Quincy Young, Author at A Bear's Life: Student Stories

Do you see someone struggling in college?

You may be the ticket to their success.

Take it from Daniel Paige, a senior at Missouri State University.

Because of his leadership and guidance, his peers are learning how to make the most of their college experience.

Upon discovering his interest in working with students, he decided to direct his career path toward higher education.

Plot twist: Shifting his path beyond the classroom

Formerly from Greenfield, Missouri, Paige left his small town and saw the chance to save costs on his education and graduate affordably at Missouri State.

Paige, an avid book worm, is currently majoring in literature.

“Ever since I was really young, I’ve always been a really strong reader,” Paige said. “I’ve always been really interested in books and the stories that can come out of that. As a kid, I was just really quiet, so it was just very easy for me to become more immersed in books.”

His favorite classes were taught by Dr. Cathie English, who is now a faculty emeritus in the English department.

“(Dr. English) has really always been a really great example of someone that will reach out to you and just help you get to wherever you need to be. She’s been probably one of the best professors that I’ve had,” Paige said.

Originally, Paige entered Missouri State as an English education major. Through the lens of an aspiring teacher, he found opportunities to build on his desire to work with students.

Serving first-generation students in Bears Lead

While attending Student Orientation, Advisement and Registration (SOAR) as a first-year student, Paige received an email about the Bears Lead program, a student organization designed to encourage, motivate and support first-generation students.

He applied to the program, and after one year of membership, he decided to give back to the program by becoming a Bears Lead Ambassador.

As an Ambassador, Paige serves as a support system to students in the program.

The Bears Lead members that he works with are first-generation students — those who are the first in their family to graduate from college — and students who have Access Program Scholarships.

“The main things that (Ambassadors) help out with are running some of the meetings that Bears Lead has, as well as being able to help engage students and basically encourage them to just start getting out there more.”

Being “the link” as a peer leader

Through his time as a Bears Lead member, Paige found another opportunity to grow and further his mission to support students: becoming a peer leader.

In this role, he reports to Dr. Tracy Glaessgen in the Center for Academic Success and Transition (CAST), who connected Paige to an instructor of the GEP 101: First-Year Foundations course.

“Basically, whenever I’m in the classroom, I’m mostly like a link between the instructor and the students and serve as an example of what a successful student would look like.”

As a peer leader, Paige has enjoyed getting to know underclassmen and help them locate resources and opportunities that match their goals.

“I’ve been working very closely with first-year students especially…and also, with second-year students, trying to help them get used to being at college and trying to understand some of the bigger things that you need to know that are less touched upon whenever you’re starting college,” he said.

Paige notices that sometimes new students get overwhelmed by the various organizations and campus resources during the first week of classes.

“If students are struggling in college, they’re always more than welcome to come up and talk to me,” Paige said. “In addition to that, I try to give tips on different resources on campus, like the Career Center, Magers (Health and Wellness Center), as well as the Foster Rec Center. Just trying to give the students some information about the different locations on campus as well as how to start using them.”

The student becomes the advisor

Because of these experiences, Paige realized that guiding college students could be his calling.

He plans to graduate with his bachelor’s degree in spring 2026 and will begin the fall semester in Missouri State’s student affairs in higher education (SAHE) graduate program.

In preparation for his future studies and career, Paige consulted with Christina Bowles, an academic advisor and success coach.

“Christina Bowles over in the CAST office has been someone that I’ve been able to reach out to and get a lot of information, both about working in higher education as well as the SAHE program because she is an (alumnus) of the program. She doesn’t teach in the program or anything, but she was in it and so she knows what it was like,” Paige said. “It’s been nice to talk to her and hear her experiences as well as just working with her.”

After Paige earns his master’s degree, he plans to follow in Bowles’ footsteps by continuing to serve students as an academic advisor or a success coach.

“Being in the Bears Lead Ambassador role, as well as the peer leader role, I started to realize that I really do enjoy working more one-on-one with students rather than teaching 30 different students each hour or so,” he said. “That was what led me to wanting to work more with students individually, establish relationships, help them determine what they are wanting to do and try to help them reach their goals.”

Major in literature Join Bears Lead Become a peer leader

Photos by Jesse Scheve

A house isn’t a home without the people who live in it.

That’s why we need aspiring realtors like Kamryn Middleton.

After spending the past three years moving through foster homes, Middleton now seeks to give others what she was missing: a chance to put down roots.

“I want to create a business. I want to create a name. I want to help people be able to find their ‘forever homes,’ not in a cliché way. But I know for me, I moved around a lot, and I struggled with making a home somewhere,” she said.

As a freshman at Missouri State, she is set on double majoring in entrepreneurship and finance.

After completing an internship with Springfield real estate companies, Middleton realized how much she enjoyed communicating with her clients.

With business and money often intertwined, she sees a finance major as an asset that will complement her entrepreneurial ambitions.

When Middleton was deciding on colleges, her high school teacher encouraged her to consider applying to Missouri State, which quickly became her first choice of schools due to its affordability and proximity to her hometown of Independence, Missouri.

She was also drawn to the promising opportunities in Springfield, where she could engage with the community.

“I felt like Missouri State was the best option for me,” Middleton said. “They gave me the most financial coverage, and I had a lot of people there to help me — whether that was my success coach, my academic advisor and other people who were there with me to help me through the process.”

Set up for success

Middleton’s transition into college life was made easier with the support of her success coach, Christina Bowles.

“I was very nervous to have a success coach, because I didn’t really want someone who was necessarily a therapist for me. And I didn’t want a tutor,” Middleton said. “I wanted someone that I could just kind of talk to (and) problem solve with who understood where I was coming from.”

Middleton was glad to have someone who could walk her through things like:

Getting started at Missouri State.
Preparing for tests and classwork.
Finding out if she had any learning disabilities.
Staying up to date on student opportunities.
Her personal concerns.

“(Christina) stays very engaged in my life, so I hadn’t met with her for two weeks coming around finals week this past semester, and she still emailed me to ask me how my finals went and about specific classes that she knew I was struggling with,” Middleton said.

Although Middleton is a stellar student in her own right, she gladly accepted study tips from Bowles.

During one of their meetings, Bowles showed Middleton how to use Quizlet, a study website, to prepare for an upcoming final.

“Those were simple ways to help and push you to make you want to do better,” Middleton said. “I definitely want to do better for myself, but it helps having someone you know believes in you and who you can just talk to who’s here, especially when your family is three hours away. It’s very, very needed.”

In addition to classwork, Middleton works with her success coach to establish her future goals and to balance her coursework with her personal time.

Middleton credits Bowles with boosting her confidence to ask professors questions and voice any of her concerns.

“If I’m struggling with something, (Christina) would help me and push me towards communicating and engaging with others better in all different aspects, whether that’s socially or academically.”

A support system for a first-generation student

During her first semester living on campus, Middleton had many opportunities to engage with other students and dive deeper into her academics.

One of her favorite events was Greek Street, a block party where all Missouri State students were welcome to learn about Panhellenic groups. Although Middleton isn’t currently in a sorority, she enjoyed getting to know active members.

Jumping into her degree path, Middleton has already attended many student organizational meetings in the College of Business, including risk management and insurance clubs, as well as Women in Business.

“There’s just a realm of fun things to do here, so I’m never bored,” she said. “I’ve never really had an interest in basketball or football, but here I am attending games and meeting new people and going out with my friends. I’ve always been a very social person, but I felt like even college would be a little bit harder for me. But, Missouri State has definitely made that easier.”

Through Bowles’s influence, Middleton was able to expand her network and get plugged into the first-generation student community.

Bowles would notify her about first-generation club events and opportunities, like study groups, crafting activities and breakfasts.

“I think that having a success coach definitely helped me branch out more and understand that I’m not the only one who is a first-generation student.”

Currently, Middleton expects to graduate in May 2029, but she is looking into paths to graduate sooner.

While a career in real estate is her clear-cut destination, she also hopes to give back to the foster care system in the future.

Aside from potentially minoring in social work, she continues to look for ways she can be a present and helpful neighbor, which she says, are by “being there for the community, whether that’s fostering my own children or going out and helping in the community or just supporting my parents because they foster children.”

Major in entrepreneurship Major in finance Connect with a success coach

Photos by Kevin White

Supporting classmates today, impacting students for years to come