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- 1. September 18, 2015 Page 6 PHOTOS/Max Mohr Three years ago, Rory Tucker packed her bags, said goodbye to her mother and brother, and left Vermillion, South Dakota. Today, she sits across the table at Parkville Coffee, sipping from a white porcelain mug and radiating joy for life. Tucker had no plans to be sitting where she is, in a coffee shop on the outskirts of Kansas City, at least no original plans. She was going to stay home and attend a college nearby. Her decision to leave Vermillion, a city of 10,000 people, and settle in a city 47 times its size came halfway through her senior year of high school, in a moment of realization that she needed to get away. “I knew I never really wanted to stay home,” she said. “I always planned on leaving as soon as I could. Vermillion was never for me. I knew I liked the big city.” Tucker discovered Park University the day after she decided to leave her hometown. Doing an online search for schools in Kansas City, she found Park and applied. Later, her visit to campus solidified her decision. “I came down here for a visit and everyone was so nice and so accommodating,” she said. “I was sold in a matter of days.” A gymnast for 13 years, Tucker came to Park University on a cheerleading scholarship and was a part of Park’s cheerleading team for two years before the program ended. Since then Tucker has remained highly involved in the university. Her freshman year, she was part of the Student Athlete Board, a program that has also since ended. Currently, she is a Resident Assistant for Chesnut and works at the coffee shop in Thompson. A psychology major, Tucker says the subject has been the only thing that has ever held her attention. She knew she wanted to study psychology since her freshman year of high school. It was jut a matter of finding a college. “People are the only thing that has ever really interested me,” she said. “There was never a moment where I realized I liked psychology, it was just always what I liked. I wanted to study people.” Tucker says she doesn’t have specific long-term goals for herself; she prefers to live in the moment and base her life on decision that present themselves to her. Tucker says she keeps her focus on what she is doing today. “I have short-term goals, like, today, I will do one act of kindness for someone, whether that’sbuyingahomeless man a meal, holding the door for someone,” she says. “I want to know that I made a mark on someone’s life today. We don’t always think about those people that affect our lives in small ways,wethinkaboutthe bigger people, but the people who play smaller roles for even a day are just as important. It’s important to perceive and be aware of all aspects of our lives.” Tucker says her perspective stems from her interest in Buddhism, and the idea of being a genuinely good person for no personal gain. “I study Buddhism because it’s a really cool thing,” she said. “It’s about being a good person for no other reason than to just be a good person. In psychology, I really like this guy named Maslow. He did a lot of self-realization and so it’s really easy for me to see the connection between Buddhism and psychology. I just really like being a good person and I don’t think you should ever harm people.” Despite living in the moment, she does have a dream of utilizing her psychology degree and doing research for advertising companies on target audiences. “They are a little bit more fast-paced than if I were to stay in a purely academic field,” she said. “I want to focus on the strategy in advertising. There’s currently a study where advertising companies study millennials and try to find out everything about them, what they want to spend their money on, and how much they are willing to spend. That’s what I want to do.” Outside of school, Tucker says she loves doing puzzles, making hummus and riding her long board around campus. Her freshman year, she was dubbed ‘Long board Rory’ by her classmates. “In high school, my two best friends and I decided to buy long boards, and I have had it for three or four years now,” she said. “I’m still really bad at it. You would think that after this much time I wouldn’t be, but I’ve never quite gotten the hang of going fast on it. So, I look really cool around campus because I’m the only person doing it, but if you threw me in with a bunch of people who know what they’re doing, I would be a mile behind them. It’s perception.” Tucker says Park, combined with living away from home, has taught her invaluable life lessons = she is forever grateful for. “Moving away from my family for the first time in 18 years was way more difficult than I expected,” she says. “There are a ton of cultural differences and that made me feel so outside my element. The amount of diversity on campus was shocking and it was something I had never experienced before. That woke me up in so many ways. And having to communicate with all of the international students was cool. I’ve learned how to communicate with so many different people, which is so helpful.” Overall, Tucker says she is proud to be a part of the Park family and will always give back. “Anytime the university needs or asks anything of me, I always say ‘Yes’ because they have done so much for me,” she says. Elizabeth Orosco FEATURES EDITOR Chances are you’ve seen Rory Tucker somewehre around campus.Walking to and from class, working in the cofffee shop or even riding on her long board,Tucker doesn’t seem to stop.To the left, she’s walking with the other Park students in the Parkville Days parade sporting the Brazilian flag, cheering to the crowd about Park University. Student lives campus life to the fullest