Rory Tucker left her small hometown of Vermillion, South Dakota to attend Park University in Kansas City. She was drawn to Park after visiting campus and finding the people very nice. As a psychology major, Tucker is highly involved on campus as a resident assistant and coffee shop worker. While she lives in the present and does not have specific long-term goals, Tucker hopes to utilize her degree doing market research for advertising companies. She credits her experience at Park and living away from home with teaching her important life lessons.

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