Interview with Justine

SEP Transfer Orientation

Spring 2008

Okay.. so… your name?

My name is Justine Rosenlof. I’ll be graduating in June. I’m an ASL/English Interpreting major sociology minor.

So, when did you transfer to Western?

I transferred in 2005.

For fall term?

Yah, fall 2005.

Okay and what college did you transfer from?

Salt Lake Community College, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

How many years did you study at Salt Lake?

I was there for a year and then transferred here.

I worked a long time after high school and then I decided to start taking classes at the community college. I wanted to become an interpreter. But after taking a few of the classes I didn’t really feel like the program was the right match for me. So, I started looking online and I found that Western Oregon had a Bachelor’s degree program. Most only had Associates Degrees.

How does Western compare to your experience at Salt Lake Community College?

It’s similar in a lot of ways, like the small class sizes. I was really worried that coming to a university that I would be lost among all the other students. And I was worried that there was going to be huge classes or that it would be so hard that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with everything, but it really hasn’t been that bad. It’s similar to a community college in that way but I feel like the education level is higher. There are higher expectations but it’s all doable and not really all that overwhelming.

I guess what is or has been one of the biggest challenges of the transition?

I think just knowing how to do everything. I was used to the way I registered for classes on their website, so learning a new website and a new way of registering for classes. Also, trying to keep track of the degree requirements and everything that’s set-up. Picking my minor. That was kind of a big deal, that was hard.

When did you pick your minor?

I put it off as long as possible (laughter). I don’t know I think I was almost a junior by the time I chose. And I just wanted to minor in everything, so I couldn’t decide and looking through the catalogue and… I couldn’t pin-point what I was doing.

I think the Student Enrichment Program has been the biggest resource. I’ve come into the office for so many different things. Even choosing my minor, I would sit down and talk to my advisor. We’d talk about what the different minors really were and have a better idea. The Learning Center has also been a really good resource. I go there a lot for tutoring. My ASL tutor was there, he helped me prepare for my application. I went there for Math tutoring. Math was a real challenge for me.

I took the Career Planning class (through SEP) and that was helpful. Even though I thought ‘Well, I know what I want to be. I want to be an interpreter.’ But it still helped me start thinking about things like graduate programs and there are different options. It opened my eyes to all the different possibilities. Trying to think of what else… I’ve used a lot of things at the SEP office: the copy machine, faxing, things like that.

So, if you had to give one piece of advice to incoming transfer students: What would you want to tell them?

I would tell them to find all the resources available and use them. It took me a while to learn what all the different things were but realizing there was free tutoring and all these different things for free. There’s a non-traditional student lounge in the Werner University Center with a microwave, refrigerator and other students in there to talk to. Things like that, that are just good resources to know about. I recommend finding all you can and talking to as many people as possible. And also, I think getting to know professors. I think that’s even bigger. I think that by getting to know your professors it enhances your learning experience and also you kind of have a personal connection and they know who you are.