“This semester, my roommates and I have been trying to go to every single BINGO (night) possible. So, we go to BINGO every Wednesday, but we also try other places for BINGO on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have gone to BINGO (nights) at least once a week for 10 weeks in a row now,” said Neidinger.

Chloe Neidinger, a soon-to-be graduate of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, along with being a fan of the occasional BINGO night and historical fiction novel, acts as the current Advising Director for The Racquet Press. But, beyond her appointment at The Racquet, Neidinger has taken her time at UWL to develop her personal interests as well as grow her love for research and knowledge.

A native to Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, Neidinger arrived at UWL not knowing exactly what she wanted to do with her time here. “I came into college not knowing what I really wanted,” said Neidinger. “I started off declared as an education major. But, after thinking more about it, I realized that is definitely not what I wanted. So, I started taking some introductory courses that weren’t the 100 level but the second level. Communication studies were some of the first ones that I took,” she said. This introduction to a higher level of communication studies led Neidinger to form a conclusion based around her current major: communication studies with an emphasis on professional and organizational communication.

Through the communication studies major, Neidinger is working on a research study where she conducts interviews with divorced parents in order to understand how divorced families communicate. Specifically, she is trying to understand how dating relationships are or aren’t disclosed among the family group.

With a major in communications studies, one can choose from numerous diverging paths in terms of different types of emphasis and minors. What Neidinger chose as her minors, as well as her emphasis, reflects who she is and what she enjoys doing. “I am double minoring in environmental studies and leadership development,” said Neidinger.

Neidinger has been invested in the environment for most of her life. “I have been scuba diving since the age of ten. So, I have always been very interested in water,” she says. She goes on to describe how she got interested in scuba diving. “My parents are scuba divers; then, one day, they came home and said, ‘we are going on vacation, and you [Chloe] are going to get scuba certified.'”

Furthermore, Neidinger said, “Once I learned about the well water issues that we have in Wisconsin, and how there are nitrates in a lot of private wells, I really got interested.”

Along with being influenced by the environment, Neidinger is influenced in her role as a leader. When asked about an accomplishment she was proud of as a part of UWL, Neidinger stated, “I am proud of my leadership development minor because I chose it not really knowing all about leadership.” While a sense of leadership has been instilled in her due to her being the co-president of Lambda Pi Eta, the honor society for communication studies majors, Neidinger has found leadership to be an integral part of her early life. “I went to a leadership camp that started in seventh or eighth grade and I went there for five years in a row. I went to just learn how to become a better leader in our schools, but the lesson ended up translating over to college as well,” she said.

Moving forward through graduation, through her internship experience with the Sierra Club and a beverage company, Neidinger is looking for jobs involving communicating on a professional level. “I am looking into recruiting jobs… I really liked doing that. So, I am looking for jobs in Minnesota for recruiting.”

These can be either in-house jobs, which is receiving candidates through a system, or staffing agencies, which is finding candidates for other companies by looking at different resume sites,” said Neidinger.

Chloe Neidinger’s path to becoming what she is today was one that took time. From this, she provides one last piece of advice before graduating at the end of this semester. “Take the gen eds seriously because they can help you find what you truly want to do. Once I started taking the gen eds that I wanted and took them seriously, I finally understood where I could go with my future within those studies,” said Neidinger.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Photo retrieved by Henry Anderson.