Orientation Team
Our orientation team is excited to welcome you to campus for New Student Orientation and Transfer Student Orientation!
Sharnae Collins
Orientation Leader
Murphysboro, IL
Favorite Quote: "The most important thing is to enjoy your life. To be happy. It's all that matters." -Unknown
Gigi Evans (she/her)
Orientation Leader
Chicago, IL
Favorite Quote: "Sometimes you can do your very best and still fail... and that's ok." -Unknown
Ariana Ewing (she/her)
Orientation Leader
Carlinville, IL
Favorite Quote: "I would rather have 30 minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special." -Unknown
Kaitlyn Fietsam (she/her)
Orientation Leader
Belleville, IL
Favorite Quote: "I'm not throwing away my shot." -Hamilton
Joshalynn Gibson (she/her)
Orientation Leader
Chicago, IL
Favorite Quote: "Create something today that you can be proud of tomorrow." -Unknown
Lauren Harris (she/her)
Orientation Coordinator
Carlinville, IL
Favorite Quote: "Can't believe no one ever wrote a folk song about that." -Josh Lyman
Abbie Hernandez (she/her)
Orientation Leader
Godfrey, IL
Favorite Quote: "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." -Maya Angelou
Nakea Kanneh (she/her)
Orientation Leader
Monee, IL
Favorite Quote: "Live Laugh Love." -Unknown
Lucia Knapp (she/they)
Orientation Leader
Breese, IL
Favorite Quote: "You never have to do anything sensational in order to be loved."-Fred Rogers
Emily Laird (she/her)
Orientation Leader
Athens, IL
Favorite Quote: "The key to success is failure." -Michael Jordan
Tobi Lane (they/them)
Orientation Leader
O'Fallon, IL
Favorite Quote: "People get built different. We don't need to figure it out, we just need to respect it." -Princess Bubblegum
Blake Rentz (he/him)
Orientation Leader
Litchfield, IL
Favorite Quote: "You can't see the future coming--not the terrors, for sure, but you also can't see the wonders that are coming, the moments of light--soaked joy that await each of us." -John Green
Mackenzie Richards (she/her)
Orientation Leader
Granite City, IL
Favorite Quote: "Where there is love we must live on, and where there is not love we must provide it." -Unknown
Rachel Robertson (she/her)
Orientation Leader
St. Louis, MO
Favorite Quote: "We are made of star-stuff." -Carl Sagan
Kayla Sims (she/her)
Orientation Leader
O'Fallon, IL
Favorite Quote: "Stay positive, better days are on their way." -Unknown
Stella Smith (they/them)
Orientation Coordinator
Bethalto, IL
Favorite Quote: "Are you kidding? I don't need a plan; I've watched every Muppet movie." -Stella Smith, 2020
Ben Wilke (he/him)
Orientation Coordinator
St. Rose, IL
Favorite Quote: “Nobody is gonna hit as hard as life, but it ain’t how hard you can hit. It’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. It’s how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done.” –Rocky Balboa
Conor Johnson (he/him)
Graduate Assistant
Bettendorf, IA
Favorite Quote: "You're doing amazing, sweetie." -Kris Jenner
Heather Birdsell (she/her)
Office Manager
orientation@siue.edu
Favorite Quote: "Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you." -Ruth Bader Ginsburg
