Whether in the pool, classroom or at work, Shawna Elsey makes waves. Shawna is a senior double majoring in Marketing Research and Logistics and Supply Chain Management, a top MSU student-athlete and a future Procurement Analyst for Koch Industries.
Growing up, Shawna was always strong in math. While she began with a few ideas on what route to take with this skill, Shawna chose MSU after falling in love with the swimming program during a recruiting trip. Also during this visit, Shawna learned about her marketing research options through the College of Business. What caught her interest was the fact that it is a growing field and she would be able to use her statistic and analysis skills as a career.
When Shawna started college she was on track to graduate a year early. Not wanting to cut her swimming career short, Shawna added a second major, Logistics and Supply Chain Management. This too was a growing field and paired well with her first major.
Her favorite part of marketing research is the statistical aspect. “I absolutely love math. Anything I can analyze, I will,” says Shawna. Her favorite part of Supply Chain Management is the importance of building strong relationships, whether it be working with others and on teams or connecting multiple company objectives in order to achieve goals.
Shawna also shows her love of working as a team as a member of the Woman’s Swimming and Diving team where she swims sprint and distance freestyle. Being a college-athlete has taught Shawna valuable lessons in time management, how to prioritize, handle stress and work with a team. It has also changed Shawna’s college experience by providing her with an immediate family who was always there to provide support and encouragement. “Some days it honestly seemed impossible. Those days are when being a student-athlete taught me how to fail. That it is okay to make a mistake, but it isn’t okay to give up. The process of getting to a goal is much more important than the goal itself.”
Last summer Shawna interned at Koch Industries at their subsidiary Flint Hills Resources. Her main tasks consisted of organizing supplies for sites, negotiating commercial terms, accessing alternative vendors for the supply chain and creating databases to analyze if vendors were meeting expectations. At the end of the summer Shawna was offered and accepted a full time job after graduation.
When Shawna does graduate later this month she’ll put both majors to use at Koch. She will be able to use the statistics skills gained from marketing research to help improve and sustain Koch’s supply chain.
As of February, Shawna officially retired from collegiate swimming, although she still hops in the pool for a workout from time to time. For now, she is enjoying the break since she had been swimming and competing since she was four years old. While she may try masters swimming in 10 or so years, Shawna looks forward to trying out new sports, such as the half marathon she recently began training for.
Shawna has achieved what most strive for but few reach. In April, she was one of three recipients of the annual Scholar Athlete of the Year Award for earning a 4.0 GPA during her time at MSU. The Marketing Department is also pleased to recognize her academic accomplishments by awarding her Outstanding Marketing Student for having the highest overall GPA.
Shawna had an amazing Missouri State experience and credits her professors for her job opportunity at Koch. “The swim team, College of Business professors and the school as a whole have supported me and have been a family away from home that helped me achieve my goals.”