Mocklers build a stronger friendship

By Jenna Capelle
Feature Editor

The great friendship between the Mockler siblings can be seen throughout campus of Saint Mary’s University.

Michael “Mocha” Mockler, a junior, and Katherine Mockler, a freshman, were born in Worchester, Mass. and raised in Dubuque, Iowa. They both run for the Saint Mary’s University Cross Country team and Track team.

The siblings share Spanish minors but are majoring in different types of biology. Michael is an environmental biology major and Katherine is a biology pre-physical therapy major.

Michael and Katherine share some of the same friends and frequently see each other around campus because of their similar interests and activities. “I see her a lot at practice and at church,” said Michael. “Every once in a while we see each other on our own time.”

The Mocklers agree that attending SMU has made their friendship stronger. “We’re closer (now), even though we got along well in high school,” said Katherine.

Joking around as kids, the Mocklers accidently sustained some physical injuries. “When we were little, I pulled a chair out from under him and he had to get stitches in his chin,” said Katherine. Michael remembers spinning around, holding hands with his sister when she slipped from his grip, bit her lip and had to get stitches.

Michael decided on SMU because he wanted a small, Catholic school. Katherine visited her brother a few times before she chose SMU. “I wanted to go far from home, but once he had the brain tumor, it kind of put things into perspective,” said Katherine. “I wanted to be closer to him and I could run here.”

This summer, Michael will stay on campus and work for the SMU Office of Admission. In his free time, he’ll be doing field research with his favorite professor, Dr. Cochran. “I’ll be driving down to Iowa and shocking fish to study the distribution of lamprey in a river,” said Michael.

After finals are over, Katherine is going on the Serving Others United in Love (S.O.U.L.) mission trip to Montana with other SMU students. She’s hoping to volunteer at a summer camp for low-income families called the Christian Appalachian Project located in Kentucky. If she does not go to camp, she will work at Culver’s in her hometown.