When Mauree “Reece” Turner graduated from Ardmore High School in Ardmore, Okla., in 2011, she would have never thought she would be as busy as she is as a fifth-year senior at Oklahoma State University.
Pursuing three degrees (animal science with a pre-vet option, sociology, and political science with a pre-law option) as well as a minor (she added an ethical leadership minor this semester) would keep any student busy enough.
On top of all that, Turner currently serves multiple executive roles with the OSU Student Government Association (SGA). She is chair of the multicultural affairs committee and vice-chair for both the committee on student organizations and for the awareness committee for the Big Event. She is also the president of the NAACP chapter at OSU and is active with the African-American Student Association (Afro-Am) and the Off-Campus Student Association (OCSA).
“Sometimes my friends have to stop me and remind me that I’m a student and I have human limits,” Turner says. “I’ll get home at 11:30 at night from doing work all day and then try to head out to the library 30 minutes later. My friends will say, hey, it can probably wait. Get some sleep!”
Turner doesn’t do all this because she is an over-achiever. In high school, she was a student government secretary, but only because her mom wanted her to do it. She considered OU (where most of her family had gone), but had always wanted to be a vet. When she found out about OSU’s vet school, the decision became a no-brainer. However, during her freshman year at OSU, she was only involved with Pre-Vet Club and her residence hall government.
Her sophomore year at OSU is when everything started to change. She chose to take an Intro to Sociology course that year to fulfill a gen-ed requirement and noticed the questions she had about life were being addressed in the class. That’s how she was introduced to her sociology degree. This same year she also branched out and became involved with SGA’s The Big Event operations staff, the NAACP chapter at OSU and the African-American Student Association (Afro Am).
Her junior year didn’t see her slowing down. After moving off campus, she was elected to an open representative seat with the Off-Campus Student Association and as a senator with SGA. She wrote two pieces of legislation that passed that year.
“I called my mom as soon as I heard they passed in the OSU senate,” Turner says. “It was the most nerve-wracking day of my life!”
Nerves didn’t stop her though when a friend recommended she join the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature (O.I.L.) chapter at OSU. This organization allows Oklahoma college students the chance to participate in mock state congress competitions. SGA and O.I.L. led her to political science degree.
Turner acknowledges that most people would have just changed majors instead of continuing to add on. She says she has always had a fear of quitting, so she decided to just keep picking up things as she went along. She jokes that after this year though, she will go into “retirement” from her organizations, at least from the executive positions. She knows she has to step back so others can learn as much about themselves as she has about herself.
She will graduate with all her degrees (and new minor) in the fall of 2017. With what seems like an endless number of career or continued education options, what will she do when she graduates? This past summer she attended the NEW Leadership Conference for women in politics, and it helped cement her post-graduation plans.
“I’ve learned a lot about myself through all these opportunities,” Turner says. “I don’t know exactly what I want to do yet, but as long as I’m helping someone in the end, then I will have completed what I feel I’ve been put here for.”
Turner seems to be on the path to helping people. She plans on entering the Peace Corps when she graduates and is considering starting a non-profit organization after she’s done. Until then, however, OSU students can rest easy knowing they have someone as dedicated as Mauree Turner looking out for them and willing to lend a helping hand.