SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Azam Shaik and Gabi Jancikova are seniors at Augustana University in Sioux Falls, but they each originally hail from places far from the upper Midwest; Shaik is from India, while Jancikova is from the Czech Republic. In 2024, they are their school’s royals for Viking Days. Augustana University says this marks the first time each of the two honorees comes from outside the United States.
“I’m honored and yeah, just grateful to be one of the royals,” Shaik said.
“It feels very honoring and awesome because this is a great community,” Jancikova said.
Augustana has Viking Days royals as the school’s equivalent of homecoming royalty; the school switched to the more gender-inclusive royals instead of a king and queen for Viking Days back in 2021. Shaik has three majors: data science, quantitative economics and finance. Jancikova has two: environmental studies and sociology.
“Totally different from Azam’s,” Jancikova said.
But they each appreciate how this community has embraced them.
“Both of us, me and Azam, we were very included on campus in general,” Jancikova said.
“Over the years the community here that I’ve found has just been really, I don’t know, just very close and welcoming,” Shaik said.
And it’s all sort of come full circle for them at Augustana, too.
“To share this with Gabi is definitely the best part about it I think, considering she was my first, very first friend here at Augustana,” Shaik said.
