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Melissa Kenfield

Junior from Alvin, Texas
Sociology and gender studies

Do you live on campus?
Yes! I love being close to my classes and being available for meetings at most times instead of having to consider the time of driving and the cost of gas before saying I can attend an event. Most of all, I love the options for involvement that Residential Life offers. The Residential Housing Association (RHA) rocks!

List some clubs or organizations you are involved in at UT Dallas.
Service Learning, Alternative Spring Break, Residential Senate, Residential Housing Association, Sociology Club and FOCUS.

List some of the clubs or organizations you are involved in outside of school.
Occasionally I go to various knitting groups that are held off campus. Meetings and events during the evenings have prevented me from hanging out with my “yarnie” friends as much as I'd like, but occasionally I do still make the time to hop onto a bus and hear how the other knitters have been lately.

List some of your hobbies.
I'm beginning to suspect that my on-campus activities are actually my hobbies! I wouldn't be involved in half of the things I am if I didn’t love them. When I’m not doing things for student organizations, I like hanging out in the Student Union at odd hours, knitting in class and riding buses to see where they go. I’m fairly inept at most athletic activities but that doesn’t really stop me from trying.

List something unique about yourself.
I am fearless about most things except dancing. I am curious and ask a lot of questions that don’t entirely concern me, just so I can answer them if anybody else asks me. I have 22 letters in my name, which is not unique; but my middle name is unique. Ask me for the story.

Why did you decide to become a First-Year Leader?
I love freshmen and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get to know a group of freshmen better. I also love the opportunity to get to work closely with another member of the staff or faculty.

What advice do you have for the freshman class coming into UT Dallas?
Get involved! Don’t stay in your apartment all day — find activities and get involved. Attend events. If you think you can improve anything, find the organizers and ask how you can help — don’t just say the event was lame and leave. Then once you get used to that, learn to enjoy events that others put on and not have to be a star at everything. Go to random things you see listed on the Comet Calendar. Talk to the people sitting around you in class and see if they’re doing anything fun, and invite them to the events you’re going to. And don’t skip class. It’s just a bad idea.

What do you wish you did during your freshman year that you didn’t?
I did a lot of things during my freshman year. There’s a few things I did that sometimes I wish I didn’t, but not much that I didn’t do that I wish I did. Except maybe I should have paid attention in government in my second semester. Remind me what the president does?

What do you like about UT Dallas?
The people, the programs, the academics, the environment, the location and the buildings. I love that I can walk through almost a dozen buildings without ever stepping outside. And did I mention the people?

Why did you decide to attend UT Dallas?
Between the interdisciplinary degrees and the fast-track programs, the academic programs impressed me. I also love how young the University is and how we’re growing toward becoming a more traditional university. If they try, students can find themselves making major differences in how various parts of the school develop.

What has been your favorite or best UT Dallas experience so far?
I adore UT Dallas, but the best experiences seem to be when I go on trips with other students. Maybe it’s just because they’re more memorable, a break away from normal life, all kinds of amazing things condensed into a few days. From Alternative Spring Break to Residential Housing Authority conferences to the FOCUS retreats to a trip to Big Bend National Park with a professor and a few classmates — those are the best times.

What did you learn about college life that you didn’t know before?
I didn’t know anything about college life before getting here, and my concept of college life seems to change every day. Is it about people, networking, preparing for careers, making friends, academics, getting a job and not having debt by graduation, having as much fun as possible, sleeping as much as possible? Somehow it seems to be all of them in varying amounts.

What do you like to do to unwind after class?
Usually, I either study directly after class because everything is still on my brain, or take a nap. But most of the time I try to study.