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From baseball to a research journal, Park Ridge's Houck taking in all that Monmouth College has to offer

by Dawsyn Wilson

Monmouth, Ill. (11/29/2022) — At Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Illinois, Tyler Houck was one of nearly 2,400 students.

The opportunity to attend Monmouth College and be part of a more intimate setting fit Houck's vision for how he wanted his college experience to go.

"In high school, I didn't come close to knowing everyone," he said. "Here at Monmouth, I'll walk down the streets or hallways and either recognize or have a conversation with pretty much everyone I see."

Many of those conversations have led to out-of-classroom experiences and opportunities that have enriched his education.

Time for sports and more

A member of the Fighting Scots baseball team and the Stockdale Fellows leadership program, Houck is also an editor for the Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research and president of the Business Economics Accounting and Marketing Club. He said he wouldn't be able to be as involved on campus at a larger school.

"At Monmouth, it's pretty easy to get involved," said Houck, who started all 39 games for the Scots last spring, batting .244 with a pair of homers. "There's always someone encouraging me, whether if they were in the club or some sort of faculty adviser, to go do things."

Among the most important relationships he's fostered with students and faculty are those that have led to discovering several campus resources. In fact, it was a conversation with a professor that led the business major to add accounting as a second major. Houck believes it's important for younger students and prospective students to take advantage of Monmouth's smaller size and have those important one-on-one conversations.

"There are so many resources here that I didn't realize existed until people reached out to me - things like the Wackerle Center - and there's always professors and advisers that want to see you succeed and want to help you, so be open to that," he said. "I know that it's hard as a freshman to make those connections because you've only had one class with that professor, but put yourself out there and make an effort to talk to those types of people."

Landing internships

Putting himself out there has led experiences that will look great on his resume.

"It's kind of a big reason why I'm involved in so many things and have been able to land internship opportunities," he said. "And I know those connections will help me after college finding a job, too."

Houck has already completed one internship and will start another one next summer. Between his sophomore and junior year, he interned for Reyes Holdings, a major distribution company, working with companies such as McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Chipotle.

"I kind of got my feet wet with some accounting stuff I wanted to do," he said of his work in the company's internal audit department.

The internship helped Houck learn what aspects he did or didn't like in a job. Next summer, he will intern in Chicago in the audit department for RSM, an international accounting firm.

"The internship that I did last summer and this upcoming one are both going to prepare me for exactly what I want to do after I finish at Monmouth," he said.

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A double major in business and accounting, Maine South graduate Tyler Houck is on Monmouth's baseball team and journal staff and is president of business club.

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