Through games of Feb. 10, Illinois Wesleyan senior Melissa Gardner (Chebanse, Ill., Clifton Central HS) is ranked No. 14 all-time at IWU in scoring with 1056 points. She is second in career 3-pointers made with 229 and her 119 games played makes her second in school history, behind the record of 121. She also has 140 career assists.
Melissa has also been active on campus as an organizer of a program called "Free Little Libraries", providing residents with the opportunity to borrow books from portable libraries. Read more about that project here.
A psychology major at Illinois Wesleyan, she is the daughter of Ron and Vicki Gardner of Chebanse.
Why you chose Illinois Wesleyan: Great small school with a nationally ranked women’s basketball program
IWU class you’re most qualified to teach: “How to Spend 6+ Hours at Shirk in a Day”
The hardest challenge about being a Division III student-athlete is: Managing athletics and academics
Worst grade in a class you ever got – what and when? C+ in Child Development freshman year. Good thing that’s what my intended career will involve.
I’m deathly afraid of ... : Spiders…
Worst habit: Procrastination
Most expensive traffic ticket: A ticket for not having my license on me, but I didn’t have to pay it
Language I’d like to learn: Scottish Gaelic sounds really pretty, but more practically Spanish
The longest I could survive without my cell phone: Yikes…maybe one day, maybe
One word your mother or father would use to describe you: Dreamer
Favorite sports figures: Michael Jordan
My greatest moment in sports was: Winning the NCAA Division III national championship last year
The best player I ever faced was: Olivia Lett every day in practice for two-and-a-half years
Worst dresser on my team: A lot of us wear sweats most of the time so this might be a team award
Thing that’s been in my fridge the longest: Cottage cheese or a gallon of milk that’s starting to look like cottage cheese…
Person I’m dying to have dinner with: Ellen DeGeneres
Favorite food: Mexican
Vegetable I won’t eat: Peas, eww
Pepsi or Coke?: I have to say Pepsi in case Lexi Baltes reads this
Favorite TV show: "Friends" or something on Food Network
Favorite musical group: I like all kinds of music
Favorite movie: "Eat, Pray, Love" or "Glory Road" or maybe "Tommy Boy"
If a movie were made of my life, I would like the following person to play me: Emma Stone. She had me sold in "The Help."
The person in history I would most like to meet is: Mother Teresa
My dream job would be: Serving the underprivileged anywhere
Place I’d most like to live: Not too far from my family
Two things that are tops on my “bucket list”: To serve in Africa or India and to have children someday
My possession that would fetch the most on eBay: National Championship ring
Who is the luckiest person in the world? I’m gonna go with Oprah on this one.
What I miss most about being in the third grade: Not having any homework!
