Meghan Belanger Named Graduate Assistant of the Year at Valdosta State University

2017 May 26

Meghan Belanger of Campus Recreation is Valdosta State University's 2016-2017 Graduate Assistant of the Year.

Belanger worked as a graduate assistant in Campus Recreation's Center for Outdoor Recreational Experiences from Fall 2015 until she graduated on May 5 with a Master of Education in higher education leadership.

"I had no idea that I was going to win the award," said Belanger. "From the professors to the students, the people I [had a chance to] interact with (were) always encouraging. I love what I (got) to do, so it means a lot (that) other people (noticed) how hard I work and how much I (loved) working for Campus Recreation."

As a graduate assistant in Campus Recreation's Center for Outdoor Recreational Experiences, Belanger organized and facilitated outdoor adventure trips for students, supervised student workers, lead groups on outdoor challenge courses, and trained rock wall attendants.

Ashley Reisner, coordinator of fitness and aquatics in Campus Recreation, nominated Belanger for the distinguished honor. She said that Belanger has served with grace, diligence, pride, professionalism, and responsibility.

"She has one of the best work ethics I have ever seen in a student and is a remarkable role model," Reisner shared in her nomination letter. "Meghan exemplifies what it means to be a young professional in a recreational industry .... Good is never good enough for her. She will always strive for better, she will always be willing to learn, she will always challenge herself, and she will never give up."

Belanger earned a Bachelor of Science in sports administration from Ball State University in 2015.

This summer, she will serve as a backpacking guide at Bar 717 Ranch, a camp in California. She would like to work as a director of outdoor programs at a university.

Belanger is the daughter of John and Therese Belanger of Sheboygan, Wis.

On the Web:

http://www.valdosta.edu/academics/graduate-school/welcome.php

About Valdosta State University:

Established in 1906, Valdosta State University is a premier comprehensive university that offers both the extensive academic, cultural, and social opportunities of a major university and the small classes and close, personal attention of smaller institutions. It boasts more than 100 degree, certificate, and endorsement programs on campus and online for undergraduate and graduate students. It also has a full menu of extracurricular activities, from national championship athletic and academic teams to honors organizations, sororities and fraternities, intramural sports, educational and service clubs, a symphony orchestra, art and theatre, research opportunities, and more. Even as underclassmen, students file patents on inventions and make life-changing scientific discoveries, present at national and international conferences, publish research in collaboration with their professors, work in campus-based clinics that benefit the community, live and learn at partner institutions around the globe through study abroad, and more. The possibilities are endless.