Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Listeners, welcome to the sound barrier, Northeast State Community College's official podcast. I'm co host Mackenzie Moore gent sitting here today with my fellow co host Thomas Wilson. And we've got a special guest in in with us today. He's got a lot to look forward to. Ahead we're sitting with Caleb Owens, science student here at Northeast State. Caleb, thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate it.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm happy to be here.
[00:00:37] Speaker A: Could you give us a little bit of a background right now about just yourself, your time at Northeast State? What's that look like?
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Yeah, so I'm Caleb. I'm a 28 year old non traditional student. I am a pre respiratory therapy pre nursing major. I graduate this fall and I will be transferring to ETSU's respiratory therapy program hopefully in next fall.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: Respiratory therapy, what does that entail and what led you to choose that path?
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Respiratory therapy, it's pretty broad, but it's anything that involves the, the lungs, the cardiovascular system specifically. What kind of led me to it is that this part of Tennessee is, has a real shortage of respiratory therapists. They really need respiratory therapists here in this area to help provide quality care. It's a real issue in this area specifically and some of the, the duties of a respiratory therapist are performing tests under the advice of a doctor or getting vital signs. It's like it's adjacent to nursing except it's more specific.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: Okay, sweet. And also, I didn't ask also with your background, you said you're not from this state too. I remember I had video interviewed you a previous week and we had gotten that done, but you said could you talk to a little bit about that and what led you here to Tennessee?
[00:02:03] Speaker B: Yeah, so I'm from Idaho originally. My sister has lived in Mountain City for five years or so and I was a manager at a Walmart in Idaho and I was working 55, 60 hours a week making $60,000 a year. And I just felt like I was working my life away. I was working too much. I didn't like my job, but I didn't have enough money to go back to school either.
So I. But my sister who had lived in Mountain City for five, six years, told me that if I moved here I could take advantage of the Tennessee reconnect and go to community college for free. So I, I jumped on the opportunity.
[00:02:45] Speaker A: Awesome. Like that's a huge decision, but it's for a really, like a really good outcome too. As you've experienced right now, as you just said, you know, you're taking advantage of Tennessee. Reconnect. What's that been like?
[00:02:55] Speaker B: It's been great. Honestly there. I've had absolutely no issues with it. It's helped me out a bunch. I wouldn't have been able to go back to school without it.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: What have the classes been like for you here? The facilities, the, the labs, the projects?
Could you talk a little bit about that?
[00:03:11] Speaker B: The classes here? I've really enjoyed all my classes here. I actually originally was a computer science major, but I changed it just because I wanted to work more with people. And I like physical science more than theoretical science, so that's kind of why I decided to go with that. But I've had a great experience with all my labs, all my professors, they've really helped me out to work with my schedule as a non traditional student.
And I've really enjoyed being in the Science department. So much so that I got a job working with them so that I could spend all my time here. We've got so many cool models and stuff. Like, one of my favorite models that we have in the Science department is we have a dissection of a human lung that we have a comparison side by side with a healthy human lung and an emphysema human lung. So you get to see cool stuff like that when you're in the Science department. I've got a ton of resin cast models of all sorts of cool things like, like little turtles or tapeworms or a bunch of cool stuff that you have over there that's cool.
[00:04:28] Speaker C: Who are some of the, I guess, faculty and staff members there in science or anywhere across the college that have kind of been mentors to you, kind of helped you, kind of steer you in the direction you wanted to go.
[00:04:38] Speaker B: I would say that Michelle Glass has made a big difference. I was affected pretty heavily, heavily by Hurricane Helene, and she made me aware of the kind of resources that I could get from the school. I didn't have water for six weeks, so they were like, oh, you can shower here on campus, and stuff like that. Made a huge difference to my life at the time.
And then like, Dale Ledford, I love Dale Ledford. He's. He's a great professor. He's so energetic, so entertaining you, even though you're taking Anatomy 1 and Anatomy 2 with him, or Honors Biology, some of the more difficult science classes we offer, it's always fun, it's always exciting when you're in his class. He's just such a great person, full of so much energy.
So I would say he's Played a big part. Dean Hychoo, the.
[00:05:30] Speaker C: Oh, yes, Chris Hijew.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: I love Chris. Chris is great. He is happy to work with you. He understands that life happens. And as long as you're doing your best, he'll bend over backwards to make sure you get the help you need.
[00:05:47] Speaker A: We always want to be able to provide that.
No one's out there achieving what they achieve alone. There's always a community involved. There's always support, some sort of resources involved with that. So I'm glad that that's been your experience here. Not glad that you went through it with Hurricane Helene by any means, but I am glad that the college was able to kind of step in and help you where we were able to. And Michelle is awesome. I run into her a lot working out of the library.
Yeah, always has those.
The tutoring sessions. Are those tutoring sessions or just pre test sessions maybe?
[00:06:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Every Friday we do an Anatomy 1 and Anatomy 2 tutoring session, which I actually get to be a part of as a tutorial.
So it's, It's. I've really enjoyed connecting with other students and helping them.
[00:06:34] Speaker A: It doesn't look like you're just reading and writing notes and studying it. There's community involved with that, too. Sometimes I even have pancakes.
[00:06:41] Speaker B: Yeah, we do a breakfast every year. Or we play games too, to help you learn.
Like we have a little fly swatter game that we do sometimes. And. And it's. Well, it's just.
It's like, have you guys ever played slapjack, deck of cards?
So I'll ask a question and then I flip cards. That could be the answers. And as soon as you see the card I flip, you smack it. And whoever smacks it gets the card. And that counts as a point.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: Okay, so like fast thinking. And you have to be right, though.
[00:07:16] Speaker C: Did that come from the mind of Dale Ledford?
[00:07:18] Speaker B: I think it was a Michelle Glassman, actually.
[00:07:21] Speaker C: Okay, yeah, great idea.
[00:07:23] Speaker B: Dale seems the type, though. Dale, he loves games.
[00:07:27] Speaker C: So when you say respiratory therapy, how is that as a discipline kind of evolved and changed and sought to, I guess, help patients? Because you said there were not a lot of people doing in this area.
What do you know what the demand for that is and how many people are in need of that?
[00:07:46] Speaker B: Oh, we are something like 10,000 respiratory therapists short in the state of Tennessee.
So we are very desperate for them here.
And it's really just quality of life, you know, without.
It's. They call it systematic. Right. Anything that involves your lungs and your heart is systematic. It will affect all of your other organs, you know, make you tired, you know, just decrease quality of life incredibly. So if you have a respiratory therapist that you can see, you don't want to see them regularly. But if you can have the opportunity to go see a respiratory therapist, it saves you money from having to see a pulmonologist and it drastically increases your quality of life. So even getting your oxygen levels up 3, 4%, you'd notice a huge difference.
[00:08:40] Speaker A: What's like the usual, like oxygen, I
[00:08:43] Speaker B: guess, saturation or 95 to 99%.
[00:08:45] Speaker A: 95, 99. Okay.
[00:08:47] Speaker B: Yeah, but people are, can go as low as 80%.
But that's.
You'd feel terrible.
[00:08:55] Speaker C: Yeah, you would think that would you feel terrible, badly.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: No energy for anything really.
[00:09:01] Speaker B: Yeah, you'd feel awful.
So. And that's. And you know, it's a common side effect of smoking, so.
And vaping.
[00:09:09] Speaker A: Interesting.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: So stay away from that. Unless you want to see me.
[00:09:12] Speaker C: Yes.
You don't want to. Well, you do want to see him if you need it, but you really don't want to see.
[00:09:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:17] Speaker C: Unless absolutely necessary in his future profession. Now what has been kind of.
How do you know, you've talked a little bit about the professors and the kind of the education, the curriculum you've got here, but how has Northeast State given you a strong foundation you feel, moving into a four year university?
[00:09:36] Speaker B: You know, I've actually done, I've done really well in my Anatomy 1, Anatomy 2 classes and I think that that's, that says more about the professors than it says about me.
So I think that, that, that they've given me a strong, just base knowledge of it.
When I took Biology, that prepared me for Anatomy 1. When I took Anatomy 1, I felt well prepared for Anatomy 2 and, and so on. I can't speak to how I'll feel at ETSU because I haven't, I'm not there yet, sure. But I, I feel confident that I'm going to do well. And then there's other resources here like, like Jennifer Webb, Bear engagement. She knows tons of people already. You. So you can go talk to her about transferring to etsu. She'll put you in contact with people all of the college, college days that they do here where everybody sets up a booth in the humanities building and you get to go talk about programs and stuff like that. Northeast has been great putting those kind of things together and advertising those for students so that you have a chance to go look at what your future could look like.
[00:10:47] Speaker A: So what's been your proudest moment here as A student.
[00:10:50] Speaker B: I mean, I got an A in anatomy, too, so that's hard to beat.
[00:10:54] Speaker C: It's hard to do.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: Yeah, it's hard to do. I was one of, like, three students, I think, that got an A in anatomy, too.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh.
[00:11:01] Speaker B: So I would say that's a pretty proud moment. I've also got to be involved in the theater department, and I've done some of the plays, which is just really fun.
I don't know if I'm a great actor, so I don't know if I'd say that's my proudest moment, but it's definitely one of my most fun moments.
Yeah. So I think probably the anatomy, too. I'm also the president of the greens club, which I'm always proud to tell people that in the environmental science club, we. We made a Christmas tree out of recycled material, so that was pretty fun.
Yeah. So there's a lot of things I'm proud about here, but I would probably say mig. A in anatomy, too.
[00:11:42] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Put that up on a wall.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:46] Speaker A: I never took anatomy myself. I kind of went around anatomy and biology after the frog dissection. And sometime in high school, I was like, okay, I'm gonna go the chemistry route. And it was chemistry for me, so I couldn't imagine how anatomy is, like, so much memorization.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's what I was good at. I like that kind of stuff because I'm good at memorizing things.
One another thing that I. I was really was really fun, and I'm proud that I was able to be a part of. It was. We got to connect with the local high schools and middle schools, and I got to help run a dissection for mice and owl pellets, which was pretty fun.
[00:12:30] Speaker C: I saw you at that over there.
[00:12:33] Speaker A: What's an owl?
[00:12:34] Speaker B: Owl pellet. It's like a regurgitation from an owl. They. Whenever they eat, like, a mouse or something, their body digests everything it can, and then what it does in it regurgitates in, like, a ball. And you can dissect it and pull the bones of, like, shrews or other rodents. Sometimes you'll find insects.
[00:12:56] Speaker C: Didn't the kids have to identify the bones? Because every small mammal had, like, a. Like a bone map.
[00:13:01] Speaker B: Yeah, we had. We have a map that you get to compare the bones that you find to. So you find a skull. You get to decide if it's from a mouse, a shrew, a rat, or other types of rodents.
There's also, like, they eat lizards, too. And Other reptiles and stuff like that. So you got to.
Sometimes you, if you're lucky, not as often you'd get. You'd find lizard bones, which was pretty neat.
The mice was not quite as.
I mean, you know, the, the owl pellets are more discover. When you cut into a mouse, you know what you're going to see. Oh, you know, the owl pellets are like, whoa, what did I just find in here? It's like a little treasure chest.
[00:13:50] Speaker A: Kind of weird question. Did they get to keep the bones if they found something neat?
[00:13:53] Speaker B: Yeah, they got to keep the bones. Yeah.
[00:13:54] Speaker A: That's cool.
[00:13:55] Speaker B: So if anybody knows any, any high school or middle school students, we do it every year, every semester. They're more than welcome to participate.
[00:14:03] Speaker A: I had no clue owls did that.
[00:14:05] Speaker B: Yeah, ours are kind of. They're like owls that. Owl pellets that are mostly raised in captivity, but at etsu, they have a program where they get owl pellets that are raised in the wild. And those ones are really interesting to look through because I've also heard some horror stories too, but of just. Just live bugs in the owl pellet. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, but that's a really cool thing that ETSU does. It's just natural science that you get out there and hands on experience.
[00:14:42] Speaker A: I learned something new just now. So, yeah, ATSU also has, like, speaking of birds, I know that they have the eagle cams. That's a big deal over there. I think their biology department spearheads that and they've got the cams on all the nests. A little off topic, but so what were some challenges that you might have come across? And you already kind of touched up on Hurricane Helene.
[00:15:02] Speaker B: Hurricane Helene was pretty rough because that not only did I not have water for six weeks, we missed like almost two weeks of school. And I was taking anatomy one at the time. And so we went test one and then we didn't have another test until like the last month of class. And then we had Test 2, 3, 4 in the final in like three weeks or a month. It was. That was rough.
That was. That was definitely a challenge. But I would say that's the only reason I didn't get in an A in anatomy one too.
But yeah, that was pretty challenging.
And then there's.
You're always going to have in life, you're always going to have differences with other people or professors or whoever.
So that's always a challenge that you have to be prepared for when you're coming to school, you're not going to get along with everybody, you're not going to agree with the way that everybody does things, but it's important to just do the best you can and be respectful and just absolutely try your best.
[00:16:06] Speaker C: How big a challenge was it to get to move here from Idaho? Because that's not like driving up from Sevierville. That's a long. Yeah, it was all to get drive.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: I, you know, I'm lucky enough that I like I said, I have a sister who lives in Mountain City. So I, I was able to just live with them for two weeks while I found a place in Johnson City before I moved out here to go to school. But it was the other thing. I'm lucky enough that I have a lot of family.
So moving from Idaho I had a lot of help getting rid of my stuff. Moving here, I had a lot of help.
Just my sister and my brother in law, they, you know, he's got a truck, he helps move me around every time I need to be moved. So really I couldn't have done it without a support system.
So it was, it was definitely quite challenging. But I like it a lot here. Probably here to stay. You guys are stuck with me. Idaho transplant.
[00:17:00] Speaker C: Good.
[00:17:01] Speaker A: Well, good. We need respiratory therapy.
[00:17:03] Speaker B: Yeah. At least something you guys need.
[00:17:07] Speaker A: And gosh, you were involved in. You're such a well rounded students. Like it feels like there's. You had your hand in so many different things. President of the Greens Club. You're involved in theater too. Can you talk about a little bit about how just your involvement here kind of shaped your experience?
[00:17:23] Speaker B: Well, I, as a, you know, as a non traditional student. I went to college when I was 18.
Didn't care for it. Didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. Failed all my classes. I did the same thing at 21, but this time it was because I could drink and I was focused on partying and not, you know, not taking my studies seriously. I did the same thing at 21.
So it was when I, when I finally was mature enough to do it, I was like, I want to fully throw myself into every aspect of. Of campus that I can. I want to make connections, I want to help people. I want people to help me, you know, so I, I just got involved with everything I could just because I thought that making connections and getting to know people and all of these things just help you towards your future.
So even if you're say a below average student, if you get involved and you show that you're working, that makes a huge difference. People will almost like that more than you're looking at your grades, they'll be like, wow, this person really is cares, you know, so that's, that was one of my big things is I wanted the support system that came with just being involved, everybody on campus knowing me kind of thing.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: Yeah. So I mean, these are going to be, you know, turn from your peers to your colleagues someday. So it's nice to know that, like, you're reliable.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: Yeah. I was a bear engagement leader too. So I got to do the tours and introduce myself to the new students. That was exciting and they paid me for it. And they got me food every day.
[00:19:04] Speaker C: Hey, there's plus best of many worlds.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: Exactly. And I got to just now I'm the president of the Greens club and people just know me from doing that. So people wanted to join the club just because they knew me from the bear engagement stuff. Or like I'm, I'm also, I tutor anatomy too. So they also were like, oh, I know Caleb and he's going to be at the study group every week. So maybe it helped them to feel more comfortable coming to the study group. So I, you know, and I get a lot of enjoyment out of helping people in service. So that's, that's one thing. That's one reason why I got so involved too.
[00:19:43] Speaker A: And, you know, yours isn't uncommon. Like, we hear a lot from our like, non traditional, more adult students who are just like, yeah, I, I started college, I wasn't mature enough. But then they usually turn out to be the most successful when they return after, you know, they've got some years of experience of just being human and learning. And so it's really not an uncommon experience where that's concerned. So I'm really glad that you were able to, you know, come back and kind of prove to yourself like, what you're capable of.
[00:20:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Be a manager at Walmart for five years working 60 hours a week. You'll do anything to get out of here. I'm just kidding. It wasn't that bad.
But 60 hours also, that's a lot. That's a lot of time to be working.
[00:20:23] Speaker C: That's just intense responsibility too. I would think that would not be an easy job.
[00:20:27] Speaker B: Yeah, it was.
You just have so many people to answer to, you know, so it's really stressful because there's so many people to answer to and everybody has this, wants you to do it one way or another way or the most important thing is just to be decisive and do it, you know.
[00:20:47] Speaker C: Yeah. What theater productions were you, did you do Feathers and teeth or I did
[00:20:51] Speaker B: not do feathers and teeth, but I did the Hobbit and Thorn. Three Musketeers.
[00:20:55] Speaker C: Okay. Were you tech crew?
[00:20:57] Speaker B: No, I was an actor.
[00:20:58] Speaker C: Oh, who'd you play in the.
Who were you in the Hobbit?
[00:21:02] Speaker B: The Hobbit I played. I puppeted smog.
[00:21:06] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:21:06] Speaker B: I was the grocery boy and I was a goblin, so.
[00:21:12] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:21:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I had way more for three musketeers too. I asked him, I was like, I don't want a big part. Give me a small part. So they gave me six of them.
But it was a really good experience. I really liked it. I liked getting to know everybody in the theater department. Brad, MacKenzie, TJ and Richard all do a great job and it was really fun being a part of it.
[00:21:34] Speaker C: That's a top tier theater department over there. Without a doubt. Really some pros in there.
[00:21:38] Speaker B: And then for a week or two after the Hobbit, everybody came up to me and went, Cheese, Mr. Baggins.
Dwarves.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: You're involved in so much here. What, what's gonna be.
What are the things you're gonna miss the most about Northeast State once you move on?
[00:21:56] Speaker B: Just the support system. I just, you know, I'm at home here at this point, you know, because I know everybody and everybody knows me. So going to a larger school that doesn't quite have as much like the professors don't know you by name. They don't know that I was in Hurricane Helene. They don't know that kind of stuff. So that's probably the thing I'm going to miss most about Northeast State is just the one on one individual relationships that you get to build with your professors.
[00:22:28] Speaker A: Well, you're always welcome to come back and visit us too. So really, I've actually interviewed a few alumni and they're like, oh, like whatever excuse to get back campus. I need to say hi to so and so or I need to catch up with this person and like, just seeing that community, it never leaves. So we're always going to be here.
So. But we do, we do look forward to, you know, you going out there and doing what you love, doing what you're good at and making an impact on our community. And it sounds like you're going to do just that. So we're excited for you. What does this mean to you and your family and your support system knowing that, you know, you're about to graduate this and now you're going on to your next journey? What does this mean?
[00:23:10] Speaker B: You know, I'm kind of. I'm kind of the Black sheep. So really, it's just about time.
I'm the youngest of five and all my siblings are like, valedictorian or, you know, my. The sister right above me got a full ride academic scholarship to byu.
[00:23:29] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:23:30] Speaker B: So she is like. And she is valedictorian of a school of like, her graduating class was like 1200 people and she was valedictorian, so.
But she's been a great help. You know, she's so smart.
She's been a great help. And my sister, she's excited to come watch me walk the stage and.
And I. I'm doing a commencement speech too, for the science department.
[00:23:53] Speaker C: Awesome. All right.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: So I. She's excited to come see me speak. So my parents live out of the country right now, but they're coming back in June and. And they just. They're more excited for me to do more theater.
[00:24:08] Speaker A: Really?
[00:24:08] Speaker B: Yeah, that's what they want me to do. They want to see me do more theater.
[00:24:12] Speaker A: Did they see you in the plays?
[00:24:13] Speaker B: No, they've been out of the country for about a year and a half, two years now. So they'll. But they're coming back in July, so that.
But I'll be so busy by the time they come back, so we'll see. Maybe eventually they'll see me in a play.
[00:24:29] Speaker A: Yeah, there's so many theaters around here, like community theaters and.
[00:24:33] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:33] Speaker A: Great to get involved in. But then again, you're going to be juggling a lot once you start.
[00:24:37] Speaker B: And everybody in my family all went engineering. I'm the only one who didn't. So that's. That's a little different, too.
[00:24:44] Speaker A: Interesting.
[00:24:47] Speaker B: So they're. They're excited to have somebody that they can call with their medical problems and get free advice.
So they're looking forward to that
[00:24:57] Speaker A: panic attack or something else.
You're the one to call.
So I guess pulmonologists. Just out of curiosity, are they the ones who form, like, pulmonary function tests?
[00:25:07] Speaker B: No, that's going to be a respiratory therapist. Oh, the pulmonary function test. Yeah. A pulmonologist. I mean, they might. A pulmonologist might, but that's the. That's the doctor. So they're mostly diagnosing based on the tests that a respiratory therapist performs.
[00:25:21] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: Because a respiratory therapist can't diagnose.
[00:25:24] Speaker A: Have you done any clinicals yet or anything like that? Or is that more of like later?
[00:25:28] Speaker B: It's later because it's really difficult, say, for nursing. You have to go do observation hours. Same thing with radiography. It's really hard to do to do observation hours for respiratory therapy because of liability problems involved. So I haven't, I haven't had the opportunity to do any clinicals yet.
I have talked to a few respiratory therapists about their jobs, but that's, that's really all the experience I have.
[00:25:54] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:25:55] Speaker B: I also, I mean, I had a brother who, who passed away as an infant who, who got, who worked with a respiratory therapist a lot too.
So that was really. Yeah, I didn't. Yeah. And he, he's born with dwarfism and he had lung problems because of it. And they, you know, the respiratory therapist, you could immediately see him light up.
[00:26:20] Speaker A: Would you say that that's what kind of inspired you to choose this route or is that part of it?
[00:26:25] Speaker B: Part of it, I'd say, you know, there's, there's a lot of things that went into it. Really. One of the things was it's a good way. I would like to eventually go to medical school. So I wanted to pick something that was like a four year degree that I could make money at and also get experience to figure out what I might want to do in medical school if I ever make it that far. But one step at a time is what I'd recommend though. You know, if you start thinking too far into the future, you'll get overwhelmed and.
[00:26:56] Speaker A: Yeah, it sounds like you have a good idea.
[00:26:59] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And I'm excited to do it. In fact, I'm not even totally married to respiratory therapy right now. I, I'm pre nursing, pre respiratory therapy. So I can choose either one. Respiratory therapy is the one that I'm leaning towards right now.
But I could maybe switch up to nursing. I haven't really.
I'm pretty, I'm pretty confident though that I'm going to go into respiratory therapy.
[00:27:24] Speaker A: It's kind of neat seeing the way you think. You know, just in case you've given yourself options and you've set yourself up so that later on down the road it's like you're thinking of so many different puzzle pieces at play. Like,
[00:27:36] Speaker B: helps a lot. If you want to go into the medical sciences, you have to have a backup plan if you're, if you're planning on doing a selective, competitive major like radiology or nursing or respiratory therapy or cardiovascular tech, all of those are selective majors and not everybody gets in. So it is important to prepare for if you don't.
So right now that's, you know, I mean, most nurses would get mad at me for saying this, but nursing is my fallback right now because respiratory therapy is Traditionally the fallback, but oh yeah, they psu. It's actually easier to get into the respiratory therapy program than the nursing program. But I'm just more interested in respiratory therapy.
So that has kind of played a role in like what I'm deciding to do. And if I don't get into either, but I think I'm, I'll probably get into at least one. Then I'll probably do biology or exercise science, bachelor or maybe audiology because ETSU has a great audiology program.
[00:28:43] Speaker A: What is audiology?
[00:28:44] Speaker B: It's a ear doctor.
[00:28:46] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:28:47] Speaker B: Just specifically for noise, not for balance and that kind of thing. I don't believe.
I'm pretty sure it's just for hearing.
[00:28:55] Speaker A: Interesting. Okay. Audio, Audiology. Makes sense. Makes sense. There are people out there who, you know, did start a little bit of college. They didn't, they haven't come back yet.
But what would a message be for those people who have been, you know, kind of considering it? They're, they're on the fence about it. But you know, they're scared.
They think maybe, maybe this isn't for me now. Maybe they're afraid to just be in a classroom of people who are younger. Maybe there's going to be a disconnect. What has your experience been like there? And what would a message be for other adult learners?
[00:29:28] Speaker B: Take the pressure off yourself.
Don't worry about where I'm going to be in four years.
Worry about I, you know, I don't want to be impulsive and say worry about the now, but do what you can do now for your future. So even if you don't know what you want your four year degree to be in you, you can always get a four year degree in history or something like that and then go back and learn other things and do that. So if you want to change your career or change your life, quit being so hard on yourself that you have to know everything. You don't. You can come to college. That's what we're here for, is for you to learn. And I know that it can be kind of scary because it's like, oh, what classes do I need to take?
If I do this, will it leave me in a bad place in my third year?
No, no, worry about it. Just do what you need to do now and then.
Yeah, take the pressure off yourself is what I would say. That's what was keeping me behind is I didn't know what I wanted to do with my future. And so I was like, I would start a major. I hated it and I would be like, well, I'm just gonna fail all these classes and not go back. And then I'd do the same thing. I did it again and I was, and I was putting so much pressure on myself to, to know what I want from my life already when I shouldn't have been, I should have just been, oh, let me do some general classes. Let me take an anatomy, see if I like it. Let me take a history, see if I like it. Let me take a theater, see if I like it. Just show up, take three credits, get involved on campus, or take, take a full time schedule and, and just test the waters.
I, I think that it's just important that you're just, if this is what you want to do, that you're trying to do it.
[00:31:20] Speaker A: Yeah. And since those, yeah, those general education, like the, the core classes are involved, you do kind of dip your toes in the water of a lot of different fields, a lot of different areas of study and, and that, wow. It's not like you have to find your passion there. Like you have to find the rest. Like you don't. But it helps you discover what you like. It helps you kind of give you an idea of where you could end up.
[00:31:43] Speaker C: You talked about getting involved on campus and you're involved with a lot of things. Why was that important for you? Because that, that some, some students do that some do not. Why? What would you suggest the best benefits you've experienced by getting involved with a lot of different things other than just going to class?
[00:32:03] Speaker B: Well, one thing is it's helped me decide what I want to do with my future. I've met so many people that do so many different things that it's helped me see what my options are or see the opportunities that other people, the paths other people have taken.
And I can build off of what they've already done.
So that's one reason why I think getting involved in campus helped me a lot.
Is just having mentors and even being a mentor one of the best. I've learned more from tutoring anatomy than I did from taking anatomy.
So being those kind of mentors helps you too, you know. So I think that's why I like to get involved is because it's just going to make you better. But also I'm, I'm a social butterfly. I'm not much of an introvert. So some other people might have challenges, but step out of your comfort zone and you might, and you might find something different that you like, that you never thought you would. So like theater or environmental science or something like that. So I was a computer science person and a computer nerd before this, and I've, you know, it's just opened my horizons, so.
Helps me empathize with people, too.
[00:33:21] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And like, stepping out of the comfort zone, like, for all you introverts out there, that's the hardest part then. But once you've done that, you know, you can do it. And that sets out the groundwork for, you know, opening up for creating connections, networking, finding that next opportunity. So you might be afraid, but that's okay. And that's human.
[00:33:41] Speaker B: And, yeah, anybody can reach out to me.
If you want to come to Northeast and get involved, I'm happy to help anybody with choosing classes or, or tutoring or whatever.
So I, I like to just be involved and help people, so I get joy out of. Out of helping others and serving them, so.
[00:34:02] Speaker C: And that wraps up another episode of the Sound Barrier. Thank you so much for joining us on our podcast here that we, we're pretty proud of. If you want to learn more about Northeast State, it's www.neaststate.edu. that's NortheastState.edu. if you want to listen to the sound barrier, you can go to Amazon Music, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music. We're on them all. Listen like and subscribe. That's the Sound Barrier podcast here at Northeast State. And for all the mice, shrews, and other small creatures out there, if there's an owl in your neighborhood, look out. Those guys don't play.
