Take a moment to get to know senior Shelby Harris, student-athlete and a mentor to students at Reed Academy.

1. Tell us about yourself.  I am from Nixa, Missouri which makes me a native of the Springfield area. I have always associated with MSU growing up so I was happy to be recruited as a student-athlete at MSU for my college experience. I am double majoring in Cell and Molecular Biology as well as Chemistry. I have applied to medical school and am currently in the interviewing process this semester as I aspire to be a Medical School student next fall to fulfill my career goal of becoming a physician. 
2. What is the Buddy Bears Program?  How long have you been a part of this program? How does the program work?  The Buddy Bears Program is a program that pairs collegiate student-athletes with middle school students at Reed Academy to provide mentoring to the middle school students. The college athletes visit their paired “Buddy” weekly for about an hour to simply spend time with the student. The middle school students that are given Buddies come from troubled homes, have learning disabilities, physical disabilities, school disciplinary issues, need help with a school subject, or any other circumstance that would benefit from having a mentor. The athletes serve as tutors to help the student with school work that they may be having difficulty with, but mainly to simply spend time with the student to provide the student with a positive role model. I encourage the athletes to provoke conversations of future career plans and talk about doing the right things in all aspects of life. I have been with the program since the start of the program in August of 2014. The program started with only the football team serving as mentors, but I helped integrate this program into the existing student-athlete organization SAFE (Student-Athletes For Excellence). This allowed the entire athletic department to participate and this more than tripled our number of student-athletes that serve as mentors.

3. What have you learned from the Buddy Bears Program? As a buddy to the students, what do you hope they learn from you? What do you want your legacy to be in this program? The program is a two-way street as the students have a positive role model, but it is a very rewarding experience to the college athletes as well.  I hope that the students see the importance of working hard in school and getting good grades as this is necessary to pursue dream jobs that likely require college, and even if they don’t have a job in mind I hope that these students learn the importance of attending college and how important college is to opening career opportunities so that they can have a better life. Not everyone will be a collegiate athlete, but I hope the students see that we took every opportunity we could to earn scholarships to be able to go to college. Whether its sports, band, debate, choir, or art, there are various scholarship opportunities that students should could use their hobbies and strengths to help pay for their college education. I want the legacy of this program to simply be that Buddy Bears are making a positive impact in our community. Making a positive impact on the people around us is all we could ever hope for. This program has already shown success in the first few years as the middle school students with buddies have had higher grades, less disciplinary issues, reports of better behavior at home, and we hope that their improved lifestyle continues and gives them an edge into their higher education and into their careers.

4. You played for the Missouri Bears football team. What life lessons did you learn from participating in sports? Football, and other collegiate sports, teach the importance of teamwork, commitment, leadership, and selflessness. Playing a collegiate sport is not only a physical challenge, but a challenge of one’s determination to finish what one has started as well as committing to the greater good of the group. One learns how to be a leader on and off the field to help other players be the best that they can be. College football was the most difficult experience I have ever been through, but it is something that will stick with me forever.
5. What are you involved in on campus? I am currently the volunteer chair on the Executive Board for Pre-Medical society, the Buddy Bear Committee Chair for the SAFE (Student Athletes For Excellence) organization, current treasurer (and past president) of Gamma Pi Alpha (which is the honors fraternity for Presidential Scholars), as well as active members of Cell and Molecular Biology Society, Phi Kappa Phi Honors fraternity, and a member of the Honors College. I also work as an Undergraduate Researcher for Jordan Valley Innovation Center which is associated with MSU as it is headed by Dr. Paul Durham who is an MSU Biology Professor.
6. What’s the most recent book you read other than a school book? Would you recommend it, why or why not? The most recent book I have read is Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. This is a book that gives a peek at the lives of physicians in years past and is a great book for any pre-medical student as it gives exposure to medical situations and the lives of physicians.
7. As a senior what advice would you give to families of our undergraduate students? As a senior, my advice to families of college students is simply to keep encouraging them to be the best that they can be. Even as a student narrows his career interests and begins to decide on his field, they still need encouragement to participate in career-oriented organizations, like pre-medical society for example, that will provide them with opportunities to better their resume and better prepare them for their career. In addition to career-centered organizations, there are honor societies, FSL, hall councils, and many other various organizations that are greatly beneficial to be involved with. Families should be supportive of their student, but it will be the student who has to make their own Missouri Statement. The family cannot make that statement for them, so it is the family’s job to support the student with enough distance to let them do their own thing yet close enough to provide support for them.