people."

As she thought about attending college, DeVries visited schools of all sizes in the Midwest. Northwest rose to contention since her father, Ron, was a Bearcat track athlete and graduated from Northwest in 1997.

"He is one of the big reasons why I scheduled a tour to Northwest," DeVries said. "It hadn't really been something on my radar."

A driving tour and then a follow-up visit sealed the deal. She felt at home on the campus.

"I knew with my interests and the things that I wanted to try, there were tons of opportunities for me, but I wasn't going to be lost and overwhelmed," DeVries said. "I felt very connected, and the campus had a really good support system for students in academics, extracurriculars and on-campus jobs."

The affordability piece

DeVries's parents - her father is a farmer and her mother is the chief sales officer for a national home health care company - instilled in her an academics-first mindset, which paid off as she applied for scholarships.

At Northwest, 96 percent of freshmen receive some financial assistance, while the average undergraduate award totals $5,719. DeVries qualified for the Bearcat Advantage, which offers in-state tuition rates to out-of-state students and saves them more than $8,000. Northwest's textbook and laptop rental program is a differentiator also and saves students an estimated $6,900 throughout their four years at the University.

Also, through an application and interview process, DeVries received Northwest's President's Scholarship, a prestigious, renewable financial award for first-year students who exemplify outstanding academic effort.

"Scholarships played a big role in my ability to come to Northwest more affordably, and that was a big factor for me, as it is for the majority of students," DeVries said.

That financial support - which also included a few local scholarships and eventually a scholarship she received as Student Senate president - set her up well to graduate from Northwest with no tuition debt.

"I needed to go to a school that I could see myself thriving and feel comfortable, of course; that is an essential part of every college decision," DeVries said. "But for me, affordability was a huge, huge thing. Once I decided I didn't want to play a sport in college, I looked at my three options, and Northwest, by far, offered me the most scholarships and gave me the most affordable package."

Profession-based learning

When DeVries arrived as a first-year student at Northwest, she was nervous - mostly about the academic rigor of college coursework. She leaned into the University's pre-professional programs, thinking a medical school or pharmacy might be in her future. DeVries succeeded by proactively attending supplemental instruction sessions, meeting with a tutor and spending ample time on the second floor of the B.D. Owens Library, a popular study space for students. She was named to the honor roll at the end of all of her semesters at Northwest.

"My very first semester, I was using a spectrophotometer that's thousands and thousands of dollars and all this really cool equipment that at other schools you would just get to watch, or you would just get to hear about," DeVries said. "But at Northwest, you're in it, and you're doing it right away, and I feel like the faculty and the staff all across campus - but especially in the natural sciences department - really sat down with me and said, 'This is what you want to do, and we're going to support you.'"

Inside the Hubbard Center, she learned gel electrophoresis and titration techniques. She analyzed how cells respond to altered plasmids. Last spring, for her molecular lab course, she used a blood sample from a cow on her dad's farm to successfully clone a gene.

"Northwest really emphasizes hands-on learning and 'career-ready day one,' and a lot of that happens in this wing for science majors," she said, recalling a half-dozen lab courses she had in the Hubbard Center to supplement traditional classroom lectures.

"When you can come into a lab and do an experiment that shows you how X, Y and Z work together or how X influences Y, which gets you Z, it really helps you learn the material and learn how it can be applied," DeVries said.

Student involvement

All the while, DeVries knew she had to make some friends. For many new Northwest students, the Student Organization Fair at the beginning of each semester is a good place to start.

"I remember going to the org fair for University Seminar and writing my name down for several different things," DeVries recalled. "I was like, 'I don't know if I'd actually join this, but it sounds cool.'"

First, DeVries signed up for sorority recruitment. Though her mother was active in a sorority at a Nebraska college, Chloe went in unsure, curious to see if she was a fit without feeling pressure to join if it didn't suit her. When the recruitment process concluded, she joined Phi Mu.

Then, toward the end of her first semester, DeVries knew she needed a job to help with her expenses and applied to be a student ambassador, one of some 1,200 student employment opportunities available on the campus. She held the role, giving campus tours to prospective students, for the remainder of her time at Northwest. As years passed and her affinity for the University grew, it proved to be easy work.

Her favorite things to highlight ranged from move-in day, when hordes of upperclassmen stand ready to unload vehicles arriving with new students and their belongings, to the willingness of peer advisors and faculty to help. She also talked up the opportunities for students to find their place in student organizations. She gushes about the traditions - like fireworks over the campus on the night before fall classes begin, the Homecoming parade traveling down Fourth Street and the President's Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Thomas Gaunt House to mark the start of the holiday season.

"For me, the most influential part of my tour wasn't, 'Here's the cost of tuition.' 'Here's a residence hall.' 'Here's the dining hall,'" DeVries said. "It was being able to say, 'Here's the fun experiences that I've had.'

'Here's the growth that I have felt as a person and as a leader.' And 'Here are some of my favorite memories and the stuff I'm gonna miss the most.'

Because that really helps you envision what your life would be like here. I think that's one of the best ways to sell students on a campus."

As her first year at Northwest was ending, DeVries was intrigued by the leadership and growth opportunities Student Senate offered. A class president at her high school, she was elected to be a sophomore representative at Northwest and then a junior class representative. Last year, as a senior at Northwest, she was Student Senate president.

"There's this moment where you're like, 'Holy moly. I'm student body president of the University,'" DeVries said. "I was a part of Dr. Tatum's inauguration planning committee, and I got to walk in the platform party at the graduation ceremonies. And I remember having this moment where I was like, 'Oh, my God, who's letting me do this?'"

DeVries embraced the role and enjoyed making connections with other students with myriad backgrounds, majors and interests while serving as a liaison between them and University leadership. The experience also helped her learn how to better manage her time, handle adversity and conflict, and advocate for others, serving a purpose bigger than herself.

"Senate president has been the best leadership and growth opportunity for me," DeVries said. "It's really helped me expand my leadership skills, my communication skills and made me overall a more well-rounded human."

An aspiring doctor

DeVries knew at an early age she wanted to go to medical school and become a doctor - an interest she attributes to growing up in Red Oak, where she saw local practitioners coaching sports, serving on the school board and volunteering in her community.

"I've always really been inspired by that and wanted to eventually go back and serve a rural community like the one that I grew up in," she said.

During her last year at Northwest, DeVries simultaneously participated in the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Rural Pathway Program, which provides mentorship and resources to students pursuing medical education. DeVries spent time shadowing rural physicians and other health care professionals in addition to gaining a few certifications.

In May, she took the Medical College Admissions Test, or MCAT, and she is anticipating acceptance to a medical school this fall. Until then, she is gaining experience as a patient care representative at Mosaic Medical Center in Maryville, a role she acquired through connections she cultivated at Northwest and in the community.

"I am leaving Northwest with endless memories, knowledge and connections that I know have prepared me to succeed in my next chapter," she said.

Chloe's advice to Northwest students

"Everybody says, 'Get involved, get involved.' 'You gotta do something,' which is so true. I'll always tell students: Pick a hobby. Pick an interest. Pick something with your major. It doesn't matter what, but pick something because it really helps you get acclimated when you get to campus."

"I tell a lot of people who are nervous about move-in that everybody feels the same way that you do. I remember my first day, I was homesick and I was nervous. And for some reason, I had this thought that I was the only person who felt that way. I like to tell people everything that you're feeling is completely normal and every single person is feeling the same way, whether they will admit it to you or not."

"Be the friend that you want to have. Every person just wants somebody to talk to them, so go talk to somebody else. Everybody wants somebody to go eat in the dining hall with, so ask somebody to go eat in the dining hall or go to the org fair."

"College is one of the very few times in your life when you get a completely clean slate. You're in a brand-new place. Nobody knows anything about you besides what you tell them. Nobody expects anything from you except what you give people. It is your time to reinvent yourself. If you love all the things you've always been doing, that's great. If you want to completely redefine yourself and try new things, this is your time to do that."