Student ambassador leaves South for USD

Although she’s almost 1,000 miles from her parents, sophomore Olivia Lockert feels right at home.

“I came out here all the time when I was little,” Lockert said.

While her parents live in Birmingham, Ala., Lockert’s decision to attend the University of South Dakota was not unexpected to her family.

“My parents knew I wanted to come back to the Midwest,” Lockert said.

Even though she spent years living in Iowa, she still experienced a few surprises from the weather. When she went home for winter break last year, she only had to wear a sweatshirt.

“I didn’t remember how windy it got,” Lockert said. “It didn’t take me that long to get used to it. I definitely check the weather more now.”

Despite the weather being colder than what she was used to in the South, Lockert said she plans to stay in the Midwest after she graduates.

“Everyone is really nice up here,” Lockert said. “It’s a different atmosphere that I like.”

It took two days and one car for Lockert and her family to bring her to South Dakota as a first-year. At the end of the spring semester, her father will drive to USD to help her pack, and then the two of them will drive back to Alabama.

Lockert said she misses barbecue and the intense tailgating atmosphere of the South, and she also keeps up with the football teams from back home. Another thing she misses is the terrain of Alabama.

“Down there, you’re covered by trees,” she said.

As a student ambassador, Lockert is able to interact with other students who travel long distances to visit USD.

“I feel like they like the fact I’m far away,” Lockert said. “I knew when I first came to visit I’d want to go here.”

Sophomore Bridget Wilds has gotten to know Lockert through her job as a student ambassador and through their membership in Alpha Phi.

“She can relate to other girls who are from far away,” Wilds said.

Wilds said she has never seen Lockert get homesick.

“When she talks of home, it’s always positive,” Wilds said. “She has a good base of friends here.”