By Mallory Paruzewski, Student Reporter
Imagine combining your partner’s name and yours to create a new one.
That is just how English major M’Cheila Rader got her name, and how she continues to introduce herself to others.
Rader’s parents, Michael and Sheila, are both alumni of Northwestern.
This made deciding to leave home and attend Northwestern to continue her education one of the most difficult things Rader had ever done, she said.
She feared people would misjudge or misunderstand her.
“The worst that could happen was I would disappoint my parents, who desperately wanted me to discover myself at the same university they attended,” Rader said. “I’ve found my niche.”
Rader said her dad is the reason she values and appreciates her education.
She always questions things, thinks critically and knows that confidence is fostered through knowledge, she said.
This allows her to have a more open-minded view of the world and outlook on life in general.
Flagstaff, Arizona, is where Rader was born.
Flagstaff is an hour away from the Grand Canyon and is made up of the Coconino National Forest
Growing up in a place like Flagstaff helped Rader appreciate nature, as well as be accepting of such a diverse population of people found in the area.
When she was 11, Rader and her family moved to the small town of Eudora, Kansas, about 30 minutes outside of Kansas City.
This was quite the culture shock to her coming from such a large city in a different area of the country.
Moving to Alva for college was hard for Rader because she was away from her built-in best friend: her sister, Brenika.
“She’s a better version of who I wish I could be,” Rader said.
Rader said her sister has been her biggest supporter and really understands her at a level that no one else can.
When Rader isn’t reading or writing essays for school, she’s either working as a student worker in the
English department or at the Daisy Village boutique, a store in downtown Alva.