To Wisconsinites at UW-Madison, beer, brats, and cheese are just a part of the every-day culture growing up, so it isn’t surprising that a cheese club was created to make everyone feel right at home. Cheese club presidents, Kelsey Mortell and Lauren Zuleger both took on the leadership role this past fall and have been making the club even chedder than before with a Mac-and-Cheese cook-off and hopefully an additional cheese-curd pub crawl this spring season. Both have a love for everything gouda and love meeting all their fellow cheese-lovers on campus. We sat down with them to ask them about their celeb status.
Names, Year, Major, Involvement:
Kelsey Mortell, Junior, Food Science, Badger Cheese Club
Lauren Zuleger, Junior, Microbiology, Badger Cheese Club, Badger Volunteers
What made you decide to join the cheese club, and then later take it’s leadership into your own hands?
Kelsey: “Well, it all started freshman year when I went to the org fair, I was looking around, none of the clubs stood out to me and I all the sudden saw this yellow board, and it was cheese club. Being a part of the Mortell family I grew up with cheese around me at all times, so I was like hey that might be a fun club. So Lauren and I went to the first meeting together and as we stuck it out through the semester, we loved it, and at the end they were offering leadership roles. The application was a long page about why you deserve to get this, and what your passion for cheese is and I guess our applications stood out because they asked us to come and be co-vice presidents soon to be presidents for the 2013-2014 year.”
Lauren: “Well born and raised in Wisconsin I love cheese, it seemed like a good way to get involved freshman year to meet new people. After the first meeting I fell in love with all the cheese samples. I wanted to become the president so I could continue the Badger Cheese Club tradition.”
What is it like to be the cheese club presidents & what do you do as a member of the cheese club?
Kelsey: So what we do is brainstorm different themes for our meetings, so cheese curds, aged cheddars, etc. and we will go out and buy the food and reserve a room and people will come to the meeting (50-75 people) then we do a brief humorous history of the cheeses and invite everyone to taste the pickings for the evening.
Lauren: It’s really fun, everyone in the club is super cool. All of our events are really fun, everyone gets along very well and it’s a great place to meet people with a love of cheese.
What is your favorite thing about the club?
Kelsey: The socials we do, the cheese club pub-crawl got very rowdy… in a good way.
Lauren: The whole thing in general, everything about it. I love how it is laid back, and everyone is always excited to talk to us about what he meetings are about, and our outside events are so much fun.
What is your favorite type of cheese?
Kelsey: OMG this question gets me every time. There are so many different types of cheeses but I think I always have to go with an aged Gouda.
Lauren: I don’t like to discriminate against cheese, but if I was forced to choose I would say smoked Gouda.
Presidents think alike, huh?
What is your favorite activity the cheese club does throughout the year?
Kelsey: Either the cheese curd pub-crawl or the cheese formal. Eating cheese in a classy outfit doesn’t get much better.
Lauren: My favorite activity is formal, because it is a good way to let off steam at the end of the semester, and bond over cheese with fellow cheese clubbers.
What is your Celeb Crush?
Kelsey: Charlie Hunnam, AKA Jax Teller from Sons of Anarchy. He can rock any hair-do, I really like his slicked back hair in the last season of SOA and his scruff. Also, he is always tan and has the biggest friendliest whitest smile. He looks into your soul with his gorgeous eyes.
Lauren: I would pick Chuck Bass because he is so well dressed and he is such a gentlemen, and mostly just perfect.
What is your dream job?
Kelsey: My dream job would eventually be to own a restaurant and run the kitchen AKA CHEF.
Lauren: To sneak onto Kelsey’s restaurant staff and make tons of delicious cheese-based recipes.
What’s your favorite thing about UW-Madison?
Kelsey: The people here, and how beautiful the campus is.
Lauren: How there is something for everyone, no matter what your interest is. Also, I love the school spirit and we are all so prideful and unifies as a community.