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?

I’m 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, “are we just a hotel?” because honestly I’m not always there. Leave at 7:30 a.m., get home at 8 p.m., that’s a normal day. But I get along with my parents; I’m very lucky to have a loving family.
I’m a senior, and I’ve gone here all four years. I came in not knowing anything of what I wanted to do. I was undecided, didn’t 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’re there; and living at home; I was still connected to my Dallas community. It was difficult to know where to invest my time.
Now I feel really involved. I’ve found where I fit. I work at the Child Development Center as a teacher’s aide, I’m a WOU ambassador, I’m part of an honors society for psychology students and I’m an officer for the National Society of Leadership and Success.

I’m interning in Salem right now so I’m involved there. It’s a practicum, so I get credit for it. It’s at Family Building Blocks, which is an organization whose main goal is to prevent … 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.
I don’t 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’re going to say. I asked one little girl, “Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?” and she’s like, “I’m gonna be an entomologist,” and I personally did not know what an entomologist was, and she said, “It’s a person who studies bugs, specifically insects.”

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’s been a great experience.
Dr. Brannan in the Psychology department always says “college isn’t for everyone, but education is,” and I agree with that.

I value higher education very highly. I don’t think it’s 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’t think open-minded means you have to accept everything, but that you’re able to see everything.

In high school, thinking back, a lot of teachers would say “don’t let money matter when you pick a college,” but that was a big deciding factor. I think it’s worth the cost, but you have to be proactive about it, financially. The way I’ve approached my higher education, debt is not actually a concern for me. I feel very privileged that I’m in that boat.

Education in any form should be for everyone, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be college. I’m planning on taking a year off after I graduate. I’m still not sure about grad school. I don’t know yet. My goal is just to get employed in something that I enjoy, and have it hopefully help guide me from there.
Transcribed and edited by Nathaniel Dunaway
If you’re a Western student and would like to be interviewed for the Portraits of a University column, contact Nathaniel Dunaway at journalentertainment@wou.edu