Meet your senator: Molly Van Engelenhoven
Native Utahn and avid wearer of bold shades of lipstick, Molly Van Engelenhoven celebrated with her family of student senators in their connected, domestic-style office as they cheered on a fellow senator in their recent job promotion.
Engelenhoven beamed with pride as she genuinely appreciated the moment, aware that it was made possible only through her position as student senator for the Quinney College of Natural Resources.
Sitting cross-legged with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in hand, Engelenhoven made such a stereotypically formal interaction very comfortable and chill.
Before being elected as student senator for the QCNR, Engelenhoven had been heavily involved in her chosen field and major. Engelenhoven started out as a minor in political science, but after some deliberation and a push in the right direction from friends and mentors, she switched to a double major in environmental studies and political science with a minor in geographic information systems.
“It was a good decision because I would have graduated after 3 years and I wasn’t ready for that,” Engelenhoven said.
Engelenhoven’s best friend and former senator for QCNR Patrick Adams was the number one thing that made her try for the senator position in her last year at USU.
“I was recently pretty shy and I didn’t think I had the personality for this kind of thing,” Engelenhoven said. “A lot of it was Patrick’s influence and just the fact that he believed in me.”
During the election process for student senators last spring semester, Engelenhoven ran completely unopposed for her position. Before, during and even after the whole application and otherwise non-competitive election process, Engelenhoven said she still felt out of place.
“When they first called us all up on that stage I felt horribly under-qualified. I thought, ‘I don’t know anybody here. I’m never going to fit in with this group of people and I don’t know what the heck I’m doing,’” Engelenhoven said. “This group of people is an important part of my life now, so that’s exciting.”
Engelenhoven said the senator is pretty central to the inner community of each college and she wanted to make sure to be a part of that this year.
“The community is really important to me and I wanted to be a leader in that community,” Engelenhoven said. “It’s been very influential in making me who I am, so I wanted to be able to do that for other people.”
The QCNR is small compared to other colleges at the university because it only has about 500 students. This characteristic is one of the things that initially drew Engelenhoven to the college and has been a main reason she has grown to love it.
“We all know each other and it’s really nice to just walk into the atrium area where everybody hangs out in the college and just see a bunch of people I know,” Engelenhoven said, “It’s a very welcoming and accepting environment that I really love.”
Engelenhoven has lived all 21 years of her life in Utah, however she has traveled across the United States and has even lived in Amman, Jordan for a study abroad program to learn Arabic through the political science department.
“I’ve been to most of the national parks in southern Utah. I’ve been to Acadia and all over the east coast. I go to Boston a lot because my sister lives there and I’ve been all up and down California and Oregon,” Engelenhoven said.
Along with her position as student senator, Engelenhoven is also passionately involved in USU Student Media’s Aggie Radio scene.
She listens to almost every genre from alternative to metal to punk rock and she supports her musical icons every chance she gets at weekly concerts and music festivals.
Since she grew up in Cottonwood Heights, Engelenhoven has developed a love for hiking and skiing. Her favorite spots include Alta, Brighton and the many hikes that Logan Canyon has to offer.
She also dabbles in watercolor painting and sketching. Just recently, Engelenhoven sold one of her own watercolor pieces to a friend.
Engelenhoven also has a Dr. Pepper addiction and a knack to imitate any accent you ask her to, including fellow senator Jace Goodwin’s favorite, an uncanny Scottish accent.
“I’m really just a quirky person in general,” Engelenhoven said.
Engelenhoven’s unconventional personality intermixed with those of every other student in the senator’s offices has created a lasting experience for her.
“This experience has been really wonderful. I was not expecting to fit in or qualify,” Engelenhoven said. “It’s like my family, I know that sounds stupid, but we’re all really close now.”
After graduating next semester, Engelenhoven plans on going to graduate school in either Washington D.C., southern New Hampshire or California to get a master’s degree in counterterrorism.
— isabel.forinash@aggiemail.usu.edu
@imforinash