MSU ALUMNA	Associate degree in general studies, 2003 (Missouri State-West Plains), bachelor’s degree in general studies, 2020 (Missouri State)
HOMETOWN	Bolivar, Missouri
CAREER	Peterson got her start at Missouri State as an administrative assistant in 2000. Since then, she has held six different positions during a 23-year career at Missouri State-West Plains.

Tell me about your current role.

I’m the director of development and annual giving for Missouri State-West Plains. We are part of the bigger advancement team in Springfield.

I’ve been in this role for a couple of years. I really love the community of West Plains.

My favorite aspect of the role is being able to interact with the community and connect donors to students to help with what the students are needing right now.

Tell me about your connection to Missouri State-West Plains.

I came to the West Plains campus as an athlete and had such a great experience that I never wanted to leave, and I think that says a lot about our campus and about the Missouri State University system.

This place is so much a part of my identity and who I am. I’m a Grizzly and I bleed Grizzly blue!

I had been a cheerleader for the Grizzlies in the ’90s, so when the opportunity to work for Missouri State-West Plains became available, I jumped on it.

Tell me about your family — any Bears?

My husband and both of my children attended MSU-West Plains. My daughter, son and I all transferred to Missouri State.

My son’s girlfriend just to graduated from MSU-West Plains with her second degree.

All of us, except my son-in-law, have been a Grizzly and/or a Bear.

I also have three grandchildren — a 4-year-old granddaughter, a 2-year-old grandson and a 1-year-old grandson. I hope they’re future Grizzlies and Bears.

How do you spend your free time?

Either at a Grizzly athletics event or a community event. When none of that’s going on, I like to spend time with my family.

We spend every Sunday afternoon together — we’ll go to church and then have lunch, all nine of us.

We also love spending the summers at the lake. We spend a lot of time on our pontoon boat as a family.

Even the little babies love the water. I also like to read and go to the movies.

You used to work as a radio personality before coming to Missouri State. Any fun stories?

I worked as a radio personality in Springfield as well as in Thayer, Missouri, and I really liked the profession.

It was pretty low stress, and I like talking, so that wasn’t an issue for me.

Probably the craziest thing that happened to me in radio was I left the mic on during a song, and I sang to 150,000 listeners, not realizing I’d left the microphone on.

It was embarrassing, but I got some calls saying that they enjoyed it.

What would you share about the Missouri State-West Plains campus?

I think there’s a lot of people who see us as a branch campus rather than an independently accredited two-year institution that grants certificates and associate degrees.

We have students who start with us because we are an open-admission campus, we have students who need some prerequisite courses and additional assistance to be successful in college, and we have students who may have a 34 on the ACT but want to start in a smaller town on a smaller campus.

We are proud to be part of the Missouri State system, but we do have a separate identity as Grizzlies, and we get the best of both worlds.

What do you want Missouri State supporters to know?

They can never fully grasp the impact they’re making on our students, our campuses and our communities.

I’ve seen students who thought college was not something they could afford or achieve, and our friends who have supported our campuses have made that possible.

I would invite everyone to go to commencement because I think it is just extremely special to see the difference you’ve made in students’ lives.