Back Through the Arch with PA Group 1
Five students reflect on their time at Northwestern, discuss future plans
During Wildcat Welcome 2022, Peer Adviser (PA) Group 1 launched their Northwestern careers together. The group from the School of Communication were the first in their year to march through Weber Arch. After they crossed onto campus, Student Affairs interviewed these students about their first impressions of Northwestern and their goals for the years ahead.
And now, almost four years later, the students of PA Group 1 are ready to cap their journey at March Back Through the Arch on June 12. We caught up with five members of this group to learn about their favorite experiences as Wildcats and where they’re headed next.
Here’s what they had to say.
The following interviews have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
What did you study at Northwestern?
Emma Nelsen: I’m a theater major and a Spanish minor.
Kiki Sikora: I’m a theater and political science double major with a minor in creative writing.
Madelyn Cantzler: I did theater, mostly focusing on children’s theater, specifically for children under five years old.
Maggie Munday Odom: I’m a theater major, an English creative writing major, an environmental policy and culture major and a religious studies minor.
Devin Eichel: I’m a theater major and a film and media studies minor.
What’s been a highlight of your time at Northwestern?
Sikora: The people and the communities that I find in every place here at Northwestern. I want to shout out my a cappella group. I have really loved having such a strong community from that.
Cantzler: The first time I realized there’s theater for three year olds and infants. I really love doing theater for infants. I think it’s so amazing, and getting to go to the preschool every day is just so wonderful.
Odom: The amount of writing classes I was able to take. I have taken almost 20 writing classes during my time at Northwestern, from playwriting to poetry to creative nonfiction to screenwriting.The fact that I got to spend every single quarter taking a writing class was something that my younger self would be so in awe of.
Eichel: I’ve really loved everyone I’ve met here, but my favorite fun fact is that I met my best friend on the first Saturday of being at Northwestern, and ever since that day, we’ve had every meal together. We had dinner at 5 p.m. at Allison Dining Hall for our first two years, and now we’ve been roommates for two years. He's my soulmate, and our birthdays are six months apart from each other so we’re twin flames. So the fact that we met so early on and have had four beautiful years together has been a true highlight.
What are your post-grad plans?
Nelsen: I’m signing a lease for an apartment in Logan Square in Chicago with my cousin and another roommate. I’m planning on staying in Chicago for the foreseeable future. I will be editing for a podcaster who I did an internship with last summer as one of my many needed income sources. Other things are planned but not certain. I think I’ll probably work with kids in some capacity, whether it’s nannying or working at a children’s theater or tutoring kids in Spanish. And I’ll also be auditioning for shows and films and acting and doing improv and stand up.
Sikora: I’m working at the University of Chicago in their Office of Undergraduate Admissions to be an admissions counselor. I worked at Northwestern’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions for three years as a student worker, which I really loved. I’m excited to continue that, and I’m living in Wicker Park with two roommates.
Cantzler: I will be nannying for a family who have a baby boy being born in July. I also want to do more theater for the very young. There’s a couple companies around, and I really want to eventually create my own company somewhere that doesn’t have one.
Odom: During my time at Northwestern, I’ve worked at the student-run art gallery in Norris University Center, Dittmar Memorial Gallery. Working there helped me discover a passion for art museum education, so postgrad, I’m excited to pursue a career in the field of museum work, hopefully in Chicago.
Eichel: I’m from Long Island, so I have the privilege of getting to go home and continue to audition in New York City, so that’s my plan. I’m excited to get what the people call a muggle job, and start grinding a little bit, I say in a non-toxic way. I’m excited for what’s meant for me to find me.
What advice would you give your first-year self?
Nelsen: Don’t overdo it. There’s so many things that I’d love to do and try, and it’s hard not to sign up for everything and say yes to everything, but it’s really important to learn how to say no and take care of yourself. If you sign up for everything, you spread yourself so thin that you’re not really showing up for those things in the way that you want to. It's a hard skill to learn—I'm still learning it—but that’s the main thing I would tell myself.
Sikora: Trust that everything is going to work out. Northwestern is an amazing place, and there’s going to be a million opportunities along the way, but the right opportunities are going to find you. You just have to trust that everything you do is what you’re meant to do, and not sweat the small stuff.
Cantzler: It’s okay if your journey looks a little bit different than everybody else’s. My journey was definitely different than most people. I took a medical leave my freshman year and had to speed up a bunch of different things, but it’s really okay if your journey does not look like the typical college experience.
Odom: I recently watched an interview with the gold medal figure skater Alysa Liu where someone asked her what advice she’d give her younger self. She said that she wouldn’t give her younger self any advice—that she knows her younger self will figure it all out. I think that’s how I feel too.
There have absolutely been hard parts of my time at Northwestern. There have been a lot of challenges and also a lot of wonderful memories. I would tell my first-year self that there’s a lots of highs and lows coming, but that everything that comes her way will be part of a journey that will shape her into the person she’s going to become.
Eichel: There’s so much pressure to try everything. Try a lot of things, and don’t be afraid to put yourself on the edge a little bit, but resting is awesome. Taking care of yourself is really, really cool. And just by living at Northwestern and doing what you’re supposed to do, you’ll learn exactly who you’re meant to be.
