Photo by: Clarion Staff
Conor Swanson likes to give and lift.
During his time at the University of Denver, Swanson has put his minor in leadership and his time with the Pioneer Leadership Program to use. This Eagle Scout has served as a resident assistant, a volunteer for countless organizations and projects and the co-founder and president of the DU Weightlifting Club.
“I love working out and lifting weights,” Swanson said. “When all else goes wrong, there’s always the gym to cheer me up.”
Swanson also chaired committees and volunteered to tutor high school freshmen, play golf with inner-city youth, run to raise money for HIV/AIDS Awareness or clean a highway.
“I got to know a lot of the students and faculty on campus, which was a really great feeling. It’s nice to be able to network and feel as though you are part of a community.”
One of his favorite experiences while attending DU was the opportunity to study abroad in Australia.
“The time I was studying and traveling abroad was awesome,” Swanson said. “In addition to my time in Australia, I was able to travel completely around the world.”
Swanson also made the grade with a major in business administration and management a vice president of Mortar Board and a member of Golden Key and Omicron Delta Kappa.
He credits several of his management professors, Gordon Von Stroh, Sylvester Houston and Nancy Sampson, and his DOR supervisor Denise Kupetz and Director of Student Life Carl Johnson with helping him through his time at DU and being positive influences.
Swanson plans to obtain his master’s in business administration with a concentration in business ethics and leadership as part of the 4+1 program at DCB.
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With a soft voice and quiet rapping of her gavel to call the weekly meetings of AUSA Senate, Micaela Morenz’s time as vice-president of AUSA Senate has been the epitome of speaking softly but carrying a big stick.
Morenz has had a busy four years at the University of Denver as vice-president her senior year, fulfilling multiple roles in the sorority Delta Delta Delta, a member of Pioneer Ambassadors, Department of Resident assistant and Southwestern Company student manager.
Despite her many positions on campus, Morenz doesn’t hope that’s what she is most remembered for.
“I hope that 10 years down the road, when I run into old DU friends, I would not be remembered for being vice-president of AUSA Senate or being an RA or even being a Tri-Delta,” she said. “I hope that I would be remembered as a genuine person, a loving and nice person, someone who believed in her peers and brought out the best in others. I would rather be remembered as such, rather than just being a name on a plaque on the wall.”
Morenze said the key to surviving her four years here was to appreciate what has happened to her.
“‘Count it all joy’ is a motto I have lived by,” she said. “I believe that happiness is a feeling that comes from circumstances and short-term satisfaction, while on the other hand, joy is a feeling of internal celebration that can be present even in the midst of undesirable event. I pray every day for God to bless me with joy and strength for the day, and I know that with God ‘all things are possible.'”
After graduation, Morenz plans to go to Africa in the fall for a missions trip and will pursue a career in international health or pharmaceuticals after one more year with the Southwestern company.
