Transfer student turns opportunities into real-life experiences

Lindsay Smith, Editor-in-Chief|May 5, 2022

Baswanth Naidu/The Sunflower

Elizabeth Walker, soon-to-be graduate, discusses her collegiate journey on May 3, 2022.

Elizabeth Walker transferred to Wichita State out of Butler in the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. While she said that put her behind in getting involved on campus, it made her even more excited to take up every opportunity she was handed.

“I feel like Wichita State has a lot of other opportunities that other colleges don’t have,” Walker said.

When Walker studied at Butler, she worked at a bank. She said her experience at WSU is a lot different because of her on-campus job. 

“It definitely made me a lot happier in my life to have that campus experience and work on campus,” Walker said. 

Walker works at Shock Starter, a student-run marketing firm located on the second floor of Devlin Hall, where she does a lot of web design. 

“We work a lot for Wichita State departments, and then we also do small business clients in Wichita,” Walker said. 

Walker originally started in social media management, and then she shifted to web design. 

“I switched to web design, which I never thought I would do, but I like it a lot,” Walker said. “I update a lot of the college of engineering’s webpage departments and I update a lot of profiles for … faculty [and] professors, and I created our website for Shock Starters.”

ShockStarter Project Manager Madeline Witherspoon has worked with Walker since Walker joined the team in August of 2021. She said that Walker is a hard worker. 

“She’s been a pleasure to work with,” Witherspoon  said. “She comes in with a positive attitude, and has been really open to learning new things and working on projects outside her comfort zone. 

“The talents she contributes to Shock Starter begin with her team skills. She’s calm, easy to talk to, and open with her communication.”

Walker wants to continue on the path of web design when she graduates. 

“I’ve been applying at places to do, like, to create websites for companies and stuff,” Walker said. “But also I’m pretty open to a lot of things.”

If Walker had to sum up her time at Wichita State in one word, she would say “inclusive.”

“I feel like WSU is a very accepting campus … I feel like it doesn’t compare to KU or K State,” Walker said. “Wichita State is just very diverse and inclusive and accepting.”