Savannah Szalanski is currently in 13 organizations on campus that all require a certain degree of time and involvement.
Szalanski is a junior from Watertown, Wis. who attended Watertown High School. She committed to Lakeland in October 2021 when she was recruited to play golf, and she felt that the campus was like home when she visited. She is majoring in biology with minors in chemistry and Spanish.
Szalanski is involved in 13 organizations on campus including Rotaract, Phi Delta Omega Sorority, Pawsitism and Student Government Association. She holds positions in each of these organizations. In Rotaract, she is the secretary and goes above and beyond in helping with service projects. In Pawsitism, Szalanski is a co-raiser of the dog Dax. This means that every other week she brings Dax to class, meetings and around campus to give him experience doing his job while being around people. Lastly, Szalanski is president of Student Government. She runs all meetings, meets with President Borgen monthly and consistently meets with administration to continue growth on campus. As Student Government president, she mainly focuses on what will increase student happiness and success on campus.
Szalanski is very involved in Phi Delta Omega. PDO is her favorite on campus organization. In PDO, she holds the titles of assistant pledge educator, co-sexual assault awareness week chair, co-sergeant at arms and co-five-star chair. These positions are crucial in PDO to ensure the success of the organization to keep it running. She also acts as a liaison between PDO and Residence Life, administration and President Borgen.
In addition to being involved in so many campus activities, Szalanski is also a Senior Resident Assistant. This means that she runs activities for her residents and is on call for lock outs. When asked about the most challenging part of being an RA, Szalanski replied that it is time management with all her other organization commitments. Additionally, she finds delegating tasks to other RAs and asking for help from them to be challenging. The most rewarding part for Szalanski, however, is creating connections with students. She enjoys being someone students turn to in a time of need or simply to talk. She finds it important to allow students to see a friendly face around campus, feel as comfortable as possible and feel at home and welcomed.
Szalanski says the rewarding thing of being so involved on campus is connecting with people she otherwise would have no relationship with. To juggle time management, she uses to-do lists, planners and her Outlook Calendar. When asked about her inspiration, Szalanski responded that her mom is who inspires her the most. Szalanski has always seen her mom as a hard worker, and when she commits to something, she is all in on the commitment. This inspires Szalanski to commit to things the same way. Her motivation to do so much on campus is giving back to a campus and community that has given so much to her. She would also like to thank her boss, Cal Evoniuk. Szalanski says that Evoniuk is very understanding, but he also pushes Szalanski to be her best self.
Szalanski’s advice to someone who wants to be as involved on campus as her is to not be afraid to go to things alone. She says, “Putting yourself out there is helpful to gain more friends. Feeling like you can’t go to something because you have no one to go with shouldn’t stop you. Reach out to people in clubs you are interested in joining because most people will welcome you with open arms.”
Her advice for younger and incoming Muskies is to not be afraid to talk to people and put yourself out there. She says, “go to the Fall Involvement Fair and Spring Involvement Fair. It’s not embarrassing to want to be involved in things.”
Szalanski’s future plans include interning at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Min., and after college she plans to work in medical lab science.
