When Cody Sparks graduated from Lamar (Ark.) High School in 2019 as third in her class academically and with superior honors, she had numerous options on where to attend college. Three and a half years later, she knows that her “hometown” University was the right choice for her.

Sparks will graduate from ����vlog���� during the 2022 Fall Semester Commencement ceremony on Dec. 17 with a degree in health science and with Magna Cum Laude honors. Looking back, Sparks said her decision to attend Ozarks was one of the best choices she has ever made.

“I was worried about staying too close to home. College is about getting out and experiencing new things, but I was not sure I would have that staying in the same town I grew up in,” Sparks said. “I originally came to the University to play softball and stay close to my family. My late grandpa was very sick when I decided to come here, and I knew I needed to be close to home. When I toured Ozarks, it felt like I was still right at home. There were professors and students that would come up and talk to me and my parents during my tour and I did not have that at other schools that I visited. Once I broke my foot and my softball career ended, I knew that I still had the same support system from my friends and professors and that never went away.”

Sparks said she has known since the eighth grade that she wanted to be an occupational therapist. She was accepted into her first choice of graduate schools, the OT doctoral program at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and will begin her studies there in early January.

She found out that she had been accepted into Baylor when she received an email while sitting in Dr. Piroska Boros’ kinesiology class.

“I was ecstatic when I found out I had been accepted,” Sparks said. “Baylor was the school that I had been looking into since I started Ozarks due to their hybrid program and allowing placements close to home for fieldwork. Only so many get accepted and I am so thankful I was chosen to be a part of their upcoming cohort. Dr. Boros thankfully let me step out of class so I could call my family and my boyfriend, Truman [Hensley].”

Sparks credited her professors at Ozarks, especially Dr. Isaac Hunter, assistant professor of psychology, for helping her achieve her goal of being accepted into the occupational therapy doctoral program at Baylor.

“I had to write a personal statement based off of my coursework and experiences at Ozarks and my professors made sure that I had the experiences and courses to make that statement impactful,” Sparks said. “Dr. Hunter was my Ozarks Seminar professor and I have had him every year since. His classes allow you to dig deeper within yourself so that you can be the person you want to be by the time you graduate Ozarks. I thank Dr. Hunter for this experience because he truly tries to get to know all his students and he has their education in his best interest.”

Along with a major in health science, Sparks is graduating with minors in education, American studies and psychology.

“I chose to minor in education in case occupational therapy did not work out,” Sparks said. “I know that my passion is to help those around me, and I felt like with those two choices, one of them would work in my favor.  My American studies minor allowed me to see different perspectives from an abundance of time eras with my English and history classes. I also added a third minor in psychology my senior year in case I wanted to eventually go into the mental health field.”

Sparks said her ideal job would be as a director of rehabilitation at a local hospital.

“I shadowed at the hospital for observation hours in the rehabilitation unit and it was very rewarding seeing the look on the patients’ faces whenever they were able to complete a task that they thought they would never be able to do again,” she said. “Some of these tasks are things that sometimes we take for granted, such as being able to put a sock on. Using my doctorate degree, I will be able to efficiently work alongside a team of therapists for the benefit of our patients.”

Sparks said she was blessed to have received the University’s Frontier Scholarship, which along with working outside jobs, helped pay for her education.

“The scholarship allowed me to focus on my studies and not have to burden my parents,” she said. “I have always had a very strong work ethic and worked smaller jobs up until I was hired part-time at Clarksville Connected Utilities and Friendship Community Care. Both jobs worked around my school schedule, which was hard to manage at first. I worked at Clarksville Connected my freshman and sophomore years of college and Friendship Community Care during my junior and senior years. Both jobs blessed me with the ability obtain income and focus on my schooling.”

Sparks, whose mother, Christy (Warren) Sparks, graduated from Ozarks in 1999, called her time at Ozarks “very rewarding.”

“I have met some of my best friends and I have gained several experiences across different areas of studies,” she said. “I have been able to complete internships, be a part of campus activities, and several sporting activities. Now at the end of my time at Ozarks, it has allowed me to make the decision to continue to stay in Clarksville and hopefully open my own practice to better serve the community that I grew up in.”

(Photo By Janae Spencer)

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With colorful macaws flying in formation overhead, the growls of howler monkeys echoing through the jungle and surrounded by walking palms — Tolkienesque trees that get its name from its tall, spiny root system that looks like multiple legs — Cherokee Gott found herself in disbelief as she stood in the rainforest of the Bolivian Amazon.

“I kept thinking over and over, ‘I can’t believe I’m here right now,’” said Gott. “I’m from a small town in Oklahoma and I had never even been on a plane before, much less travelled outside of the United States. This was all so new and exciting to me.”

Gott was one of 15 ����vlog���� students and faculty members who took part in a 15-day study abroad trip to Bolivia and Peru in January. The trip was the capstone of a multidisciplinary Fall 2017 Semester class — Study Abroad: Bolivia and Peru — that examined the culture, language, history and agriculture of the region.

The upper-level class was taught by Dr. William Clary, professor of Spanish, and Dr. Kim Van Scoy, professor of environmental studies and sustainable agriculture. The highlights of the trip were visits to the Madidi National Park in the Bolivian Amazon, the highlands of the Andes Mountains and the World Heritage site of Machu Picchu.

Like Gott, a sophomore environmental studies major from Claremore, Okla., it was the first significant trip abroad for several of the students on the trip.

“When the plane took off from Miami, that is when it really hit me that I was doing what I had always dreamed of doing since I was a kid; I was travelling the world,” Gott said. “The whole trip, from the time we landed in La Paz, Bolivia, to flying over the Andes Mountains, hiking in the Amazon and standing on top of one of the Seven Wonders of the World at Machu Picchu, was an amazing adventure. It was extremely difficult to convey my thoughts in my journal because I could not come up with the words to explain the uniqueness and beauty of the land, people and experiences.”

Clary, who has organized and led numerous study abroad trips to Central and South America, said students learn on multiple levels during a trip like this.

“Certainly exposure to societies and cultures with complex economic challenges gives them needed perspective on how most of the world lives,” Clary said. “Student growth also occurs as they begin to understand that traveling like this is feasible, that one can do these kinds of trips without the guiding hand of a travel agency. Finally, by experiencing Bolivian and Peruvian culture up close in different contexts, students acquire both knowledge and deeper understanding of intercultural differences and historical traditions outside the United States.”

Van Scoy added that a trip abroad is the ideal “cure for racism and prejudice.”

“I think the students who travel to Latin American countries learn first-hand how generous and gracious our neighbors to the south are,” Van Scoy said. “In Bolivia, we were shown tremendous generosity from the second poorest country in the hemisphere. Lessons like that stick with students.”

Bordering Peru, Madidi National Park encompasses an area of 1.9 million hectares of South American rainforests, glaciers and Andean peaks. With more than 1,000 bird species, 12,000 plant species and 2,000 vertebrates, it is considered one of the most biodiverse spots on Earth.

The Ozarks contingent spent four days and three nights staying at an indigenous eco camp deep in the Madidi rainforest—a six-hour boat ride from the nearest city. Local guides led the group on several educational treks through the jungle.

“To experience life in the jungle and to see and learn about all of the different plants and animals was an experience I will never forget,” said Deborah Sebagisha, a sophomore chemistry major from Rwanda. “It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

One of the highlights of Madidi was an opportunity to visit a remote, off-the-grid indigenous village in the Amazon rainforest, the Quechua-Tacana community of San Jose de Uchupiamonas. The group toured the village and was invited to have lunch with a local family.

“I learned that the happiest people in the world are the ones that seem to not have a lot. The perfect example of this would be the members of the indigenous village,” Gott said. “Our guides were amazing and they always seemed to be smiling and joyful. When we visited the village, the people were extremely friendly and welcoming.”

Sebagisha agreed that the visit to San Jose was impactful.

“The people of the village didn’t have a lot, but they wanted to share the little that they had,” she said. “I would describe them as a very humble and charitable community. I learned from that community about sharing and caring with no limits and discrimination.”

A visit to the lost Inca city of Machu Picchu, high in the Andes Mountains, was another high point of the trip.

“Machu Picchu has always been a place that I have wanted to visit since high school and never in a million years did I imagine that I would visit as a college student,” said Rebeca Silva, a junior Spanish major from Rockwall, Texas. “To learn about it in class and then to actually get to see it in person was amazing.”

Silva said the entire trip “broadened my horizon on the way I view life and the world.”

“Every place we traveled to changed me in a different way and opened my eyes,” Silva said. “From experiencing a different way of life and culture, I grew to be more appreciative of the things that I feel are taken for granted in America. Something as simple as a free public restroom, with toilet seats, is something that I now feel grateful to have. This trip was very much a humbling experience for me and I feel blessed with all the lessons, memories and experiences that I have taken and made from it.”

The trip was not without its difficulties. Nauseating altitude sickness, painful insect bites, uncomfortable overnight bus trips, frustrating visa issues at the border and pesky 3 a.m. wakeup calls were a few of the minor inconveniences the group faced. There was even plane mechanical problems that delayed the return home two days.

“This was a very challenging trip and the students were often outside of their comfort zone,” said Van Scoy. “The altitude was challenging and several were impacted. Through it all, they remained in good spirits and were enthusiastic about their opportunities. I don’t think there was a single person who participated on this trip that didn’t grow personally.”

For Hailey Godfrey, a junior health science major from Salem, Ark., her first trip abroad was eye-opening.

“This trip helped me realize all of the steps that are involved in traveling abroad,” she said. “It is not an easy process. The most important lesson I learned was to be patient. Not everything on an abroad trip is going to go perfect.  We had a couple of hang ups, but it helped me understand how to be patient when things were not in our control. Even with the difficulties, it was an incredible experience.”

Most of the students received assistance to pay for the trip through the King Endowment for International Study, a University fund established by the estate of Virginia L. King to help Ozarks students who want to study abroad.

“To see first-hand how gracious people are and to experience the unique sights, sounds and smells of a foreign country is just incredible,” said Kole Smith, a senior biology major from Canehill, Ark. “This trip has given me the confidence and desire to travel abroad more and to see different parts of the world and I’m thankful that the King Endowment gave me this opportunity.”

For Gott, her first trip abroad has motivated her to begin plans to spend a semester during her junior year studying abroad in Chile.

“I knew I needed to experience travelling with a group first before I started thinking about going somewhere on my own,” Gott said. “Whoever says that travel is over-rated needs to open their minds and broaden their horizons. The world is so much bigger than the United States and it is definitely worth seeing. There is so much to learn about and so many amazing people and places to see. I cannot wait for my next adventure.”

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Associate Professor of Spanish Dr. Bill Clary will present a paper at the Latin American Studies Association Congress in late May.

Clary’s paper focuses on Salvadoran writer Roger Lindo’s 2006 novel “El perro en la niebla.”

Clary will also chair a panel discussion at the annual conference for the ninth time. The theme for this year’s panel is, “Rescuing cultural memory in contemporary Central American narrative: the retrospective impulse of the 1970s and 1980s.”

“My involvement as chair has enabled me to invite and have the privilege of paneling with some of the top scholars in the field of Central American cultural and literary studies at the eight congresses my panel has appeared in since 2003,” Clary said. “Other scholars on my panel will present their research on the works on contemporary Central American writers Horacio Castellanos Moya, Gloria Guardia and Erick Aguirre. Our discussant for the panel is Leonel Delgado Aburto, a Nicaraguan scholar who specializes in Central American cultural studies. He will travel to Chicago from the University of Chile in Santiago where he holds a position as professor of Central American literature and cultural studies.”

In addition to the LASA conference, Clary will be presenting at the 12th Congress on Central American History in San Salvador in July. His paper is on a novel by Honduran writer Julio Escoto.

Clary earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from the University of Missouri and has taught at U of O since 2006.

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To be eligible for ASC All-Academic honors, student-athletes must be classified academically as a sophomore, junior, senior or graduate student during the competition season and have been in attendance and completed at least one academic year (two consecutive semesters) at their institution. They must also have a 3.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA) as certified at the conclusion of the academic semester in which the ASC sport championship is held.

The men’s basketball team placed three athletes on the team: Claude Anderson, a junior accounting major from Dallas, Texas; Dylan Ballard, a senior history/education major from Ponder, Texas; and Marcus Bobb, a senior spanish/marketing major from Ponder, Texas.

The women’s basketball team placed five athletes on the team: Jordana Andrews, a sophomore physical education major from Center Ridge, Ark.; Jordan Ferrell, a senior physical education major from West Fork, Ark.; Chelsea Glasscock, a senior mathematics major from Prairie Grove, Ark.; Jessica Milloway, a sophomore physical education major from Lamar, Ark.; and Shawnee Sorensen, a sophomore biology major from Mountainburg, Ark.

The baseball team placed twelve athletes on the team: Brandon Brewer, a sophomore business education major from Greenwood, Ark.; Nick Brill, a senior physical education major from Siloam Springs, Ark.; Ian Bryan, a senior management/administration major from North Little Rock, Ark.; Nathan Cedor, a sophomore management/administration major from Gretna, La.; Tyler Erickson, a junior economics major Cabot, Ark.; Peyton Johnigan, a sophomore mathematics major from Fort Worth, Texas; Taylor Parker, a sophomore undeclared major from Hot Springs, Ark.; Mitchell Powers, a senior physical education major from North Little Rock, Ark.; Sam Shook, a sophomore mathematics major from Katy, Texas; John Singler, a sophomore secondary education major from Muskogee, Okla.; Bo Thomas, a junior environmental studies major from Mountain Home, Ark.; and Adam Waynick, a junior general business major from Fort Smith, Ark.

The softball team placed three athletes on the team: Molly Bowman, a junior early childhood education major from Springdale, Ark.; Amber Rollins, a sophomore biology major from Searcy, Ark.; and Shawnee Sorensen, a sophomore biology major from Mountainburg, Ark.

The men’s tennis team placed seven athletes on the team: Jeff Adams, a junior accounting major from Houston, Texas; Bishop Bass, a sophomore management/administration major from Greenwood, Ark.; Corey Dillard, a sophomore biology major from Hot Springs, Ark.; Bryant Ford, a sophomore marketing major from Kaufman, Texas; Tyler Martin, a junior physical education major from Star City, Ark.; Michael Skimbo, a junior management/administration major from Claremore, Okla.; and Todd Turner, a sophomore biology major from Pearcy, Ark.

The women’s tennis team placed four athletes on the team: Stephanie Cloud, a senior accounting major from Grapevine, Texas; Chelsea Glasscock, a senior mathematics major from Prairie Grove, Ark.; Whitney Lewis, a junior management/administration major from Hartman, Ark.; and Megan Wallace, a sophomore mathematics major from Malvern, Ark.

Emily Black, a sophomore marketing major from Clarksville, Ark., and Cory Snyder, a junior radio/television major from Clarksville, Tenn., were named Academic All-Conference as student sports information directors.

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