{"id":269,"date":"2014-11-14T23:18:16","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T23:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=269"},"modified":"2014-11-14T23:18:16","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T23:18:16","slug":"education-is-a-conversation-with-kylie-roth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/education-is-a-conversation-with-kylie-roth\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cEducation Is\u201d A conversation with Kylie Roth"},"content":{"rendered":"
As part of a new weekly Journal column, Nathaniel Dunaway meets with Western Oregon University students to discuss their lives and their experiences in the world of higher education. In doing so, he hopes to find an answer to the question: what does it mean to be a college student in the 21st century?\r\n\r\n<\/pre>\n
 <\/p>\n
I\u2019m from Dallas, so I actually live at home and commute here. I save a lot of money that way. My sister did the same thing, went to WOU, lived at home, and moved out after that. Sometimes my dad will be like, \u201care we just a hotel?\u201d because honestly I\u2019m not always there. Leave at 7:30 a.m., get home at 8 p.m., that\u2019s a normal day. But I get along with my parents; I\u2019m very lucky to have a loving family.
\nI\u2019m a senior, and I\u2019ve gone here all four years. I came in not knowing anything of what I wanted to do. I was undecided, didn\u2019t know my major or anything. I think it took me longer to get involved. I was wandering through LACCs, where no one really cares why they\u2019re there; and living at home; I was still connected to my Dallas community. It was\u00a0difficult to know where to invest my time.
\nNow I feel really involved. I\u2019ve found where I fit. I work at the Child Development Center as a teacher\u2019s aide, I\u2019m a WOU ambassador, I\u2019m part of an honors society for psychology students and I\u2019m an officer for the National Society of Leadership and Success.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m interning in Salem right now so I\u2019m involved there. It\u2019s a practicum, so I get credit for it. It\u2019s at Family Building Blocks, which is an organization whose main goal is to prevent \u2026 child abuse through therapeutic class or parenting classes. I spend about 13 hours a week there, mainly in the classrooms. Prevention for abuse really happens between ages zero to three.
\nI don\u2019t exactly know what I want to do yet, but I want to somehow work with at-risk children or children with disabilities. Working with kids is really fun; you never know what they\u2019re going to say. I asked one little girl, \u201cDo you know what you want to be when you grow up?\u201d and she\u2019s like, \u201cI\u2019m gonna be an entomologist,\u201d and I personally did not know what an entomologist was, and she said, \u201cIt\u2019s a person who studies bugs, specifically insects.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are those great moments all the time, but it can be challenging at times, too. You have to learn how to talk differently and correctly, to affirm and empower children, but also to let them see consequences. It\u2019s been a great experience.
\nDr. Brannan in the Psychology department always says \u201ccollege isn\u2019t for everyone, but education is,\u201d and I agree with that.<\/p>\n
I value higher education very highly. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s for everyone, but I do think some form of education, may it be trade school or some form of learning, makes you more open-minded. And I don\u2019t think open-minded means you have to accept everything, but that you\u2019re able to see everything.<\/p>\n
In high school, thinking back, a lot of teachers would say \u201cdon\u2019t let money matter when you pick a college,\u201d but that was a big deciding factor. I think it\u2019s worth the cost, but you have to be proactive about it, financially. The way I\u2019ve approached my higher education, debt is not actually a concern for me. I feel very privileged that I\u2019m in that boat.<\/p>\n
Education in any form should be for everyone, but it doesn\u2019t necessarily have to be college. I\u2019m planning on taking a year off after I graduate. I\u2019m still not sure about grad school. I don\u2019t know yet. My goal is just to get employed in something that I enjoy, and have it hopefully help guide me from there.
\nTranscribed and edited by Nathaniel Dunaway<\/em>
\nIf you\u2019re a Western student and would like to be interviewed for the Portraits of a University column, contact Nathaniel Dunaway at journalentertainment@wou.edu<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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