Meet Natalie
Natalie Huertas is a senior in the Industrial Design major here at Stout. After transferring from the Milwaukee School of Art and Design, she started attending some of the early art classes offered here at Stout. Soon, one of the professors approached her saying that she should consider Industrial Design as her major. After their meeting, he put her in the program and the rest was history. At first it was hard for her to connect with people within the major but it didn’t take her long before she felt at home.
“ Coming from a small art school, usually you are just judged by how talented you are versus UW-Stout which is more focused on a specific grading school. But the art school here is really legit because we are partnered up with a few different schools in the cities. It’s been an amazing journey,” states Heurtas.
Along the way, Natalie has made some amazing memories, but one of her favorites happened not too long ago.
“My favorite memory was preparing for my first senior show, and I was so overwhelmed. I had spent a week in my lounge, I’m an RA so I can’t exactly leave the building ever, and my residents came and helped me finish up my project, clean up, and helped me set up my senior show. They all showed up that night at the senior show to help me out, it was so awesome. My program director complimented me on how good my project was, and I honestly don’t know what I would have done without my residents. It is kind of hard to be in ID and be an RA, but I honestly have loved the experience.”
Natalie has been an RA here at Stout for four years now and describes it as an experience that she will never regret.
“I kind of wanted to find my place in school and I saw it as a opportunity for leadership. My RA my first year at stout suggested for me to try to be an RA, so I filled out an application,” gushes Heurtas.
The process of becoming an RA is fairly simple. If you are interested in becoming an RA there are applications that you can fill out, include a cover letter, as well as a statement of purpose and just hope for the best.
“I would say that having a good amount of leadership experience will really help you out if you are truly interested about becoming an RA. You kind of have to have an out going personality too since you will be meeting tons of new people. You have to be a 2nd semester freshman or higher, a certain GPA, and have to have previous leadership experience. Extra curricular are a major plus. “I was a secretary for my high school theater club, passion and desire to learn, and an upbeat attitude. was in multiple plays, and just a bunch of random team building activities really helps you out as well,” she says.
Something to consider about being an RA on campus is that you get a lot of benefits, including some financial benefits. Your room and board is taken care of and you also get a bi-weekly pay check. Some other benefits include gaining leadership experience and problem solving skills.
“If you are afraid or don’t like being an RA you can always step down. Don’t be afraid to try it out, because it can be such an amazing experience to be apart of. Being an RA has been the best experience I have had in college, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
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