Christine Weiser’s leadership journey at Arkansas Tech University started by emulating the people who showed her the ropes on campus.
“My orientation leaders were my first friends here,” said Weiser. “From there, it was the Involvement Fair. I met all these people, and I slowly started inserting myself into these clubs. I didn’t have any friends, so I put myself out there. No one knew who I was, so I was able to create who I am here at Arkansas Tech.”
Weiser was selected by the ATU Center for Student Engagement and First-Gen Success as the February 2026 ATU student leader of the month.
A native of northern Michigan, Weiser moved to Arkansas for her senior year in high school. She graduated from Bergman High School in Boone County.
“I spent most of my first two years down here trying to understand the Southern accent,” said Weiser.
Her plan was to return home to Michigan for college, but she reluctantly agreed to tag along for a tour of Arkansas Tech in Russellville.
“The second I set foot on this campus, I felt like I was at home,” said Weiser. “I feel like when you come to Tech, you find a family that you didn’t have before. The people at Arkansas Tech made a home for me.”
Along the way, the fast-paced Michigan native learned how to slow down and make interpersonal connections.
“Leadership is knowing how to lead a group, but also having empathy,” said Weiser. “I think having grace with people really allows them to blossom on their own.”
Weiser is majoring in biology with the biomedical option as well as psychology.
“The faculty (at ATU) have really helped me,” said Weiser. “Donna Curran is a microbiology instructor here, and she has really inspired me because she took time to teach, went back and got another degree and now she’s teaching college. I thought that was super cool that she found out she wanted to inspire other people, and I feel like eventually I’m going to go down that path. I’ve never made connections like this anywhere else.”
Weiser’s leadership journey at Arkansas Tech has included service as president of the ATU Women in STEM registered student organization.
“Now that I am in my upper division coursework, I’m walking into these rooms and the majority of the students are women who have stuck with it,” said Weiser. “I got the privilege of hosting our club’s founder (Emily Torrealba) to come and speak with us just this last year, and it was interesting to hear her story because she felt like she was the only one in the room. Now, not even 10 years later, I have this foundation of women that I can lean on. It seems like Arkansas Tech is really building that foundation to support women in STEM on our campus and STEM programs in general.”
Weiser has also served as vice president of Tri-Beta and as a member of Pre-Med Club, Chemistry Club and Psi Chi honor society. Her campus employment has included work with the ATU Department of Residence Life and the ATU Health and Wellness Center.
“I can see a fire lit inside new students when you bring them here and they know this is home,” said Weiser. “When I take people on tours of campus, I always tell them that they’ll know. By the end of the tour, they know. I get to experience seeing them fall in love with this place like I did.”
Weiser will graduate from Arkansas Tech in May. She plans on building her patient care hours over the next year so she can apply for physician assistant school. She hopes to focus her career in women’s studies and women’s health care by applying her educational experiences in biomedicine and psychology.
A portion of her heart will always be at Arkansas Tech.
“I lived on the third floor of M Street, which at the time was freshmen only,” said Weiser when recalling her first year at ATU. “I really enjoyed being around people who were doing this journey together. There’s no place like M Street. By the end of the year, shy little me formed this blossoming of leaving my door open. Eventually, we all started leaving our doors open and we fostered friendships that I’d never found before. The girl who lived upstairs and would come down to talk to me…she’s my roommate now and she will be the maid of honor in my wedding. It’s really unique to come together and live in a place where you form those bonds. I found people I never expected to find in this little corner of Arkansas.”
