By Kelcey Norris
From student board of trustees member and Honors College student leader, to current Youngstown State University employee, Lexi Rager has taken advantage of all the opportunities the university has to offer as a student and now as a faculty member.
Rager, Honors College recruitment and orientation student manager, started her YSU education as a Summer Honors Institute participant and soon fell in love with the people and atmosphere on campus.
Once Rager started her education, she found herself being one of the many members of the YSU student body to join the Honors College, which helps students gain opportunities, learn and grow into their future.
Rager said one of her first connections made at YSU was with Amy Cossentino, dean of the Honors College.
“When I first came to YSU, I emailed Amy and asked, ‘What can I do to help?’ and now that I’m a coordinator, I hope to see myself where Amy is,” she said. “I’d really like to continue just helping students and touching their lives.”
Rager’s professors and other faculty members noticed her efforts and enthusiasm toward helping others.
Cossentino said Rager’s love for YSU and the student body was clear from day one.
“She was terrified of public speaking as a freshman, and I encouraged her to get up on stage at Summer Honors Institute and she went for it,” she said. “Lexi grew so quickly in her ability to talk about being a YSU student. It became very clear that she was going to be a great ambassador for YSU.”
Cossentino said Rager will be working with the current Honors College students to help them gain experience and opportunity as a YSU student.
“We get so many different requests on a weekly basis for our students to go out and volunteer,” she said. “Lexi will be that person who will coordinate with those individuals and help promote those opportunities for our students.”
Mollie Hartup, part-time faculty member at the Honors College, said she noticed Rager’s eagerness to help others at the beginning of her education.
“I first got to know Lexi when she was a student, and early on you could tell she was an incredible student and a ‘go-getter,’ as some may say,” Hartup said. “She was just incredible working with the students and has really been involved greatly with the Honors College over the years.”
She said she worked with Rager on various occasions as a YSU student.
“Over the years, we became involved together in Phi Kappa Phi after she was inducted and became student vice president, so we had a chance to collaborate on the executive board and literacy grants.”
Rager will continue learning through higher education as a student at YSU, and in her position working with prospective students, she will funnel them from high school to YSU in the Honors College.
According to Rager, she will be working on different projects within the Honors College, helping future students transition to the program.
“I am the adviser for Honors Trustees, and I also write the Weekly PHil!,” she said. “I have my hands on a little bit of everything, which I really enjoy and keeps me very busy for sure.”