Collins had plenty of choices when he was looking for a college. He’s from Jackson, Missouri and had a rich history with Southeast before even submitting his application.

“I come from a legacy family,” Collins said.  “My parents would have never met if they hadn’t gone to SEMO. Grandma’s livelihood came from SEMO, she was a nurse and a teacher for a long time. I have a little bit of attachment. I grew up around here.”

He was coming in with 60 college credits already and was given offers at many schools. That included Southeast, where he was awarded the President’s Scholarship for the Fall of 2019. His decision came down to one simple thing. 

“I ultimately was just kind of like I just want to go somewhere that I care about,” Collins said.

Collins graduated Dec. 17 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in history. From the time he was a freshman, he says that many of his instructors pushed him to look into internships outside of the classroom, required or not. He started interning as a freshman and completed an internship in Washington, D.C. this summer with the U.S. Senate.

“I would not have cared about my degree as much as I did if I hadn’t seen it in action or gotten hands on experience,” Collins said.

He also stayed actively involved on campus to help enhance his education even more. Collins was a part of student government from the very start and served on several committees during his time as a Redhawk.

He also took a personal interest in SEMO’s Esports. Collins had played certain video games himself, even dabbling with the notion of playing professionally, and he saw an inherent need for that group of people on campus. Now, Esports is the largest student organization behind Greek Life.

“There are a lot of really underappreciated people there,” Collins said.  “It’s a really great community that gives a home to people who previously hadn’t had a home on SEMO’s campus. So, they were kind of my passion project. With e-sports, it was a lot of community building.”

Even though Esports didn’t involve some of the strict policies and protocols that student government did, it offered even more unique leadership opportunities.

“We didn’t have a real constitution for two years so there wasn’t a lot of legislation coming through,” Collins said. “It was a lot of trying to understand the informal dynamics that dictate how you run an organization and fostering community and culture and that sort of thing.”

After taking advantage of all he could while at Southeast, Collins is preparing to accept a position with the Missouri State Legislature following graduation. Even though four years ago he was considering leaving the state for college, he says remembering his own local and family roots helped get him to this point.  

“I think in today’s society, we’ve lost a little bit of appreciation for the traditions and the cultures that we come from,” Collins said.  “We kind of joke that Americans don’t have culture, but ultimately, we do have regional culture.

“The culture around Southeast Missouri and around Missouri itself is very prominent. If you gain an appreciation for that and take a moment to kind of sit back and recognize how amazing where we’re from is, the hospitality we have, the kindness we show, the compassion that we regularly exercise compared to big cities, it makes you gain an appreciation.”