Maddie White is a freshman from Muskogee who’s a member of the Northeastern State University pom squad. Coming from Muskogee she thought Tahlequah would be a good fit as far as a smaller community to attend school.

“I really thought NSU would be a good place because it’s on the smaller end and I like smaller communities where it seems to be easier to build and make connections with people. I was on the dance team my freshman and sophomore years in high school and then decided to join the broadcast team my last two years. I thought about doing that here at NSU, but I thought pom would be so much more fun.”

Having been out of organized dance for a couple of years didn’t deter Maddie from trying out for the RiverHawks pom squad. In fact, it might have helped because of her high school years.

“I had a couple of connections already with the team and the coach was my coach at Rhythm Innovations Dance Company in high school. She kept saying ‘Maddie you need to try out for the team. It’ll be so much fun’. And so I did and here I am.”

Although being on the dance team in high school was a fun experience, Maddie says there’s no comparison to game day at Doc Wadley Stadium.

“It was so much fun being in that college game day experience because there’s so much big and loud energy compared to high school,” said Maddie.

And what about the classroom environment and the chance to open doors to the future? Maddie says NSU is the pathway to tomorrow’s dreams and appreciates the support of her instructors.

“I want to give kudos to my public speaking instructor Katie Thomas. She’s one of the best instructors I’ve had. She helps me push through my nervousness whenever I have to give a speech and she really helps with my confidence.”

Even though she’s just been on campus a few weeks, Maddie White already has high marks for her total college experience at Northeastern State.

“My college experience at NSU so far is a 10 out of 10. The people you surround yourself with make it so much better.”