ONWARD SENIORS: The authentic legacy of Sara Van Wickler

MINOT, N.D. – Sara Van Wickler’s road to graduation at Minot State University has been defined by a simple realization: college is the place where you find out who you really are.

As she prepares to walk across the stage, the senior psychology major looks back on a career built on record-breaking athletics, ground-breaking research, and a constant drive to be 100% authentically herself.

Growing up with a passion for understanding people, Van Wickler knew early on that psychology would be her path. While she spent much of her time on the softball field, her time at Minot State reshaped how she views the connection between the mind and the digital world.

"Minot State provided me with four incredible years of highs, lows, new friends, and experiences I would not trade for the world," Van Wickler said.

What started as a curiosity about why her brother got so frustrated while gaming turned into a deep respect for academic research. She immersed herself in campus labs, working in both the memory and emotion lab and the digital cognition lab. In the digital cognition lab, she teamed up with fellow student-athlete Alex Engel to investigate how stakeholders view the growing world of esports compared with traditional athletics.

The project, titled "Clicks and Cleats," eventually took her all the way to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she presented her findings to distinguished researchers.

To her surprise, the work was even published in the Journal of Electronic Gaming.

"To be honest, it was very surreal," Van Wickler said. "I had no idea initially that it was even submitted until my professor emailed me saying our work was published.”

When she was not in the lab, Van Wickler was usually found in the outfield for the Beaver softball team. Balancing a collegiate sport with intense research was not easy, and she admits it made her life more difficult. However, she believes the challenge taught her how to put the same energy into her schooling as she does into her sport.

Van Wickler recently capped off her athletic career by earning All-Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) 2nd Team honors. She also set a school record with nine triples in a single season, tying the all-time career record for the Beavers.

Her commitment to leadership and community extended to her role in the Psychology and Addiction Studies Club. For her, being a leader was about learning it is okay to rely on others when things get overwhelming. She also credits MSU Life for single-handedly changing her college experience by giving her a chance to be known outside the athlete bubble.

Managing a schedule that included sports, research, and leadership might seem impossible, but Van Wickler saw it as a way to prove something to herself. She earned the NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic Award with Distinction, a feat she credits to a total change in mindset.

"This award shows me that all my hard work for academics paid off and that I can do anything I put my mind to," Van Wickler said.

As she looks toward graduation and her next chapter at Arizona State University for forensic psychology, Van Wickler is excited to head back home to Scottsdale. She sees the transition as a chance to be closer to her family, especially her mother who she calls her rock and best friend. In her future career, she hopes to use her minor in addiction studies to understand the criminal side of psychology and why people make the decisions they do.

For Sara Van Wickler, making an impact at Minot State was never about being perfect, but about being brave enough to be herself. She hopes people remember her as someone who never changed to impress anyone and stood up for what she believed in.