Zach
Computer Science · Lenexa, Kansas
"The second win felt different than the first,” says Zach, part of the back-to-back national championship-winning debate team with UNL Speech & Debate — and the first national championship debate team in UNL’s history.
“The first time was the first-ever championship UNL had won, so we were really the underdogs with something to prove. The second year, we came back with a chip on our shoulder — we wanted to prove that last year wasn’t a fluke.”
Though debate is an individual competition, tournaments count the total scores of each school to determine the winning teams. Preparing as a team, explains Zach, is the most essential part of the Husker debaters’ success.
“All of the preparation that our team does together is probably 90% of the work,” he says. “We receive the debate topics months in advance, and from there we have to be prepared to debate in affirmation or negation of the debate topic.”
Topics are usually timely (nuclear arms control being this year’s topic) and give the debate team plenty of real-world knowledge to absorb, analyze and consider when building arguments for competition.
Unsurprisingly, it’s a lot of work.
“It takes a lot of time to research and identify evidence that defends the point of view we’re promoting,” Zach says. “Being a university team, we still have to think about all the traveling and keeping up with our grades — stuff you don’t see when you look at results.”
A student in the Raikes School, Zach credits Raikes faculty, debate associate director Justin Kirk and his teammates for helping make the balance work.
“It’s demanding, but I have such a good network of friends and teachers that I can rely on — we have a really good atmosphere that prioritizes what we need.”
As for the impacts of being back-to-back champions, Zach says he’s proud to help UNL’s debate reputation grow and attract new in-state talent.
“Historically, people learning debate in Nebraska high schools have tried to go elsewhere. Now, we have more first years than we’ve ever had. It’s exciting to watch this program grow.”
Kevin
Associate Professor of Practice · Dayton, Ohio
Dr. Kevin Wesley of the College of Business is not one to shy away from an opportunity to stretch his strengths and grow as a leader and team member. It’s something he talks about in his Business Honors Academy course and an ethos he acquired as a US Navy veteran with 24 years of service.
It’s also what led him to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest freestanding mountain in the world, last summer.
“I just really enjoy adventure. I wanted to go to Africa, I wanted to see the wildlife and the Serengeti and all those things,” says Kevin. “And I do like to push myself.”
It was an adventure a long time in the making for Kevin, who was slowly persuaded by his friend Robert Kay — an avid climber and regular guest speaker in Kevin’s classes — to take up the challenge. Kevin brings Robert to speak to his classes as part of an exercise that examines the 1996 Mount Everest disaster and a subsequent case study from Harvard Business.
The segment culminates in lessons on leadership.
“Robert was slowly pushing me to make a climb like this over the years, and eventually I thought, ’Well, I’m not getting any younger.’”
Kevin trained for months ahead of his 9-day excursion, climbing multiple 14,000-foot mountains in Colorado to adjust his body to the extreme elevations. Then, late in July, Kevin set out with 7 others to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro.
“It was a bit tougher than I’d anticipated,” he admits. “We spent over 3 days between 16,000 and 18,000 ft. just to give your body a chance to acclimate, even though it really doesn’t.”
That adjustment period is necessary when it comes time to ascend to the peak, or “varsity day,” as Kevin calls it.
“You wake up at 3am on summit day and get back to camp at 8pm. So, it’s a no-kidding rough day — it’s definitely earned my respect,” he joked.
When he did finally summit the mountain, Kevin found himself reflecting on the same values he shares in his classes — being a team player.
“It reinforces that in high-stress situations, you really come to rely on your team members. Everything starts and ends with relationships.”
Neo
Licensed Therapy Dog · LIncoln, Nebraska
Neo is a dog with a job. As a licensed therapy animal, Neo helps the students at Student Support Services (SSS) as they navigate college. Twice a week he joins owner Dr. Joyce Lehn as she makes her way to the office. When Joyce begins to tackle her tasks as assistant director at SSS, Neo usually begins his rounds — he'll say his hellos to coworkers and students, and then return to Joyce's office to snuggle up in his designated dog couch. When students are in need of stress relief, Neo is more than happy to help. He sits on their lap and keeps them company, distracts them with games of fetch and provides a sense of comfort and relief with his happy-go-lucky attitude and always-wagging tail. Though Neo hasn't always been a therapy dog, he's always been attuned to people. His first unofficial therapy dog task was as a cheer-giver to Joyce's mother as she went through hospice. Nurses were impressed at how well he was able to recognize Joyce's mother's comfort needs and provide affection — and so was Joyce. Shortly after noticing this talent in Neo, Joyce enrolled him in a training program so he could become officially certified. After months of classes and an internship at a local school, Neo graduated from his therapy dog training. With his certification in paw, Neo helps the students, staff and faculty of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln find a positive outlook on their day.
Read all staff storiesSean
Mechanical Engineering · Lincoln, Nebraska
How, exactly, do you ship a robot to space? As Sean learned first-hand last summer, you do it very, very carefully.
Interning for Nebraska Engineering faculty Shane Farritor’s Virtual Incision lab last summer, Sean suddenly found himself preparing one of Virtual Incision’s surgical robots for its maiden voyage to the International Space Station. Launched into space for its 250-mile journey on Tuesday, the hope is that these robots can one day be used to perform surgery remotely from Earth.
For any of that to be possible, the first test robot needs to arrive at the station intact.
“I mostly worked on the hardware to get it up to the station and perform the experiment where the robot cuts rubber bands in its workspace, simulating surgery,” Sean explains. “I basically helped with the equipment that supports the robot.”
While a “locker” sounds simple enough, the process of ensuring the robot makes the journey safely — and is safe for astronauts to unpack once it gets there — requires a staggering amount of detail.
“We created an early version just for simulating vibrations that the robot will experience during launch,” says Sean. “We also used lots of protective measures, working with NASA to prevent safety hazards like electrical fires or structural failures causing injury.”
Sean, who graduated in December and now works full-time at Virtual Incision, will be anxiously awaiting the results of the robot’s journey.
“It's definitely a little nerve-wracking; it’ll be a week or two later until we know for sure, but I'm really excited.”
And for someone who’s worked on a project soaring so high, Sean stays grounded about the experience.
"It’s a privilege, right?” Sean says. “It’s just an honor, so you have to just keep your head down, try your best and work hard on what needs to get done.”