From podcast studio to Senate floor: Senior Katie Spreitzer reflects on journey in sustainability and government

5 minutes

 

 

Katie Spreitzer, a senior Sun Devil studying sustainability at the College of Global Futures, started her time at Arizona State University as a podcast co-host. As she prepares to graduate this spring, she reflects on her vast community involvement, professional experience and current position as a Senate page. 

Spreitzer and her close friend Melanie Murphy had the idea for their podcast “Tackling the Teen Life” during the COVID-19 pandemic. They talked about personal experiences and gave advice about their time as high school students, developing a local fan base with other teenagers. What started as a hobby developed into a passion, and Spreitzer and Murphy decided to continue it into college, rebranding the podcast as “Tackling the College Life.” Now, after years of work and a feature on AZ Family, the duo is drawing the project to a close to prepare for life after college. 

“It was a really good time being able to sit down and talk about anything and everything to do with college,” Spreitzer said. “It’s sad to see it go, but we might bring it back in the future.” 

Outside of her time as a podcast co-host,  Spreitzer is devoted to her work as a sustainability student through an accelerated degree program. Traditionally, the accelerated track at ASU for both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree is referred to as a 4 + 1 program, as students take five years total to complete both degrees. 

However, Spreitzer decided to challenge herself in the classroom. As a result, she will be graduating with her bachelor’s degree in three years this spring and expects to graduate next May with her Master of sustainability solutions degree (MSUS), completing both degrees in four years. 

“I love taking master's classes as an undergrad student because I learn more, and my classmates have more expertise,” Spreitzer said. “I'm able to learn from the older students, and then I can bring in my personal experiences from my undergrad. It's a great program, and I love it.” 

Alongside being a full-time student, Spreitzer has a lengthy resume full of sustainability and community-based work positions. Some of her past work includes being a solutioneer at GreenLight Solutions, a sustainability course facilitator for the ASU College of Global Futures, the treasurer for Volunteers in Community Outreach and a member of Campus Student Sustainability Initiatives at ASU. 

Spreitzer’s most recent position is at the Arizona State Senate as a Senate page, helping with general administrative tasks and delivering papers to the senators. She first discovered the position in a newsletter from the School of Sustainability and went through two rounds of interviews before being officially hired. 

Her favorite role so far has been presenting proposed legislation during Senate sessions. 

“It’s cool to be recognized in that setting,” Spreitzer said. “I get to go on the floor, and they’ll give me a certain amount of packets to read in a very quick voice.” 

Pages like Spreitzer are nonpartisan and work closely with all members of the Senate. They will be involved in the internship program until the end of the Senate session, ranging anywhere from “March to late June.” 

Spreitzer also worked as a Community Assistant from August 2022 to December 2023 at Barrett, the Honors College, helping give underclassmen advice as they made the transition into ASU life. While providing support to the student body at Barrett, Community Assistants also run the front desk, decorate the halls and monitor the public areas around their residence hall during the evening and overnight to ensure student safety. 

“It was one of the most amazing ASU experiences I had,” Spreitzer said. “I connected with all the other CAs and all my co-workers, but I also connected with the first-year community. They come in not having a stable friend group. When you're able to be a friendly face to some of the younger students on campus, it makes you feel better.”

Not only did her work as a Community Assistant allow Spreitzer to connect with the community at ASU, but she was also able to share her passion for sustainability and talk to other students outside of her field. 

“Some people don’t even realize sustainability is a major on campus,” Spreitzer said. “Being a CA allowed me to share with them what I'm doing, and I also learn from them. A lot of them are engineers or going into the medical field, so it was cool to have that crossover and interact with other ASU students I might not normally interact with.” 

When asked what inspires her as a sustainability student, Spreitzer spoke fondly of her childhood. 

“Where I grew up in Ahwatukee, we had a lot of morning doves,” Spreitzer said. “I loved waking up to that noise and now, I don't hear that anymore. Realizing that my kids might not be able to experience that is sad, and I'd love to change that.” 

Last summer, Spreitzer traveled to Menomonie, Wisconsin, and worked as an undergraduate researcher through the University of Wisconsin-Stout. From June 2023 to August 2023, she was responsible for creating a research project and presenting it to members of the community by the end of her term. 

“We worked for six weeks on finding this research,” Spreitzer said. “I specifically did mine on circular economies, donut economies and keeping money within local groups, since that can be a problem for communities in the Midwest.” 

Not only did she get hands-on research experience outside of Arizona from the program, but Spreitzer found her passion for working in policy. Her current dream is to work for the Environmental Protection Agency, creating policies around environmental injustices. 

“It was eye-opening to see what I wanted to study and pursue,” Spreitzer said. “I was able to get a feel of that when I communicated with some of the policymakers in Wisconsin for my project.” 

Spreitzer attributes her most recent position as a Senate page to both her relevant work experience as a sustainability student and her on-campus involvement. When asked if she had advice for other Sun Devils looking to get unique jobs as undergraduates, Spreitzer talked about the importance of utilizing your resources. 

“I think ASU students hear this a lot: join clubs, go to meetings and meet new people,” Spreitzer said. “It's important because that's why my ASU experience was so incredible. I made those connections. It gives you more of a support circle and friends that you can talk to.”