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From Idaho Falls, Idaho, to Oskaloosa, Iowa, hometown friends united

William Penn University students senior Nik Rule and junior Janna Carson share the same hometown of Idaho Falls, Idaho, and will serve on the university’s Student Government Association as president and vice president respectively during the 2008 – 2009 academic year. Living 20 hours away from their hometown, the two find comfort in being able to relate to experiences they have in Oskaloosa and Idaho Falls.

      It isn’t often that you can move half-way across the country and run into someone from your hometown. For Nik Rule and Janna Carson, both of Idaho Falls, Idaho, that is exactly what happened. Rule and Carson are both students at William Penn University in Oskaloosa, Iowa, and have been elected by their peers to serve as the president and vice president respectively for Penn’s 2008 – 2009 Student Government Association.
      Rule, the son of Milton and Shonni Rule of Idaho Falls and a graduate of Skyline High School, will be a senior at William Penn during the 2008 – 2009 academic year. His interest in the university was sparked when he received the opportunity to play soccer for William Penn. In addition to soccer and SGA, Rule has participated in golf, was a co-founder of William Penn’s chapter of the national organization College Republicans, belongs to honor societies Alpha Chi and Alpha Lambda Delta, has been the head resident assistant at Eltse Hall on campus and was selected to serve as a member of the President’s Diplomats.
      Rule is appreciative of the opportunities he has had at William Penn to grow academically and as a leader as well. Describing himself as someone who followed politics but never ran for a position before college, this will be his third year on Penn’s SGA. During his sophomore year he served as administrative officer and during his junior year Rule was the vice president of SGA.
      He also said that while education has always been important to him, in college he has found that studying has become enjoyable and he takes pride in his academic achievements.
      “At William Penn you get to know your professors so well that you want to be able to impress them,” Rule said.
      Looking beyond his graduation from William Penn, Rule hopes to attend law school. His dream is to one day hold a national political office in Congress or the Senate. He is also interested in practicing law or corporate law.
      As president-elect of SGA, Rule hopes to see the organization make a great impact in the next school year. He plans to increase the public presence of SGA on the William Penn campus and use the resources and opportunities available to make a difference for every student.
      “We want the campus to know the leaders on SGA and let people know we can get things done,” Rule said. “We want to be able to make a difference in every student’s experience at Penn and I believe we have the team in place to do that.”
      With part of that team including Carson, Rule describes their relationship as awesome. With a population of approximately 10,000 people, Oskaloosa is quite different from Idaho Falls. Rule appreciates having the opportunity to relate with Carson the different lifestyle experiences that each city offers.
       “We have random conversations about Idaho Falls all the time. Janna gets the Post Register so I am always looking over her shoulder reading it,” Rule said. “[Janna and I] had an instant connection and we have a great friendship. Idaho Falls is a tight community and moving 20 hours away from home and being able to find someone from the same city and have that instant friendship is awesome.”
      Carson also describes their relationship as strong, stating that Rule is one of her best friends. She also finds their conversations about Idaho Falls to be comforting during times she feels homesick.
      She describes Rule as preferring to handle business matters, while she enjoys the public relations aspect and the planning involved with SGA and feels their areas of strength compliment each other.
      “We work well together; we match up,” Carson said. “We know what the other one is thinking. It’s cool to go home and see someone from college that you work with a lot too.”
      Carson will be a junior during the 2008 – 2009 academic year and is the daughter of Jim and Cindy Carson of Idaho Falls and a graduate of Bonneville High School. Her older sister, Jodi, is a 2006 graduate of William Penn so Carson was familiar with the campus atmosphere when she was choosing a college. Stating that she liked the idea of attending a small school where she wouldn’t get lost in a crowd, she felt William Penn was the right place for her. While at Penn, Carson has been involved with soccer, SGA, yearbook, Student Ambassadors, taking stats for athletics, has served as the head resident assistant at Lewis Hall and helps plan the annual end-of-the-year celebration for students, which is known as Pennstock.
      While a student at Bonneville High School, Carson served as the student body president and says she enjoys her involvement with politics. She especially enjoys the behind the scenes involvement that includes planning events and deciding policy. Carson served her first term with SGA during her sophomore year as the public relations officer. She hopes that next year’s SGA will be able to continue its close involvement with campus organizations and advance the relationship to the next level. She also hopes to encourage students to provide more feedback during the next school year.
       “I want to help make every student’s experience as fun as mine has been,” Carson said.
       Originally planning to major in education, Carson said she quickly learned that teaching was not the right field for her. She then looked into the communications major Penn offers in which she found a strong interest.
      Carson also appreciates the relationships she’s made with the campus community. She can walk through the local grocery store and run into her professors and start up a conversation with them.
      “I love everything about William Penn – the school, the facilities, the faculty and staff, the small hometown atmosphere. I can’t wait to come back in August,” Carson said.

Written By: admin
Date Posted: 5/9/2008
Number of Views: 309

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