Junior Raeanne Lohner is a distance runner for the cross country team. Lohner finished 39th out of 101 runners in last season’s Mid-American Conference Championships.

John Evans: Other than competing and practicing on the track, what do you like to do on your off-days?
Raeanne Lohner: I am pretty much a normal college student. I like hanging out with people. My other passion is picking up new books from the library about education because I’m going into secondary education.

JE: Is education your major?
RL: English for secondary education, and I kind of divide myself into different realms. I would say that I devote a lot of my time to making sure I can be the best teacher I can be when I get out of here.

JE: Do you have a favorite class or professor here at CMU?
RL: I actually just started taking MLE 381 with Norma Bailey, who is a phenomenal teacher in the education department. I’m really excited because I’m in CMLACMU (Collegiate Middle School Level Association) which is a club for middle school teachers, specifically, and Bailey is the faculty head for the club.

JE: What was a main factor in your decision to come run track for CMU?
RL: I just love the campus, and that was the biggest thing. I think you can get a very good education at a lot of places but, at the end of the day, it’s where you feel most comfortable, and I felt comfortable on the campus and with the team.

JE: So your plans for after graduation are to be a teacher?
RL: Yes, absolutely, I am totally passionate about going into education. I don’t know if I am going to stay in the state, but I am willing to move.

JE: Is there any particular age that you want to teach?
RL: Middle school for sure, like 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th (grade), somewhere in there.
JE: What is your favorite band?
RL: Dave Matthews Band, for sure, they are my favorite, I don’t know what genre you would group them in, but they are my favorite.

JE: What is your favorite T.V. show to watch whenever you get a chance to relax and watch television?
RL: I wake up every morning and watch “The Today Show” while I drink my cup of coffee and eat my breakfast. It’s like the routine and that’s usually the only time I really get to watch T.V. all day.

JE: How would you describe your hometown?
RL: I’m from East Grand Rapids, and it is a really close-knit community, which was a really big change for me because, growing up, I didn’t have dirt roads to run on and I come up here, and it’s like corn fields and dirt roads. East Grand Rapids High School is in the middle of town and everyone lives within a mile-and-a-half of the school so, coming out here, it seems like I’m going into the middle of nowhere.

E-mail the author: John Evans