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Walking down the hill for the first time, Sam Consiglio’s mom turned to her and said, “You look like you're comfortable here; you’re going to be spending the next four years here.” Little did she know, that moment would shape her entire college experience, leading to what she calls the best decision of her life.

Consiglio, from Waukesha, fell in love with Eau Claire from its “Goldilocks” size, the welcome and support from everyone in the Blugold community and the beautiful “hidden gem” of a campus.

A geography major with a minor in actuarial science, Consiglio also is earning certifications in equity, diversity and inclusivity, urban and regional planning and geospatial techniques. As the president of Student Senate, she has embraced UW-Eau Claire's welcoming community and found a true sense of belonging here.

Academic journey

Initially drawn to the math department as an actuarial science major, Consiglio quickly realized it wasn’t her long-term passion. After speaking with a professor, she was introduced to geospatial technology — a field she had never heard of. After taking one class about humanistic geography, she fell in love with “people’s senses of place, why they go where they go and how the environment affects other people.” This led her to urban planning, which became her true calling.

While Consiglio worried about finding the same sense of community in the geography department, she soon discovered the same support and connection that had made her feel at home in the math department. “It’s something really cool about UW-Eau Claire — you can find that connection in any department,” she says.

Consiglio felt an “instant connection within the Cosby Honors College when I got here. Everyone in honors is so supportive, uplifting and wants to grow and learn.”

Her most memorable experience came from serving as an honors first-year experience mentor. Consiglio “had the most amazing group of students who wanted to understand campus and community in a way I’ve never seen.” She is proud to see these new honors students off doing amazing things such as getting involved in Campus Ambassadors, Student Senate, Mock Trial and a variety of different clubs around campus.

Being a part of the Cosby Honors College has been influential to Consiglio’s academic career. It’s pushed her to take every opportunity that’s come her way and “has led me down paths I never thought possible for myself.” These paths include being the vice president and current president of the Student Senate. For Consiglio, honors has “opened up doors and connected me with a lot of people I wouldn’t have met if I just stuck with my major and got my degree.”

Campus leadership and involvement

Consiglio’s leadership journey began early, serving on the Student Senate as the housing coordinator on the executive board. From there, she was a Residence Hall Association representative for Towers Hall and was in Circle K International, which is a branch of Kiwanis that does volunteer work around different areas. She also became a Blugold Welcome intern for orientation. Consiglio “enjoyed getting to know students before they come to college and see their growth.”

As student body president, she has worked on a range of projects to improve campus life, from advocating for fall break to pushing for closed captioning in classrooms and better campus accessibility. It’s been rewarding for Consiglio to connect students’ concerns to tangible changes. Reflecting on this challenging yet rewarding role, she expressed, “Every president that’s been a part of Student Senate has believed that every single person has a different perception of campus, and everyone brings something new to the table. Being able to navigate all that with our senators, directors and everyone a part of Student Senate has been really interesting and fun.”

Another major accomplishment for Consiglio has been participating in research for the geography and environmental science department. One research project is a collaboration with Mayo Clinic Health System to study rural healthcare systems and their impact on local communities. Reflecting on her research experiences, Consiglio explains, “Research was something I didn’t think I’d be able to get involved with, but now it’s one of my proudest accomplishments.”

Consiglio also has had the opportunity to build her capstone research project into an honors thesis. Her capstone project focused on analyzing the walkability of two Eau Claire neighborhoods. For her honors thesis, Consiglio is expanding this research by looking at perceived neighborhood walkability. She explains, “We’ll be going through and surveying residences, analyzing and comparing the difference between what people actually think walkability is where they live.”

Preparing for life beyond undergrad

Looking ahead, Consiglio plans to pursue a master's degree in city and urban planning, with the goal of working for a city to improve urban spaces.

Consiglio feels the Cosby Honors College has prepared her for life beyond undergraduate school by teaching her to “use different lenses and bring different voices to the table, and understand where those voices are coming from.” She says this is an important benefit of honors because “everyone on some level can get caught up thinking through their major and only through that lens.”

She encourages incoming students to pursue experiences that will expand their points of view — and her experiences show that there are myriad ways to do this at UW-Eau Claire. As Consiglio gets ready to graduate, she reflects, “UW-Eau Claire is an amazing place to be, where every single student can find support.”

Written by Eve Quick, UW-Eau Claire student and Cosby Honors College intern.