Randi Velick
Major: Nursing
Graduation Year: 2020
GPA: 4.0

Even though Randi Velick is 845 miles away from her hometown, she has found a home away from home through Maryville Hillel.

Maryville Hillel is a student organization that provides opportunities for college communities to engage with and experience Jewish culture as a medium to lead, learn and grow.

“I like being a part of Maryville Hillel because it gives me a Jewish community when I’m so far away from home,” says Velick, who is from Superior, Colorado, 22 miles northwest of Denver. “I think that all of the different, diverse organizations are so important because they give people of those different diverse groups a chance to connect with people with the same background as them. It also gives other people who don’t know about those groups to learn more about them and become more accepting of them.”

Maryville Hillel was founded in June 2015 and is the result of years of a thriving Jewish Student Union and a long-standing community of faculty, staff and students. Velick became president of Maryville Hillel this past January and is responsible for promoting and organizing events.

“So far, being the president has been great,” says Velick. “I just started, so I’m still getting all of my footing, but overall, I think it is going really well.”

She is also a member of the Leaders Exchanging and Developing Council, the Sign Language at Maryville organization and the Student Nurses Association. All of this while carrying an unblemished 4.0 as a nursing major.

Outside of the classroom, Velick is currently a 4th grade Hebrew teacher, 7th grade religious school teacher and cooking teacher at United Hebrew Congregation.

“I try to be a super organized person so I’m not missing anything, so I have my planner that I am always adding to, and lots of sticky notes,” says Velick.

Velick is expected to graduate in May 2020 and hopes to find a job working at a hospital in the St. Louis area specializing in pediatric care.