Madison Malone, an elementary education sophomore from Valley Center, Kan., chose to attend Northwestern because she wanted to go to school out of state and be in an environment where students were connected not only with the campus, but also with the community. Although Malone took 12 hours at Wichita State University while still in high school, she describes Northwestern as her first choice.

“Northwestern is a much smaller university than any that I attended as a student, or any that I worked at prior to joining the NWOSU faculty,” he said. “On the surface, that may appear to be a disadvantage, but I believe it is one of our greatest strengths. Our intimate atmosphere allows each student an extremely high degree of personalized instruction that is simply not available at a larger institution.”

Dr. Carole A. McKenzie decided to become a nurse in the fourth grade because, as she told her mother, “I want to help people.” In the seventh grade, McKenzie said she told her she wanted to care for mothers and babies. “I never wavered in my desire both to be a nurse, and I became a nurse midwife and always worked clinically to care for mothers and babies,” McKenzie said. “After I got my master’s degree, I decided to also teach and have always loved it.