Puckett serving Stillwater through Into the Streets
Thursday, April 11, 2024
Media Contact: Stephen Howard | Manager of Communications | 405-744-4363 | stephen.howard@okstate.edu
RachelKate Puckett has a full calendar these days, but the junior from Oklahoma City isn’t going to let that stop her from making an impact on Oklahoma State University and the state she calls home.
Not only is she double majoring in international business and management information systems (MIS), but she’s also serving as the homecoming director and professional development executive for the Business Student Council, on top of being an active member of Kappa Delta sorority and The Table campus ministry.
If that wasn’t enough, Puckett is also the president of Into the Streets at OSU, which gives students the opportunity to volunteer for a day of meaningful service each semester to give back to the community of Stillwater in a fun and exciting group environment. Into the Streets has assisted at 164 job sites with over 1,100 volunteers in its lengthy history.
This year, the organization teamed up with OSU President Dr. Kayse Shrum and OSU’s State of Orange for a day of Cowboy service on April 13. We caught up with Puckett to talk about how all of this came together and what they hope to accomplish as a united team of orange-clad volunteers.
Spears Business: How did you get involved with Into the Streets, and how did it end up getting involved with Dr. Shrum’s State of Orange day of service event?
RachelKate Puckett: I started with Into the Streets during my freshman year as a committee member, which helped me get a feel for the manual labor involved and how our organization can lend a hand to people. The next year, I joined the executive team in a morale boosting role, which included vision casting and spreading the word of why we’re doing this job. It’s not always easy getting college kids excited about raking leaves on a Saturday morning.
This year I took over as president, and now a lot of what my role looks like is goal setting and connecting with people around OSU. I work closely with full-time staff members across campus and the Student Volunteer Center to continue growing the organization and connecting different people. One of our goals this year was to get OSU Athletics as well as more faculty and staff involved with Into the Streets, and we believe we accomplished both of those.
Into the Streets has been an amazing organization to be involved with. It’s been going on for decades and has continued to grow as it has helped the people of Stillwater. Last summer, I emailed Dr. Shrum to get her help expanding Into the Streets across campus, and we ended up chatting on a Zoom call. Through her help, and the help of Dr. Doug Hallenbeck, OSU’s vice president for student affairs, we ended up bringing Into the Streets into the State of Orange event. Both organizations have similar goals, so it was a perfect fit.
SB: Why is it so important for you to be involved in helping people? Where does this passion come from?
RKP: In a way, I've done service projects my whole life. Growing up, my dad was a pastor, and we lived overseas in Turkey for a couple of four-month stretches. Those experiences in Turkey set the standard for me. I want to give back to others who have needs, and Into the Streets is the way I’ve been given to do that at OSU. I feel like I’ve been gifted in terms of leadership abilities, so I want to help this organization continue to grow.
Our slogan is “community through service,” but I just like to say that people are my passion. I just really love being with people. So, whether we’re helping the community of Stillwater or the community here at OSU, it's just a big deal to me. I want to really foster that and help it grow.
SB: What are your professional goals after OSU?
RKP: I don’t know if it will lead to anything long term, but this summer I’ll be working at Devon Energy doing supply-chain analytics. It’s looking at the grand scheme of a supply chain. Every organization produces a product or service, and supply-chain analysts look at what has to happen to get those products or services from concept to delivery. But it also looks at what areas we need to grow? What can we take away from the issues that arise? So, I don't know if I'll end up doing something that's more on the people, leadership side, or if I’m meant for a more analytical role. It just depends on what doors open for me.
SB: If people want to get involved with Into the Streets how can they do that?
RKP: We’re always looking for volunteers who love to serve and who have a passion for the Stillwater community. We want hard working students, proactive students, people who have good communication skills. Our next Into the Streets event will be in November, and we should be releasing the exact date soon.
We have committees that people can join, and an executive team for those who would like to be in a leadership role. Our executive team gets real-world business experience because we train them to communicate well, how to lead a team and how to work well with people. That’s been a big push of mine coming from Spears. I’ve used a lot of my business background to fine-tune what we’re doing and to add structure to the organization. I always want Into the Streets to be prepared for the next thing and to be forward thinking.
If people want to get involved, give us a follow on Instagram and that will let you know what we have going on and how you can get involved.