Rachel Shipley from Rowlett, Texas said she had a few options when deciding which college she would attend. Wanting to study theatre, Shipley was able to perform her caracal in front of over 200 college representatives around the country; one of those was Midwestern State.

“When you are a theatre major, one of the biggest ways to select a program is going to a cattle call audition. I went to the North Texas Drama auditions, at Collin College. We had ninety seconds to perform; I sang a song and performed a monologue. After waiting for a few hours, I was called back by around fifteen to twenty colleges. I was able to speak to each one and I ended up coming to a second round of auditions here at Midwestern State and they offered me a scholarship that gave me the most financial coverage in comparison to the other colleges that had offered me scholarships. I also really enjoyed the English department,” Shipley said.

Shipley says that ultimately, deciding to come to Midwestern was a smart decision. Now a senior, Shipley is heavily involved in three campus organizations.

“I am the type of person who really likes being busy. I like to have things to do, as I find when I don’t have something to go and do or check a box on a to do list, I get sad. I’ve just had so many great opportunities here at MSU that were too good to pass up. I felt like certain opportunities were too beneficial to both me now and me in the future, and the skills that I would develop alongside those opportunities,” Shipley said.

Shipley is the Woman’s Stand Council Coordinator for MOSAIC, president of Sigma Tau Delta, and an officer for Alpha Psi Omega. To top it off, she also works at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art.

“I became the council coordinator in December of 2019. One day I saw there was a job opening and I applied. I ended up getting the position, and I really love working there and the mission of MOSAIC. I think I get a unique opportunity being the Woman’s coordinator because the other student councils are really focused and targeted toward a specific race and or ethnic group whereas I get the challenge of blending all those things together based on being a woman,” Shipley said.

Shipley has been a member of Alpha Psi Omega all four years of her college experience and is glad to say that Sigma Tau Delta has newly been reinstated as a student organization on campus this past semester. Shipley says that, due to lack of funding, the fraternity had gone under.

“I think there are some large differences but also similarities between these fraternities centered around fields of studies versus regular sororities and fraternities. For Alpha Psi Omega, we still do big and littles, but we do have a mix of genders and are very focused on lifting up the artists within our organization. You don’t have to be a theatre major to join, you can just be interested in theatre. We put on performances like charity shows…my freshman year we did “The Vagina Monologues” and last year we did “Love Blossom what I Wore” and we donate the proceeds from those to a women’s shelter. It also just provides a community for people that doesn’t cost as much money as typical sororities and fraternities. What I love about Sigma Tau Delta is we help support people through their academics in English. We work on supporting their work and making sure their work gets published and that they attend conferences and building a community within the English department. That’s what I love and really what it comes down to being a part of both organizations, I am able to build a community with people that have related and or similar goals like me,” Shipley said.

Outside of the MSU community, Shipley was given the opportunity to participate in an internship program the English department had offered at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art. Though her internship was only to fulfill 60 hours, Shipley was offered a part-time job once it ended.

“I got paired with the director of the museum, Tracy Robertson, and I was able to work alongside her and do the upper-level management tasks that I am wanting to do as my career, I loved every moment of my internship. She offered me a paid position and so I work there now and will continue working there until I graduate and move to go on to grad school,” Shipley said.

Working at the museum has been the most challenging and fulfilling thing in all of Shipley’s years at college. Shipley says the ability to walk in every day, not knowing what to expect, with constant puzzles waiting to be solved, is what has allowed her to use the education she received from MSU and merge it with real life experiences.

“It has just really solidified that I am heading down the right path going to graduate school for arts administration…I just love it. Having the opportunity to connect artists, audiences and arts organizations, while being mentored by someone that has been in the profession for years, it is just so fun. I am so blessed to have worked with Tracy and to continue working with Tracy, by the end of my time here in Wichita Falls, I will have been working at WFMA for a full year,” Shipley said.

Shipley has narrowed down her graduate school options to two but plans on staying in Texas. Shipley said she would love to work at a museum or theatre in Dallas area. If she had to choose one ultimate theatre, she would choose Theatre Three.

“I’m trying to keep my options open. I won’t know exactly where I am going until March, but overall after graduate school I see myself long-term at least, staying in Texas. Leaving MSU is very bittersweet. I know that it’s time for me to go and I feel myself wanting to move on with my future and career but MSU definitely holds a place in my heart and has really shaped me into becoming my truest self,” Shipley said.

Shipley says her one of her favorite moments of being at MSU has been her involvement with MOSAIC. She says that seeing MOSAIC grow firsthand is an opportunity she was glad to be a part of.

“I would say my favorite moment I’ve had at Midwestern that I wouldn’t have been able to experience if I wasn’t involved is seeing firsthand the growth and transformation of MOSAIC. Although I didn’t get in at the very beginning, I still got in on the front end. Seeing it evolve and having more people learn and find out about it and making them want to join has been amazing. I also love everyone who works there, all the students that are a part of MOSAIC are so interesting and doing so much for our campus. I am really glad I’ve had the opportunity to work there and be a part of such great people and that also includes the faculty and staff and not just the other students,” Shipley said.

Shipley says that she is in love with the fact that she will be able to take what she has learned at Midwestern and apply her career field. Consequently, MSU will always be a part of her.

“This will always remain a part of what I am doing, even if it is not here. However, if I had to say one thing I would like to accomplish before leaving here, it would be with Alpha Psi Omega. My biggest goal for the organization will be to just have more people learn about it and join. We weren’t a nationally recognized chapter until this past semester and so it’s exciting to see us be solidified nationally and on campus. With Sigma Tau Delta, I am just wanting to help it get re-established again since there were those few years that it had went under, it would make me feel really good if at the end of the year I know there are people that are going to take that torch and continue to pour into the organization.”