I interviewed Caitlyn Pipoly and she is a Middle Childhood Education major. I was happy to hear that Caitlyn is enjoying her major so far and has been able to get some hands-on experience in the classroom. She loves OSU because it is one of the only universities that puts you in a middle education classroom setting your freshman year. She is active in the FEEP (First Education Experience Program) which allows her to gain classroom experience. She has been working with 5th graders at Holt Crossing Intermediate School and told me that it has been an awesome experience. She worked to implement mindfulness into the classroom and did so by asking the class to gauge their mood and then she would lead them through either a calming or energizing meditation. She also taught them calming exercises that students could do on their own or could do with their teacher to settle down as a class. I was amazed by how much Caitlyn had done for the students and the students felt the same as they still send her emails frequently, even though she can’t be at the school right now.
Caitlyn has become much more involved on campus during her second semester compared to her first. She is the Social Chair or Recipe For Good– a cooking and volunteer-based student organization. She also joined College Mentors for Kids and secured a staff position! She is the youngest general manager in the organization which is no easy feat. As a general manager, one of her main jobs is to interview applicants to be mentors. She has given dozens of interviews for the positions. She plans to keep up with these two involvements moving forward and is hoping to be elected as the president of Recipe For Good during her Sophomore year. She also hopes to become more involved with the Block O student organization. She is applying to the football committee, which is in charge of all the student events surrounding football games. She loves football season so this would be a great fit for her.
Caitlyn liked living in the ACES living-learning community because it allowed her to meet the rest of the ACES easily as they were right next door or down the hall. It allowed her to create close friendships and bonds with the ACES girls. One thing she did not like about living in the ACES community, however, was that she felt like she didn’t meet many people outside of ACES and interacted with many of the same people. She also felt that there were a lot of Sophomores living in Smith-Steeb and she hoped to meet more Freshmen. Her living situation improved dramatically in the second semester as she got a new roommate who she became very close with. They’ve been writing letters to each other during the quarantine.
Her career plans have slightly changed since the first semester. She is still planning on majoring in Middle Childhood Education but now wants to work with 5th graders instead of 7th or 8th graders which is what she originally planned to do. Her time in the FEEP program working with 5th graders opened her eyes to how good it was working with them. She recently decided that she wants to try to work on a cruise ship as an educational planner. This will allow her to travel as well as educate. She also wants to have a focus on after school planning to give children a safe space as well as continue to educate them after school lets out. Caitlyn also wants to promote women in STEM in her classroom. Caitlyn has been lucky to explore her career through the FEEP program which offered field experience in the classroom.
This semester has given Caitlyn some challenges as she now has to do her statistics and physics labs online. A few of her exams have also turned into final papers and she feels it is harder to do school work from home. She is still doing well in her classes though even though she is facing difficulty. Her favorite memory from last semester was football season! She met many new friends at football games and made vlogs each Saturday and put them together as the end of the season to capture her happy memories. I plan on using this information I learned from Caitlyn to continue to support her in her extra-curricular and academic pursuits. I will check-in with her periodically through text to ask how things are going in her personal and academic life. I will also keep an eye out for events/organizations/opportunities that I think might be of interest to her.
Questions
- Are you enjoying your major? Why or why not?
- How have you gotten involved on campus?
- Do you think you will keep the same involvement next year? Why or why not?
- Have you enjoyed the ACES living-learning community in Smith-Steeb? Why or why not?
- Have your career plans changed since your first semester? Why or why not?
- Have you had the chance to explore your desired career through internships, field experience, etc.?
- What is your favorite memory from last semester?