When new Baker University student Melinda Hipple entered Collins Center with the freshmen class during Traditions Night Sunday, she was greeted with a unique welcome by the BU student body. The bleachers were filled with upperclassmen chanting “Melinda, Melinda, Melinda,” as she and the other new students stood on the basketball court during the first night of their college experience. Classes hadn’t started yet, and Hipple was already the most popular student at Baker.

Who is Melinda?<strong>Who is Melinda?</strong> Who is Melinda?

For the past four years, the 58-year-old has spent four nights of the week working the graveyard shift as a clerk at the Kwik Shop in Baldwin City. Working from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday through Sunday, Hipple has seen and experienced a lot as a clerk, especially from the late-night customers.

Like any convenience store, the Kwik has its regular customers; others who work night shifts or the bar crowd may stop by after last call, but during the school year those regular customers are mainly Baker students.

Because it is the only place open 24 hours in Baldwin City, the Kwik Shop has become a place where students gather during the late hours on weekends. They stop by before going out, before going home after going out and even to find out what the social scene is for the night. Hipple has become the students’ source for where the best parties are. She’ll sometimes ask students what their plans are or how their night is going, but normally, she figures out what’s happening around town by them informing her. She even tells new students,“if they want to know where the best parties are, ask by 11 p.m.”

“If I’m going to work nights, I’m going to make it fun,” Hipple said.

Many times, it has been a good time for her. She has enjoyed getting to know the Baker students whether they’re getting coffee to pull an all-nighter or getting snacks after partying early into the morning. Her knowledge of Baldwin City nightlife and happenings has somewhat turned her into a celebrity among Baker University students, and most greet and call her by name when they stop by the store.

Hipple doesn’t just know students because of her job at the Kwik shop; she is also the house director at Zeta Chi fraternity. She started the job last fall and it is part of what inspired her to apply to Baker as a nontraditional student.

“A lot of it has been exposure to the kids and living in the (fraternity) house,” Hipple said. “I just thought, ‘I’m just spinning my wheels and staying here, it’s time to move myself forward.’”

Back to school<strong>Back to school</strong> Back to school

Wednesday was the first day of classes on Baker’s Baldwin City campus, but it wasn’t Hipple’s first day of college. Forty years ago, she began school at Missouri State University. However, after three semesters of school, she married and quit.

“At that point in time, most women went to college to find a husband,” Hipple said. “It was called getting your M-R-S degree.”

Now, Hipple is determined to finish school and receive her undergraduate degree.

Zeta Chi fraternity member Mike Wilson has faith in Hipple and thinks as Zeta Chi house director she will have an advantage as a new student.

“She’s in the perfect place because the guys can help her out just like we would any other brothers,” Wilson said.

Melinda’s main interest is writing. She contributes and edits poems and short stories online and has written two sci-fi books and more than 400 poems.

She even plans to write a book on some of her strange experiences as a clerk titled “A Matter of Convenience: Tales of the Night Shift.”

“It goes back to being that storyteller, it’s what I do,” Hipple said. “That’s why I’m going back to school. I want to be a writer.”

A Wildcat welcome<strong> A Wildcat welcome</strong> A Wildcat welcome

Although Hipple’s main purpose in attending Baker is to receive her bachelor’s degree, she plans on embracing all parts of student life, including the social scene.

“I think with nontraditional students, it is slightly more difficult because you don’t have that real social aspect,” Wilson said.

In Melinda’s case, though, she’s already making an effort to not miss out on what many nontraditional students don’t partake in. On Sunday, she stood with freshmen clapping at a pep rally outside of Harter Union, walked with them through campus during Traditions Night, played icebreaker games at Playfair and even danced with students on Hartley Plaza.

Junior Cody Bonebrake knows Hipple from his frequent trips to the Kwik Shop and was one of the students cheering for her and even dancing with her Sunday night.

“(Students) love her; her personality is awesome and she’s just a total character,” Bonebrake said.

Students do see one downside to Hipple’s becoming a Wildcat – she no longer works at the Kwik Shop. But most are excited to see her on campus and are proud of her for pursuing what she wants most in life.

“We have all the faith in the world in her,” Wilson said.