March 14, 2025 • 36 mins
It's official.
With student producers Nathan Witt and Michaela Murphy passing the torch, there's a new voice on the podcast: sophomore Mass Communications student, Ashley Worley! Join Dr. Ross and her new co-host in an introductory sit-down chat.
In typical ADR fashion, they find much more to discuss than your standard icebreakers. The conversation ranges from get-to-know-you questions to discussions about media impact, transitioning from homeschool to college, and the evolving landscape of AI. Whether you're a fellow homeschooler, passionate media student, or just curious about the world of higher ed, this episode is for you.
Have questions for Ashley or Dr. Ross? Email us at ADRquestions@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Stay tuned to the Ask Dr Ross podcast.
It's created to give you infoto succeed at college.
Our hosts are highly qualified.
Dr Catherine Ross is a memberof the University of Texas
System's Academy ofDistinguished Teachers.
She's also a popular professorof 19th century English
literature.
Ask Dr Ross is a communityservice of the University of
(00:27):
Texas at Tyler.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hello, this is a new season of Ask Dr Ross and I have
an exciting announcement, whichis I have a new producer.
Nathan, our wonderful formerproducer, is graduating and
we've got a new one, and this isAshley Worley.
The purpose of this session isto introduce you to Ashley and
to give her a little chance topractice her own on-air voice.
(00:52):
So let's start out by Ashley.
Would you tell us a little bitabout yourself?
Tell me about what you'restudying now at UT Tyler and
what else you're doing?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I'm a mass communications major.
I'm a sophomore.
My minor is graphic design.
I'm just on the verge ofchanging it to a new minor in
the literature and languagesdepartment, which is digital
storytelling and interactivedesign, and I'm really excited
to start doing work on that.
My interest is more in just allforms of media production.
(01:22):
I've loved stories since I wasa little kid, and I think all
the different ways of tellingthem are just really fascinating
.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So you're studying mass communications.
Not everybody would know whatthat means.
What are some of the typicalcourses you're taking?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
It's funny.
I get that question a lot Forbeing communications majors.
Sometimes it's not always wellcommunicated.
What we do, mass comm is like asort of broad umbrella term for
all forms of media production.
Here their degree plans have apretty heavy emphasis on either
journalism or advertising andpublic relations and so I'm in
the public relations route has alittle bit more creativity, I
(01:58):
think, or a little moreflexibility with the type of
things you create.
Some of the typical classes Iam in feature writing right now
with Professor Mogul.
He's fantastic.
I'm in several graphic designclasses and there's lots of
writing in Mass Comm.
I was in multimedia production,video production, just various
sorts of production outlets, prclasses.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
So, in addition to going to classes, I think you're
doing a few things too.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yes, just a few.
So this is actually one of thenew things that I'm doing and
I'm really excited about.
I am working two jobs at themoment.
They're both part-time becausethey only let you work like 19
and a half hours as a student,but I work as a tour guide for
the admissions office.
About to wrap that up, we haveour last couple of tours this
(02:45):
semester.
I'm so sad.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
It's fun meeting new kids, isn't it?
And introducing your campus andtalking to young people.
They're all very excited to behere.
It's really fun to see theirfaces, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
It really is.
It's a good time because youkind of never know what's going
to happen.
But when you're able to get theenergy up for your group, you
know and help them find theresources they need.
Help them learn more about whatlife would be like, because
it's scary.
You know, going into collegejust blind Touring has been a
good time it really has.
So I work that job.
It's about like one day a weekand then I work the special
(03:19):
events like Patriot Premiere.
Those are like half day, allday type event things, and I
also now work at the digitaldesign studio.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
So I'm a undergraduate assistant and so
you're getting a lot of on thejob training.
It's like an internship.
Are you being paid for thedigital design studio work?
I am yes.
Okay, that's even better, isn'tit?
And when you say that, whatexactly are you doing?
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Well, at the moment we haven't really kicked into
gear some of the other things wewere planning.
I am an assistant to kind oflike take management things off
Michaela's plate, so likemanaging the hours, like
somebody has to be in the studioto keep it open.
You know she has a lot going onand so sometimes just having to
be in that one place isdifficult, and so I can step in.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
So the digital design studio is set up for students
and what are some of the optionsthat students have there?
What are the facilities or theopportunities they have with
that?
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Well, I mean, it's a small quiet room which can be
useful for pretty much any kindof media project you're needing
to produce.
I know Michaela was wanting toencourage students to come in
and record podcasts there.
We do have USB mics.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
We have a cabinet full of stuff that nobody ever
uses, and it makes me really sad.
Soon, they're just sort oflearning that it's a new thing,
aren't they?
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Absolutely yeah, and that's part of what this new job
is supposed to be as wellCreating a social media page for
the design studio.
Pushing different like onlinecontent to try and create
awareness for the design studio.
Pushing different like onlinecontent to try and create
awareness for the fact that it'sthere and what people can use
it for.
But yeah, we have podcastequipment in the studio.
We have those USB mics andseveral sets of headphones that
(04:55):
are really nice.
We have several rolling desksand study spaces.
There's a projector.
So even if it's not like amedia creation project, you can
absolutely just come in andpractice giving a presentation
or if you don't really know howto work a projector, we'll come
in and help you with that.
Also, if you have a designproject that's the other thing I
was hired for is, if peoplehave a design project, they're
(05:17):
not really sure how to navigate,they can bring their homework
in there and I'm sitting thereand we can talk through it.
We can look at the file andjust kind of work through some
of those things.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Because design is always a part of what we do,
isn't it?
One of the things that Ithought I'd mention here is that
you are starting to take on aminor in the literature and
languages department which iscalled digital storytelling and
interactive design.
So here we are, a classicalEnglish literature and American
literature and world literaturedepartment.
We still teach Shakespeare andWordsworth, but we also have
(05:49):
recognized that the newliterature of the day is
oftentimes some sort thatstudents are mixing their
classical training and thehumanities, if you will, with
all the fancy new stuff that'sgoing on digitally and on the
Internet and social media and soon.
So it's really neat that you'vehopped on all of that so
(06:21):
quickly.
Neat that you've hopped on allof that so quickly.
Now one of the questions Ialways like to ask students what
was the road you walked on toget from a sixth grader, or
maybe even a third or fourthgrader, to a college student?
Speaker 3 (06:34):
That's a really good question.
Actually, it was kind of alwaysan established precedent, I
think, in my house, like theywere expecting us to go to
college.
They talked about it to us whenwe were kids and it was just
kind of expected.
So I was homeschooled from likefirst through actually first
through 12th.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
That's a long time to be homeschooled, my goodness.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
It was, yeah, but I really enjoyed it and I think we
got great like education out ofit.
Helped us a lot too, because wemoved around a little bit, but
yeah.
So I was homeschooled and wealso went to like these
homeschool co-ops there'sseveral of them in the area.
We participated in those andgot other learning from them and
also some social life, right?
Oh, absolutely, you know,that's one of the things people
(07:26):
are always like how did you makefriends as a homeschooler?
And I'm like, well, we talk topeople, uh-huh, lots of them.
Yeah, so I think those co-opsare really beneficial with
college preparation becausethey're set up actually a lot
like college.
Like when I got in here, I wasscared, you know, the first day
I was like I don't really knowhow this is going to work.
It works a lot likehomeschooling, weirdly enough,
because in our co-op it meetsone day a week, maybe two.
Enough, because in our co-op itmeets one day a week, maybe two
.
So you go on that particularday, you have class times and
(07:47):
schedules that usually you wereinvolved in selecting and you go
, you learn, you get yourhomework and you have the entire
week to manage it.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
So you really do have to create your own schedule.
You have to learn how to managetime, which is one of the
hardest things.
A lot of college students whodidn't get homeschooled but who
went to public schools or intoprivate schools as well the day
is pretty well planned for youand they give you study halls
and all of that and homework andthings and it's due the next
day.
So you have to sit down thatnight and do it, whereas in a
college schedule you might havea Monday, wednesday, friday
(08:18):
schedule or a Tuesday, thursday.
You have these big gaps of timethat are yours to use or waste.
Now, not everybody that goes toUT Tyler was homeschooled and
not everybody who goes to UTTyler was told from the
beginning you're going to go tocollege.
So what would you tell otherstudents who are looking to go
(08:41):
to college?
Of course you haven't been inpublic school so maybe you don't
know.
But your advice to kids comingup maybe 7th graders, 8th
graders, high school studentsabout what to expect from
college?
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Definitely, the time management is a huge part of it.
I feel like I had pretty goodpreparation for that with
homeschooling, but it's still anadjustment Creating your own
schedule, becoming involved, theother activities that happen on
campus, like clubs and all thestudent organizations.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
The media, all the things that you're doing,
because I don't think youmentioned that you're on the
talent staff, which is ournewspaper and it's not just
newspaper.
What is the talent called?
Now it's called the Studentmedia organization and used to
just be the newspaper.
Now it's everything right.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Right and they still run news.
I published a couple ofjournalism articles with them
and feature style stuff, butthey still do news.
But they're also pushing morein the direction of multimedia.
So lots of social media.
They're very active onInstagram right now.
They've created a broadcastwhich I'm hoping to assemble a
package for if I ever get time.
(09:46):
But they have a broadcast.
They do all sorts of differentthings.
So did your parents go tocollege?
They did, yes, they met incollege.
Actually, they're both fromhere originally and so they were
at TJC is when they met.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Oh, how neat.
A lot of times they say thatcollege is where you will meet
your best friends and possiblyyour sweetheart for life, so
it's not a bad place to go forthat reason too, but I think
it's like to have four or fivecourses, and they may not
(10:27):
understand all the pressures ofit, but we're set up for what we
call first-time collegestudents and also students like
you.
I wanted to ask you about yourhomeschooling.
Was it your mother or yourfather, or both, that taught you
?
How did that work?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Kind of both.
So with homeschooling you canset it up a lot of different
ways and I think all of themwork, assuming you're not just
using homeschooling as an excuseto play Minecraft all day and
call it that you were learningphysics.
But if you set it up right,you're purchasing curriculum
that your parent can teach you,but it's also set up to where
the kid can start to teachthemselves.
So we were in, like, I think,as young as like fourth grade or
(11:03):
third I think I was in thirdgrade actually and they bought a
reading program.
It was discs on a laptop.
At the time it was calledmilestone reading program and it
helped me so much like I wasreading, I think, on a fifth
grade level within like onecompletion of that course when I
was in third grade.
It was super helpful.
So there's great curriculumswith homeschooling.
(11:24):
You buy a curriculum and it'sset up to where, even if your
parent, you know, isn't anexpert on it necessarily, this
is their starting point and theycan help you navigate it.
Both of my parents were kind ofour instructors, but I think my
mom definitely did the most ofit.
They both worked and so theywould always have like one of
them with us and then they wouldalternate.
Our dad was usually at homewith us, and when our mom would
(11:47):
come home, we'd be like here'sour homework questions, we don't
know how to do, and we wouldsit down and go through them.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
So your mom could help you with your homework a
lot better than in a regularpublic school where there's a
different teacher in the daytime.
Huh, so you say us, so you havesome siblings, yes, I have one
sister.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
She goes here as well .
Actually, she has one moresemester before she graduates.
She has a lot of nerve leavingme here.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
I know, I know.
Well, tell me why did you pickUT Tyler, as opposed to lots of
other places around the state ofTexas or even the whole US?
Speaker 3 (12:17):
I did want to stay in Tyler.
I really like it here.
This is kind of where ourfamily roots are.
Like I said, we did move arounda good little bit, like I think
when I was a baby we were inNew York City and then, from the
time I was like three to eight,I think, we were in LA.
Then we've been here, just kindof, you know, came back to
(12:43):
where all of our family actuallyis.
So I did want to stay here.
But also I'm here onscholarship from the Honors
College and that was a big gamechanger because, since I'm
living at home and I'm not on ameal plan, the Honors
Scholarship covers, like myentire college experience.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
That's great, it's amazing.
So you have freedom to do theHonors Program, which is a
little more streamlined to yourindividual choices and skills,
but you're going to be leavingcollege debt-free.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Absolutely that was the real game-changer because,
of course, it was the precedent.
You know that we wanted to goto college and that we were
trying to, but, honestly, I wasgoing to go wherever the
scholarship was, and this wasthe best one.
Honestly, I was going to gowherever the scholarship was,
and this was the best one.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
And, you know, for those who may or may not be
homeschooled or who may or maynot be eligible for an honors
program, there are a variety ofscholarships available, and in
an earlier podcast we talkedabout all the different things
that you can do.
Really, it's important, asyoung as like seventh or eighth
grade, for you and your familyto start keeping an eye out for
scholarships, whether they'refor sports or musical talent, if
(13:41):
your family has a militarybackground, and things like that
.
Now, I believe when youmentioned New York and LA, I
think you told me once that yourfather or your mother were
involved in Right, my dad was anactor for a good little while
that's actually what he likewent to college for and that
kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So he worked in Dallas.
They had a house in Mesquite.
Oddly enough, they were toldthat they would never be able to
have kids, and so they juststarted to move around.
They went to Washington DC, newYork City.
He was working a lot of likemusicals and plays, did a couple
of tours.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
That's an exciting life, Long before you all came
along right tours.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
That's an exciting life, long before you all came
along right Absolutely, and thatwas kind of what pushed them in
that direction.
They're like, well, you can'treally raise kids.
Well, sometimes in New YorkCity or in LA either, I would
think, right, it was a littlebit difficult.
So when they did realize thatoh, we're having kids, huzzah.
He kind of switched gears.
He runs his own mortgagecompany.
Now he's a mortgage broker.
He still works out of home.
(14:36):
He own mortgage company.
Now he's a mortgage broker.
He still works out of home.
He worked out of home when wewere in.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
LA as well, so what I'm getting at here.
So you have some background inperformance, media,
public-facing kinds ofcommunication, right?
Speaker 3 (14:48):
Somewhat.
I mean, we definitely weresurrounded by it.
I would think I don't reallyknow that the expectation was
ever established that we wouldgo into this sort of thing, but
we just grew up surrounded bystories.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Storytelling.
Yeah Well, and you know, againand again, what I keep coming up
against is that human storiesare.
Some see how fantastical theywere, and then we see Harry
Potter type stories, or PercyJackson type stories.
There are all sorts of waysthat the imagination is captured
by stories, and I think whatyou're studying mass
(15:29):
communication, graphic design,digital storytelling you're
right where you ought to be, huh.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
I honestly love it.
And the co-op we went to thehomeschool group was kind of
STEM-focused.
The only real branching out ofthat that we had was journalism
and they kind of had to argue tomake that a thing.
So I wasn't really sure.
I was like mass communicationsam I going to be able to apply
that anywhere?
But it sounds cool.
(15:58):
And anyway when I got in I waslike oh, this is exactly it.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I just never really knew this was an option, and I
think that's a lot of whathappens in college is students
don't really know.
First of all, a lot of highschool kids come in freshman in
college or transfer after havingsome dual credit courses.
Maybe as a sophomore you don'treally know what you want to do
for sure.
I mean, a few people do.
They've known since they werein seventh grade.
They want to be a doctor orthey want to be a vet or some
(16:21):
other wonderful profession thatthey know something about.
But a lot of times all we knowabout is what we see on
television or in movies, andanybody who's a lawyer or a
doctor or a professor or ateacher will tell you that what
you see on TV is not what it'sreally like at all.
And so you get to college andthat's where we start to help
you see, well, this is what it'sreally like to work in the
media.
This is what it's really like tobe a historian or a nurse or an
(16:44):
English professor or a businessperson and all those different
things.
So one of the things I alwayswant to say to youngsters is
that they're anxious aboutgetting on with their lives and
knowing what they're going to dowhen they grow up, and how can
you possibly know for sure?
You know it takes a while, andthe good thing for you is that
you've already been doing someof these things all along, and
(17:05):
now you've got a chance throughyour jobs or an internship,
because you're working with meas kind of an internship, isn't
it?
It's part of your digitaldesign studio job, but it's also
partly because you wanted tolearn how to do podcasts, which
brings me to the question ofwhat in the world are podcasts,
and which ones do you likeespecially, and what do you
(17:25):
think they really do for ustoday?
Because they're sort of a newthing, aren't they?
Speaker 3 (17:29):
They kind of are, and I think it's really interesting
because I'm not totallyfamiliar with, like the
technology change that happenedwhen we started to get podcasts
as opposed to traditional formsof broadcast.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I haven't really studied that kind of history, I
just vaguely know it, but whentechnology started to become
more accessible it became easier, and with the internet too,
Well, and I think one of theinnovations was when we started
getting iPods a while back andeverybody started having their
own individual little music ordigital player, and of course
(18:00):
now it's the phone that does itfor you.
But I can remember, long beforewe had cell phones the way we
do, everybody had an iPod andpodcast, so you could walk
around with something in yourear.
If it wasn't your music, itcould be an educational program
or a sports program, or I'd liketo listen to political podcasts
(18:21):
and things like that.
So there's really so many ofthem now.
It's sort of astonishing, and,as you probably know, podcasts
had a lot to do with this recentelection, didn't they?
Speaker 3 (18:33):
I would think so.
I haven't really heard muchabout that, though.
So what happened Well?
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I know, for example, that Donald Trump went on the
Joe Rogan podcast, which is oneof the most famous and largest
distribution in the world.
I guess Kamala Harris went on,some others not on that
particular one and they wereable to reach a much broader
audience that way, because it'ssort of a self-selected.
You know you pick the podcastyou listen to.
It's not like turning on theradio and squirreling around
(18:58):
until you get things Althougheven now you turn on the radio
you do different stations andthings like that.
So when you think about ourpodcast it's called Ask Dr Ross
the idea was for the College ofArts and Sciences to make
recordings available to folks inour community, maybe for our
(19:19):
students to talk about differentthings like student success,
how to talk to professors, whatare some study skills.
We have a lot of differentthings that we've been working
on for students, but we alsowanted to have a podcast
available for people in thecommunity.
We were originally part of theshort-lived public radio station
that UT Tyler had, so we werebroadcasting on the radio
(19:41):
station.
Although it had a smallaudience reach, it was still
designed for local folks, peoplein Texas, in Tyler, in Smith
County primarily.
I don't think we got much pastSmith County To talk to them
about what's college like, whatdo you do to get into it, how do
you pay for it, do's and don'tsand things like that.
And so as we moved through thefirst year, we began to realize
(20:04):
that we had a bunch of topicsthat we wanted to talk about,
nathan and I including.
One of the things Nathan wasconcerned about was just the way
he could use what he learns inclasses, like in political
science, in economics, in themass communications courses, to
help him understand his world.
So we launched some of those,and this year we're wanting to
(20:28):
talk about some other things,including we're going to expand
out and be talking to professorsfrom around the University of
Texas system and you're going tobe my partner in all those
things.
So we get to talk to professorsat UT Austin, the flagship, but
there's also, as you probablyknow, there let's see if I can
count them off there's a UT ElPaso, there's a UT Rio Grande
(20:50):
Valley, there's a UT Arlington,a UT Dallas, a UT San Antonio, a
UT Permian Basin, a UT Dallas,a UT San Antonio, a UT Permian
Basin, ut Tyler, ut Austin, ofcourse, and now there's going to
be Stephen F Austin.
So we're going to want to talkto professors from around the
state about some of thechallenges of higher education.
So that'll be kind of my job,but your job will be to be
(21:12):
thinking about issues forcollege students.
What are some of the issues youthink we ought to be talking
about this year?
For students that you know,your classmates, the students
that are a little bit above you,perhaps some students that you
know that may be still being.
They're still in the homeschoolarena.
What would you like for us totalk about?
What do you think we need toshare in this podcast?
Speaker 3 (21:34):
That's a really good question, and of course I'll be
thinking about it more.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Well, we're planning on having a lot of planning
sessions, but I thought it'd beinteresting for you to talk
about it in this episode.
So, people, we might get somecall-ins from people who say,
yes, do that one, or oh, don'tdo that one.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Well, maybe this is just a personal thing, but I
think it could be kind ofbeneficial to make a podcast
episode about thingshomeschoolers should know about
coming into college, Because Ihave a group of friends actually
who went to the same co -opthat I did and they're in UT
Tyler right now, so they wouldprobably be fine with coming to
talk about it.
But also, you know, I get funnylooks sometimes when I mention
(22:13):
that I'm homeschooled.
There's like a stigma around it.
I would say, which is fine,it's more humorous than anything
else.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Because there really isn't a stigma, is it?
I mean, there's all kinds offolks who do homeschooling.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Right, and there's a stereotype of what it looks like
to be homeschooled, which isfunny because it's partially
true, but there are so manydifferent ways to go about it
and most people don't reallyknow anything about it other
than what you see in the movies,which is, well, they just sat
at home and they read a book andthey're quirky, they eat
healthy food and they eathealthy food and they're
allergic to everything.
(22:46):
You know it's funny, but peopleusually ask stuff like I said,
like how did you make friends?
Or how was the transition tocollege Well?
Speaker 2 (22:54):
I will tell you that I have always had good
experiences with the studentsthat I've taught who were
homeschooled.
They have far less reluctanceto speak up in class, which is a
big issue.
You know, learning how to speakup in class is one of the first
things a lot of freshmen haveto learn how to do, and a lot of
times they'll sit just huncheddown and kind of hunkered in
(23:15):
their desk and oh no, is theteacher going to call on me?
And in fact a big part of whatcollege is about is learning how
to express yourself, how tospeak up for yourself, how to
make a case or argue in afriendly way.
Of course we don't mean uglyargument, but we just mean, in
the terms of, you know,classical rhetorical argument,
and I've found that mosthomeschoolers can do that.
(23:37):
They're used to talking togrownups more often, probably
because there's so few of youthat it's just you and your
siblings and your teacher, right?
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Right and also you know to make friends.
As a homeschooler you join tonsof other groups, just local,
community things that happen,and it's not uncommon to just be
involved in a lot of stuffthat's happening.
And so you talk to kids who areolder than you, kids who are
younger than you outside yourgrade, within your grade, adults
(24:07):
.
You just talk to everybody youknow because that's your form of
connection.
You don't really have aninbuilt group.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Right.
You have to engage on your own.
It's not done for you.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
And in a general sense it doesn't have to apply
to homeschoolers, but an episodeon just engagement.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Yes, oh yes.
Tell me about what you thinkabout engagement, because I
agree with you on that one.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
I think engagement is really important when you come
into college.
Sometimes the tendency is, Ithink, to just focus on the
academic side of things whenthere's so much other things
happening.
This is a very important timeof development and sometimes
that kind of gets brushed underthe rug because we get busy with
homework and we get busy withall the other things.
But if you make time, like youmake time during the day to go
(24:53):
and be part of other groups orto see an event and talk to
other people and wave hi tosomeone, it helps you so much.
You know, one of the biggestthings that I think I hear and
see about college freshmen isthat they're lonely, and it's
very true.
Like I had friends here and Istill kind of felt lonely every
once in a while Just becauseyou're figuring a lot of stuff
(25:14):
out and you're figuring out howto be alone.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Yes, and there's a way of being alone that can be
good, but it's not always feltthat way at first, because you
know, the worst thing in highschool is to sit alone at the
lunch table.
Right, you never had to sit ata lunch table before, but maybe
you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Well, we did have lunch tables and I did sit on my
own a couple of times, buthomeschoolers are actually
pretty good about if there's anempty table or somebody on their
own they come and fill it.
So it was never much of anissue.
But we did have the lunch tablething.
It was the lunch circleactually, because we had the
floor most of the time.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Oh, how funny.
So, yeah, I think that's areally important thing too.
And you know, one of the thingsI like to tell my first-year
students is that we've actuallydone a good bit of study of the
development of college students,and there are actually seven
stages of development you gothrough in college that really
are pretty clearly defined.
(26:08):
And the first one, you think,is well, you just have to learn
how to do higher-level math andhigher-level English in all
these different fields.
But it's also the competenciesof working in a library,
learning how to manage thebureaucracy of a university.
Those are some competencies.
And then after that it's thingslike learning how to both
separate from adults and findingyour own identity, but also
(26:32):
learning how to connect withpeople of your own age in
healthy ways, all the waythrough to developing life goals
, developing and thinkingthrough your ethical beliefs and
values and your identity.
So there's a whole lot that goeson in college and a lot of
times folks want to rush in andrush out and I always want to
say slow down, freight train.
(26:54):
There's things you've got to dothat take time, and I always
like it when I hear students sayyou know, I want to be engaged,
because I think engagement ishalf the job of learning how to
be who you want to be in college, and it really is a process
that takes some time.
So we'll talk abouthomeschooling and we'll get some
homeschoolers in here and we'regoing to talk about engagement
(27:15):
in the classroom.
What about just in terms ofdoing the academic work?
Have you had some surprises orare there some words of wisdom
that you want to share with thefolks that are coming up in the
new academic year?
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Well, I mean, it's been a little different for me.
I guess I came in reallynervous about the workload and I
found that it was actuallyeasier than some of my other
classes that I'd been doing atmy co-op.
But again, time management andtaking initiative with what
you're learning so that you'rethinking about it not just as
(27:50):
well I need to put the letterson this piece of paper or I need
to earn my piece of paperdegree.
If you're actually thinkingabout the content that's being
presented to you, that's anopportunity.
Everything is an opportunityfor you to really start thinking
about what it means in abroader context.
If you're studying in English,if you have an English class and
you don't really like the bookyou're reading, that's fine.
Ask yourself why.
And if you really like the bookyou're reading, that's fine.
(28:12):
Ask yourself why.
And if you really like the bookyou're reading, that's fine.
Ask yourself why.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Well, and where I was going with that too, is that a
lot of public school studentswho've been to public high
schools will say that they'renot used to having to think this
much.
They're good at readingmaterial and mastering and
giving answers back in a sort ofa level of competency or a
level of comprehension, but thedeeper levels of thinking and
(28:38):
reasoning which are required incollege, and which also again
take more time to get to, areone of the big surprises for
them.
My experience, though I willsay this is that those who have
been homeschooled have kind ofhad a little more experience
with that.
Because there are so few in theclass, I think you have more
time with your teachers, becauseyou get more attention from
(28:59):
your teachers.
That way, because there arefewer, there's an opportunity
for more personal growth.
You know the great Jean-JacquesRousseau, who was a French
writer about education and wrotea book called Emile.
His ideal learning situationwas for him to take a boy named
Emil, as one teacher and one boy, and to train him all the way
(29:20):
up to the time that he went offto university.
And that, you know, bydeveloping relationships with
your teachers, or your oneteacher or your parent teacher.
I think that that gives youspace to get more into the text,
into the learning, becauseyou're less worried about
negotiating all these different.
You know what?
Do you have five or sixdifferent high school teachers,
(29:40):
you know, and everyone'sdifferent.
Everyone wants somethingdifferent from you, and so
there's great benefits to allthese ways of going about it.
Now, one thing I did want toask you.
You said you have to purchasematerials to be a homeschooler.
I know it's not a cheapendeavor, is it?
Speaker 3 (29:56):
It's really not.
It is kind of costly but it'sworth it.
And if you meet otherhomeschoolers and there probably
are a couple in your area ifyou're able to connect with
those families, they willusually help you with guiding
where to go for curriculum,which ones maybe are more worth
the money.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Are they?
Is there some sort ofclearinghouse, though, that the
state, the Texas EducationAgency, the TEA, approves?
I mean, surely there has to besome sort of legal or state
assessment of these?
Speaker 3 (30:28):
I'm sure there is Me personally.
I don't know the most about it.
My only exposure with it isbecause my sister was doing a
research thing about it a coupleyears back.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Well, your parents took it on, so maybe we should
invite your parents in to tellus about it.
Educate us about howhomeschooling works.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
They would love that, but I guarantee you you'd have
to be here for a little while,but they would love that.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Okay, well, we might just have to set that up.
Huh, so a couple other thingshere.
Have you had much experiencewith AI?
Speaker 3 (30:59):
yet I actually just now started using AI for some of
my things, and it's because,okay, so I'm doing a short film
project and there are colorationthings that I was wanting to do
but that I didn't really havethe research I needed on it and
my only education with like filmand stuff is YouTube, and so I
usually just do Google searches,and sometimes that takes a long
(31:21):
time To find the right one.
Yeah, absolutely so.
I just started using ChatGPT,actually, and I would just type
in the question and type in someof the specifics about the
situation, because everyproject's a little different,
and it was able to calculate,like, the amount of hours that
doing this or that would add tomy workflow as an editor, and on
(31:41):
the shooting times that we had,and that helped me make a
really informed decision aboutwhat kind of format we were
going to shoot in.
So that's really my onlyexperience with AI that was
recent, that was like this week.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Well, I was going to tell you that all of us in
higher education are fascinatedby, and a little worried about,
what it's going to do, not justto higher education, but to
really of everything.
We recently had a speaker whoexplained to us that in recent
studies of using AI fordiagnosis of medical conditions,
it found 20% more cancers,early cancers.
(32:15):
Lawyers can use AI to analyzecontracts in a few moments.
That would take legal mindshours or at least an hour, and
would cost money.
And there are all sorts of waysthat you know I, for example, I
can use AI to set up a rubricfor a particular kind of paper.
The trick with AI is going tobe well, first of all, you
(32:39):
always have to watch it, becauseAI doesn't always.
It makes stuff up.
You know these large languagemodels.
They're always learning newthings, and if it can't find an
answer that you ask it, it willkind of create it out of the
language out there.
That sounds like it might be agood answer.
That isn't one.
It can't think, but it can sort.
For example, I was doing anexercise the other day with my
(33:01):
students on meter how topronounce certain words, and I
found a bunch of words in thesepoems and I thought, well, it'd
be really good to alphabetizethem, and so I just plopped the
list back into ChatGPT and said,said, alphabetize these out.
It came.
That's fairly mindless work,having alphabetized so I think
we're going to find it's goingto be a great tool in a lot of
ways.
There's several differentprograms we've been
(33:22):
experimenting with.
It will create very good andbeautiful presentations.
There's something called paperpal that I'm sure a lot of
students are going to be wantingto use, which can edit papers.
And of course, there's going tobe always the chance that
students are going to want touse an AI to do their work for
them and of course that's a bigwaste of their time and their
(33:45):
money if they're going tocollege.
But we're going to be watchingfor that and watching how we can
use it responsibly andethically.
And I think one of the things Ijust used it for because one of
the novels I teach is old andout of copyright I was able to,
you know, go to Google Books andcopy the whole book and throw
(34:05):
it into one of these programsand then instruct it to allow my
students to converse with thecharacters in the book.
For example, one of thecharacters is Reverend Hale and
he leaves the Church of Englandand it's an interesting decision
(34:26):
that motivates all the rest ofthe action, because the whole
family has to move and mystudents could say well,
reverend Hale, did you thinkabout what effect your leaving
the church is going to have onall your whole family?
And he could answer andsometimes answers are pretty
interesting, but it givesstudents a chance to play around
with text in new ways.
So I don't think anybody shouldbe afraid of AI and I think
working in the field that you'rein you'll discover like you
said, it already helped youfigure out how to streamline
(34:47):
your editing process andbuilding your film.
So, to come on back around, I'mjust thrilled to have you as my
new partner in this project.
My goal has been to try to helpfolks in our area and anybody
really who's interested in goingto college to know how to get
there, how to do it well andreally what a wonderful
experience it is, how it givesyou something that no money can
(35:11):
buy.
We know it costs money, butit's also a set of experiences
that is pretty much priceless.
And also, most importantly, Iwant people to be able to use
their time well, so that whenthey finish they say, yeah, that
was a good thing that I did.
So welcome to the podcast, andI'll be looking forward to
hearing all the things you haveto say in the next couple.
(35:32):
How's that?
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
So well, that was pretty interesting.
I enjoyed that.
I guess that's a wrap, ashley.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Yes, ma'am, this has been the Ask Dr Ross podcast.
Thank you so much for listeningin with us today, and if you
have questions about collegelife or any of the topics that
we were talking about today,please send us your questions to
adrquestions at gmailcom.
(36:04):
We'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
In the meanwhile.
We'll see you in the nextepisode.
Thank you very much.
This is Ashley Wertlich signingoff.
Stay tuned to the Ask Dr Ross podcast.
It's created to give you infoto succeed at college.
Our hosts are highly qualified.
Dr Catherine Ross is a memberof the University of Texas
System's Academy ofDistinguished Teachers.
She's also a popular professorof 19th century English
literature.
Ask Dr Ross is a communityservice of the University of
(00:27):
Texas at Tyler.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Hello, this is a new season of Ask Dr Ross and I have
an exciting announcement, whichis I have a new producer.
Nathan, our wonderful formerproducer, is graduating and
we've got a new one, and this isAshley Worley.
The purpose of this session isto introduce you to Ashley and
to give her a little chance topractice her own on-air voice.
(00:52):
So let's start out by Ashley.
Would you tell us a little bitabout yourself?
Tell me about what you'restudying now at UT Tyler and
what else you're doing?
Speaker 3 (01:01):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I'm a mass communications major.
I'm a sophomore.
My minor is graphic design.
I'm just on the verge ofchanging it to a new minor in
the literature and languagesdepartment, which is digital
storytelling and interactivedesign, and I'm really excited
to start doing work on that.
My interest is more in just allforms of media production.
(01:22):
I've loved stories since I wasa little kid, and I think all
the different ways of tellingthem are just really fascinating
.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
So you're studying mass communications.
Not everybody would know whatthat means.
What are some of the typicalcourses you're taking?
Speaker 3 (01:36):
It's funny.
I get that question a lot Forbeing communications majors.
Sometimes it's not always wellcommunicated.
What we do, mass comm is like asort of broad umbrella term for
all forms of media production.
Here their degree plans have apretty heavy emphasis on either
journalism or advertising andpublic relations and so I'm in
the public relations route has alittle bit more creativity, I
(01:58):
think, or a little moreflexibility with the type of
things you create.
Some of the typical classes Iam in feature writing right now
with Professor Mogul.
He's fantastic.
I'm in several graphic designclasses and there's lots of
writing in Mass Comm.
I was in multimedia production,video production, just various
sorts of production outlets, prclasses.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
So, in addition to going to classes, I think you're
doing a few things too.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Yes, just a few.
So this is actually one of thenew things that I'm doing and
I'm really excited about.
I am working two jobs at themoment.
They're both part-time becausethey only let you work like 19
and a half hours as a student,but I work as a tour guide for
the admissions office.
About to wrap that up, we haveour last couple of tours this
(02:45):
semester.
I'm so sad.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
It's fun meeting new kids, isn't it?
And introducing your campus andtalking to young people.
They're all very excited to behere.
It's really fun to see theirfaces, isn't it.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
It really is.
It's a good time because youkind of never know what's going
to happen.
But when you're able to get theenergy up for your group, you
know and help them find theresources they need.
Help them learn more about whatlife would be like, because
it's scary.
You know, going into collegejust blind Touring has been a
good time it really has.
So I work that job.
It's about like one day a weekand then I work the special
(03:19):
events like Patriot Premiere.
Those are like half day, allday type event things, and I
also now work at the digitaldesign studio.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
So I'm a undergraduate assistant and so
you're getting a lot of on thejob training.
It's like an internship.
Are you being paid for thedigital design studio work?
I am yes.
Okay, that's even better, isn'tit?
And when you say that, whatexactly are you doing?
Speaker 3 (03:44):
Well, at the moment we haven't really kicked into
gear some of the other things wewere planning.
I am an assistant to kind oflike take management things off
Michaela's plate, so likemanaging the hours, like
somebody has to be in the studioto keep it open.
You know she has a lot going onand so sometimes just having to
be in that one place isdifficult, and so I can step in.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
So the digital design studio is set up for students
and what are some of the optionsthat students have there?
What are the facilities or theopportunities they have with
that?
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Well, I mean, it's a small quiet room which can be
useful for pretty much any kindof media project you're needing
to produce.
I know Michaela was wanting toencourage students to come in
and record podcasts there.
We do have USB mics.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
We have a cabinet full of stuff that nobody ever
uses, and it makes me really sad.
Soon, they're just sort oflearning that it's a new thing,
aren't they?
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Absolutely yeah, and that's part of what this new job
is supposed to be as wellCreating a social media page for
the design studio.
Pushing different like onlinecontent to try and create
awareness for the design studio.
Pushing different like onlinecontent to try and create
awareness for the fact that it'sthere and what people can use
it for.
But yeah, we have podcastequipment in the studio.
We have those USB mics andseveral sets of headphones that
(04:55):
are really nice.
We have several rolling desksand study spaces.
There's a projector.
So even if it's not like amedia creation project, you can
absolutely just come in andpractice giving a presentation
or if you don't really know howto work a projector, we'll come
in and help you with that.
Also, if you have a designproject that's the other thing I
was hired for is, if peoplehave a design project, they're
(05:17):
not really sure how to navigate,they can bring their homework
in there and I'm sitting thereand we can talk through it.
We can look at the file andjust kind of work through some
of those things.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Because design is always a part of what we do,
isn't it?
One of the things that Ithought I'd mention here is that
you are starting to take on aminor in the literature and
languages department which iscalled digital storytelling and
interactive design.
So here we are, a classicalEnglish literature and American
literature and world literaturedepartment.
We still teach Shakespeare andWordsworth, but we also have
(05:49):
recognized that the newliterature of the day is
oftentimes some sort thatstudents are mixing their
classical training and thehumanities, if you will, with
all the fancy new stuff that'sgoing on digitally and on the
Internet and social media and soon.
So it's really neat that you'vehopped on all of that so
(06:21):
quickly.
Neat that you've hopped on allof that so quickly.
Now one of the questions Ialways like to ask students what
was the road you walked on toget from a sixth grader, or
maybe even a third or fourthgrader, to a college student?
Speaker 3 (06:34):
That's a really good question.
Actually, it was kind of alwaysan established precedent, I
think, in my house, like theywere expecting us to go to
college.
They talked about it to us whenwe were kids and it was just
kind of expected.
So I was homeschooled from likefirst through actually first
through 12th.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
That's a long time to be homeschooled, my goodness.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
It was, yeah, but I really enjoyed it and I think we
got great like education out ofit.
Helped us a lot too, because wemoved around a little bit, but
yeah.
So I was homeschooled and wealso went to like these
homeschool co-ops there'sseveral of them in the area.
We participated in those andgot other learning from them and
also some social life, right?
Oh, absolutely, you know,that's one of the things people
(07:26):
are always like how did you makefriends as a homeschooler?
And I'm like, well, we talk topeople, uh-huh, lots of them.
Yeah, so I think those co-opsare really beneficial with
college preparation becausethey're set up actually a lot
like college.
Like when I got in here, I wasscared, you know, the first day
I was like I don't really knowhow this is going to work.
It works a lot likehomeschooling, weirdly enough,
because in our co-op it meetsone day a week, maybe two.
Enough, because in our co-op itmeets one day a week, maybe two
.
So you go on that particularday, you have class times and
(07:47):
schedules that usually you wereinvolved in selecting and you go
, you learn, you get yourhomework and you have the entire
week to manage it.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
So you really do have to create your own schedule.
You have to learn how to managetime, which is one of the
hardest things.
A lot of college students whodidn't get homeschooled but who
went to public schools or intoprivate schools as well the day
is pretty well planned for youand they give you study halls
and all of that and homework andthings and it's due the next
day.
So you have to sit down thatnight and do it, whereas in a
college schedule you might havea Monday, wednesday, friday
(08:18):
schedule or a Tuesday, thursday.
You have these big gaps of timethat are yours to use or waste.
Now, not everybody that goes toUT Tyler was homeschooled and
not everybody who goes to UTTyler was told from the
beginning you're going to go tocollege.
So what would you tell otherstudents who are looking to go
(08:41):
to college?
Of course you haven't been inpublic school so maybe you don't
know.
But your advice to kids comingup maybe 7th graders, 8th
graders, high school studentsabout what to expect from
college?
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Definitely, the time management is a huge part of it.
I feel like I had pretty goodpreparation for that with
homeschooling, but it's still anadjustment Creating your own
schedule, becoming involved, theother activities that happen on
campus, like clubs and all thestudent organizations.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
The media, all the things that you're doing,
because I don't think youmentioned that you're on the
talent staff, which is ournewspaper and it's not just
newspaper.
What is the talent called?
Now it's called the Studentmedia organization and used to
just be the newspaper.
Now it's everything right.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Right and they still run news.
I published a couple ofjournalism articles with them
and feature style stuff, butthey still do news.
But they're also pushing morein the direction of multimedia.
So lots of social media.
They're very active onInstagram right now.
They've created a broadcastwhich I'm hoping to assemble a
package for if I ever get time.
(09:46):
But they have a broadcast.
They do all sorts of differentthings.
So did your parents go tocollege?
They did, yes, they met incollege.
Actually, they're both fromhere originally and so they were
at TJC is when they met.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Oh, how neat.
A lot of times they say thatcollege is where you will meet
your best friends and possiblyyour sweetheart for life, so
it's not a bad place to go forthat reason too, but I think
it's like to have four or fivecourses, and they may not
(10:27):
understand all the pressures ofit, but we're set up for what we
call first-time collegestudents and also students like
you.
I wanted to ask you about yourhomeschooling.
Was it your mother or yourfather, or both, that taught you
?
How did that work?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Kind of both.
So with homeschooling you canset it up a lot of different
ways and I think all of themwork, assuming you're not just
using homeschooling as an excuseto play Minecraft all day and
call it that you were learningphysics.
But if you set it up right,you're purchasing curriculum
that your parent can teach you,but it's also set up to where
the kid can start to teachthemselves.
So we were in, like, I think,as young as like fourth grade or
(11:03):
third I think I was in thirdgrade actually and they bought a
reading program.
It was discs on a laptop.
At the time it was calledmilestone reading program and it
helped me so much like I wasreading, I think, on a fifth
grade level within like onecompletion of that course when I
was in third grade.
It was super helpful.
So there's great curriculumswith homeschooling.
(11:24):
You buy a curriculum and it'sset up to where, even if your
parent, you know, isn't anexpert on it necessarily, this
is their starting point and theycan help you navigate it.
Both of my parents were kind ofour instructors, but I think my
mom definitely did the most ofit.
They both worked and so theywould always have like one of
them with us and then they wouldalternate.
Our dad was usually at homewith us, and when our mom would
(11:47):
come home, we'd be like here'sour homework questions, we don't
know how to do, and we wouldsit down and go through them.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
So your mom could help you with your homework a
lot better than in a regularpublic school where there's a
different teacher in the daytime.
Huh, so you say us, so you havesome siblings, yes, I have one
sister.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
She goes here as well .
Actually, she has one moresemester before she graduates.
She has a lot of nerve leavingme here.
Speaker 2 (12:09):
I know, I know.
Well, tell me why did you pickUT Tyler, as opposed to lots of
other places around the state ofTexas or even the whole US?
Speaker 3 (12:17):
I did want to stay in Tyler.
I really like it here.
This is kind of where ourfamily roots are.
Like I said, we did move arounda good little bit, like I think
when I was a baby we were inNew York City and then, from the
time I was like three to eight,I think, we were in LA.
Then we've been here, just kindof, you know, came back to
(12:43):
where all of our family actuallyis.
So I did want to stay here.
But also I'm here onscholarship from the Honors
College and that was a big gamechanger because, since I'm
living at home and I'm not on ameal plan, the Honors
Scholarship covers, like myentire college experience.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
That's great, it's amazing.
So you have freedom to do theHonors Program, which is a
little more streamlined to yourindividual choices and skills,
but you're going to be leavingcollege debt-free.
Speaker 3 (13:04):
Absolutely that was the real game-changer because,
of course, it was the precedent.
You know that we wanted to goto college and that we were
trying to, but, honestly, I wasgoing to go wherever the
scholarship was, and this wasthe best one.
Honestly, I was going to gowherever the scholarship was,
and this was the best one.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
And, you know, for those who may or may not be
homeschooled or who may or maynot be eligible for an honors
program, there are a variety ofscholarships available, and in
an earlier podcast we talkedabout all the different things
that you can do.
Really, it's important, asyoung as like seventh or eighth
grade, for you and your familyto start keeping an eye out for
scholarships, whether they'refor sports or musical talent, if
(13:41):
your family has a militarybackground, and things like that
.
Now, I believe when youmentioned New York and LA, I
think you told me once that yourfather or your mother were
involved in Right, my dad was anactor for a good little while
that's actually what he likewent to college for and that
kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (13:58):
So he worked in Dallas.
They had a house in Mesquite.
Oddly enough, they were toldthat they would never be able to
have kids, and so they juststarted to move around.
They went to Washington DC, newYork City.
He was working a lot of likemusicals and plays, did a couple
of tours.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
That's an exciting life, Long before you all came
along right tours.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
That's an exciting life, long before you all came
along right Absolutely, and thatwas kind of what pushed them in
that direction.
They're like, well, you can'treally raise kids.
Well, sometimes in New YorkCity or in LA either, I would
think, right, it was a littlebit difficult.
So when they did realize thatoh, we're having kids, huzzah.
He kind of switched gears.
He runs his own mortgagecompany.
Now he's a mortgage broker.
He still works out of home.
(14:36):
He own mortgage company.
Now he's a mortgage broker.
He still works out of home.
He worked out of home when wewere in.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
LA as well, so what I'm getting at here.
So you have some background inperformance, media,
public-facing kinds ofcommunication, right?
Speaker 3 (14:48):
Somewhat.
I mean, we definitely weresurrounded by it.
I would think I don't reallyknow that the expectation was
ever established that we wouldgo into this sort of thing, but
we just grew up surrounded bystories.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Storytelling.
Yeah Well, and you know, againand again, what I keep coming up
against is that human storiesare.
Some see how fantastical theywere, and then we see Harry
Potter type stories, or PercyJackson type stories.
There are all sorts of waysthat the imagination is captured
by stories, and I think whatyou're studying mass
(15:29):
communication, graphic design,digital storytelling you're
right where you ought to be, huh.
Speaker 3 (15:35):
I honestly love it.
And the co-op we went to thehomeschool group was kind of
STEM-focused.
The only real branching out ofthat that we had was journalism
and they kind of had to argue tomake that a thing.
So I wasn't really sure.
I was like mass communicationsam I going to be able to apply
that anywhere?
But it sounds cool.
(15:58):
And anyway when I got in I waslike oh, this is exactly it.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
I just never really knew this was an option, and I
think that's a lot of whathappens in college is students
don't really know.
First of all, a lot of highschool kids come in freshman in
college or transfer after havingsome dual credit courses.
Maybe as a sophomore you don'treally know what you want to do
for sure.
I mean, a few people do.
They've known since they werein seventh grade.
They want to be a doctor orthey want to be a vet or some
(16:21):
other wonderful profession thatthey know something about.
But a lot of times all we knowabout is what we see on
television or in movies, andanybody who's a lawyer or a
doctor or a professor or ateacher will tell you that what
you see on TV is not what it'sreally like at all.
And so you get to college andthat's where we start to help
you see, well, this is what it'sreally like to work in the
media.
This is what it's really like tobe a historian or a nurse or an
(16:44):
English professor or a businessperson and all those different
things.
So one of the things I alwayswant to say to youngsters is
that they're anxious aboutgetting on with their lives and
knowing what they're going to dowhen they grow up, and how can
you possibly know for sure?
You know it takes a while, andthe good thing for you is that
you've already been doing someof these things all along, and
(17:05):
now you've got a chance throughyour jobs or an internship,
because you're working with meas kind of an internship, isn't
it?
It's part of your digitaldesign studio job, but it's also
partly because you wanted tolearn how to do podcasts, which
brings me to the question ofwhat in the world are podcasts,
and which ones do you likeespecially, and what do you
(17:25):
think they really do for ustoday?
Because they're sort of a newthing, aren't they?
Speaker 3 (17:29):
They kind of are, and I think it's really interesting
because I'm not totallyfamiliar with, like the
technology change that happenedwhen we started to get podcasts
as opposed to traditional formsof broadcast.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
I haven't really studied that kind of history, I
just vaguely know it, but whentechnology started to become
more accessible it became easier, and with the internet too,
Well, and I think one of theinnovations was when we started
getting iPods a while back andeverybody started having their
own individual little music ordigital player, and of course
(18:00):
now it's the phone that does itfor you.
But I can remember, long beforewe had cell phones the way we
do, everybody had an iPod andpodcast, so you could walk
around with something in yourear.
If it wasn't your music, itcould be an educational program
or a sports program, or I'd liketo listen to political podcasts
(18:21):
and things like that.
So there's really so many ofthem now.
It's sort of astonishing, and,as you probably know, podcasts
had a lot to do with this recentelection, didn't they?
Speaker 3 (18:33):
I would think so.
I haven't really heard muchabout that, though.
So what happened Well?
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I know, for example, that Donald Trump went on the
Joe Rogan podcast, which is oneof the most famous and largest
distribution in the world.
I guess Kamala Harris went on,some others not on that
particular one and they wereable to reach a much broader
audience that way, because it'ssort of a self-selected.
You know you pick the podcastyou listen to.
It's not like turning on theradio and squirreling around
(18:58):
until you get things Althougheven now you turn on the radio
you do different stations andthings like that.
So when you think about ourpodcast it's called Ask Dr Ross
the idea was for the College ofArts and Sciences to make
recordings available to folks inour community, maybe for our
(19:19):
students to talk about differentthings like student success,
how to talk to professors, whatare some study skills.
We have a lot of differentthings that we've been working
on for students, but we alsowanted to have a podcast
available for people in thecommunity.
We were originally part of theshort-lived public radio station
that UT Tyler had, so we werebroadcasting on the radio
(19:41):
station.
Although it had a smallaudience reach, it was still
designed for local folks, peoplein Texas, in Tyler, in Smith
County primarily.
I don't think we got much pastSmith County To talk to them
about what's college like, whatdo you do to get into it, how do
you pay for it, do's and don'tsand things like that.
And so as we moved through thefirst year, we began to realize
(20:04):
that we had a bunch of topicsthat we wanted to talk about,
nathan and I including.
One of the things Nathan wasconcerned about was just the way
he could use what he learns inclasses, like in political
science, in economics, in themass communications courses, to
help him understand his world.
So we launched some of those,and this year we're wanting to
(20:28):
talk about some other things,including we're going to expand
out and be talking to professorsfrom around the University of
Texas system and you're going tobe my partner in all those
things.
So we get to talk to professorsat UT Austin, the flagship, but
there's also, as you probablyknow, there let's see if I can
count them off there's a UT ElPaso, there's a UT Rio Grande
(20:50):
Valley, there's a UT Arlington,a UT Dallas, a UT San Antonio, a
UT Permian Basin, a UT Dallas,a UT San Antonio, a UT Permian
Basin, ut Tyler, ut Austin, ofcourse, and now there's going to
be Stephen F Austin.
So we're going to want to talkto professors from around the
state about some of thechallenges of higher education.
So that'll be kind of my job,but your job will be to be
(21:12):
thinking about issues forcollege students.
What are some of the issues youthink we ought to be talking
about this year?
For students that you know,your classmates, the students
that are a little bit above you,perhaps some students that you
know that may be still being.
They're still in the homeschoolarena.
What would you like for us totalk about?
What do you think we need toshare in this podcast?
Speaker 3 (21:34):
That's a really good question, and of course I'll be
thinking about it more.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Well, we're planning on having a lot of planning
sessions, but I thought it'd beinteresting for you to talk
about it in this episode.
So, people, we might get somecall-ins from people who say,
yes, do that one, or oh, don'tdo that one.
Speaker 3 (21:49):
Well, maybe this is just a personal thing, but I
think it could be kind ofbeneficial to make a podcast
episode about thingshomeschoolers should know about
coming into college, Because Ihave a group of friends actually
who went to the same co -opthat I did and they're in UT
Tyler right now, so they wouldprobably be fine with coming to
talk about it.
But also, you know, I get funnylooks sometimes when I mention
(22:13):
that I'm homeschooled.
There's like a stigma around it.
I would say, which is fine,it's more humorous than anything
else.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Because there really isn't a stigma, is it?
I mean, there's all kinds offolks who do homeschooling.
Speaker 3 (22:25):
Right, and there's a stereotype of what it looks like
to be homeschooled, which isfunny because it's partially
true, but there are so manydifferent ways to go about it
and most people don't reallyknow anything about it other
than what you see in the movies,which is, well, they just sat
at home and they read a book andthey're quirky, they eat
healthy food and they eathealthy food and they're
allergic to everything.
(22:46):
You know it's funny, but peopleusually ask stuff like I said,
like how did you make friends?
Or how was the transition tocollege Well?
Speaker 2 (22:54):
I will tell you that I have always had good
experiences with the studentsthat I've taught who were
homeschooled.
They have far less reluctanceto speak up in class, which is a
big issue.
You know, learning how to speakup in class is one of the first
things a lot of freshmen haveto learn how to do, and a lot of
times they'll sit just huncheddown and kind of hunkered in
(23:15):
their desk and oh no, is theteacher going to call on me?
And in fact a big part of whatcollege is about is learning how
to express yourself, how tospeak up for yourself, how to
make a case or argue in afriendly way.
Of course we don't mean uglyargument, but we just mean, in
the terms of, you know,classical rhetorical argument,
and I've found that mosthomeschoolers can do that.
(23:37):
They're used to talking togrownups more often, probably
because there's so few of youthat it's just you and your
siblings and your teacher, right?
Speaker 3 (23:46):
Right and also you know to make friends.
As a homeschooler you join tonsof other groups, just local,
community things that happen,and it's not uncommon to just be
involved in a lot of stuffthat's happening.
And so you talk to kids who areolder than you, kids who are
younger than you outside yourgrade, within your grade, adults
(24:07):
.
You just talk to everybody youknow because that's your form of
connection.
You don't really have aninbuilt group.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
Right.
You have to engage on your own.
It's not done for you.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
And in a general sense it doesn't have to apply
to homeschoolers, but an episodeon just engagement.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Yes, oh yes.
Tell me about what you thinkabout engagement, because I
agree with you on that one.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
I think engagement is really important when you come
into college.
Sometimes the tendency is, Ithink, to just focus on the
academic side of things whenthere's so much other things
happening.
This is a very important timeof development and sometimes
that kind of gets brushed underthe rug because we get busy with
homework and we get busy withall the other things.
But if you make time, like youmake time during the day to go
(24:53):
and be part of other groups orto see an event and talk to
other people and wave hi tosomeone, it helps you so much.
You know, one of the biggestthings that I think I hear and
see about college freshmen isthat they're lonely, and it's
very true.
Like I had friends here and Istill kind of felt lonely every
once in a while Just becauseyou're figuring a lot of stuff
(25:14):
out and you're figuring out howto be alone.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Yes, and there's a way of being alone that can be
good, but it's not always feltthat way at first, because you
know, the worst thing in highschool is to sit alone at the
lunch table.
Right, you never had to sit ata lunch table before, but maybe
you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
Well, we did have lunch tables and I did sit on my
own a couple of times, buthomeschoolers are actually
pretty good about if there's anempty table or somebody on their
own they come and fill it.
So it was never much of anissue.
But we did have the lunch tablething.
It was the lunch circleactually, because we had the
floor most of the time.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Oh, how funny.
So, yeah, I think that's areally important thing too.
And you know, one of the thingsI like to tell my first-year
students is that we've actuallydone a good bit of study of the
development of college students,and there are actually seven
stages of development you gothrough in college that really
are pretty clearly defined.
(26:08):
And the first one, you think,is well, you just have to learn
how to do higher-level math andhigher-level English in all
these different fields.
But it's also the competenciesof working in a library,
learning how to manage thebureaucracy of a university.
Those are some competencies.
And then after that it's thingslike learning how to both
separate from adults and findingyour own identity, but also
(26:32):
learning how to connect withpeople of your own age in
healthy ways, all the waythrough to developing life goals
, developing and thinkingthrough your ethical beliefs and
values and your identity.
So there's a whole lot that goeson in college and a lot of
times folks want to rush in andrush out and I always want to
say slow down, freight train.
(26:54):
There's things you've got to dothat take time, and I always
like it when I hear students sayyou know, I want to be engaged,
because I think engagement ishalf the job of learning how to
be who you want to be in college, and it really is a process
that takes some time.
So we'll talk abouthomeschooling and we'll get some
homeschoolers in here and we'regoing to talk about engagement
(27:15):
in the classroom.
What about just in terms ofdoing the academic work?
Have you had some surprises orare there some words of wisdom
that you want to share with thefolks that are coming up in the
new academic year?
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Well, I mean, it's been a little different for me.
I guess I came in reallynervous about the workload and I
found that it was actuallyeasier than some of my other
classes that I'd been doing atmy co-op.
But again, time management andtaking initiative with what
you're learning so that you'rethinking about it not just as
(27:50):
well I need to put the letterson this piece of paper or I need
to earn my piece of paperdegree.
If you're actually thinkingabout the content that's being
presented to you, that's anopportunity.
Everything is an opportunityfor you to really start thinking
about what it means in abroader context.
If you're studying in English,if you have an English class and
you don't really like the bookyou're reading, that's fine.
Ask yourself why.
And if you really like the bookyou're reading, that's fine.
(28:12):
Ask yourself why.
And if you really like the bookyou're reading, that's fine.
Ask yourself why.
Speaker 2 (28:17):
Well, and where I was going with that too, is that a
lot of public school studentswho've been to public high
schools will say that they'renot used to having to think this
much.
They're good at readingmaterial and mastering and
giving answers back in a sort ofa level of competency or a
level of comprehension, but thedeeper levels of thinking and
(28:38):
reasoning which are required incollege, and which also again
take more time to get to, areone of the big surprises for
them.
My experience, though I willsay this is that those who have
been homeschooled have kind ofhad a little more experience
with that.
Because there are so few in theclass, I think you have more
time with your teachers, becauseyou get more attention from
(28:59):
your teachers.
That way, because there arefewer, there's an opportunity
for more personal growth.
You know the great Jean-JacquesRousseau, who was a French
writer about education and wrotea book called Emile.
His ideal learning situationwas for him to take a boy named
Emil, as one teacher and one boy, and to train him all the way
(29:20):
up to the time that he went offto university.
And that, you know, bydeveloping relationships with
your teachers, or your oneteacher or your parent teacher.
I think that that gives youspace to get more into the text,
into the learning, becauseyou're less worried about
negotiating all these different.
You know what?
Do you have five or sixdifferent high school teachers,
(29:40):
you know, and everyone'sdifferent.
Everyone wants somethingdifferent from you, and so
there's great benefits to allthese ways of going about it.
Now, one thing I did want toask you.
You said you have to purchasematerials to be a homeschooler.
I know it's not a cheapendeavor, is it?
Speaker 3 (29:56):
It's really not.
It is kind of costly but it'sworth it.
And if you meet otherhomeschoolers and there probably
are a couple in your area ifyou're able to connect with
those families, they willusually help you with guiding
where to go for curriculum,which ones maybe are more worth
the money.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
Are they?
Is there some sort ofclearinghouse, though, that the
state, the Texas EducationAgency, the TEA, approves?
I mean, surely there has to besome sort of legal or state
assessment of these?
Speaker 3 (30:28):
I'm sure there is Me personally.
I don't know the most about it.
My only exposure with it isbecause my sister was doing a
research thing about it a coupleyears back.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Well, your parents took it on, so maybe we should
invite your parents in to tellus about it.
Educate us about howhomeschooling works.
Speaker 3 (30:44):
They would love that, but I guarantee you you'd have
to be here for a little while,but they would love that.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
Okay, well, we might just have to set that up.
Huh, so a couple other thingshere.
Have you had much experiencewith AI?
Speaker 3 (30:59):
yet I actually just now started using AI for some of
my things, and it's because,okay, so I'm doing a short film
project and there are colorationthings that I was wanting to do
but that I didn't really havethe research I needed on it and
my only education with like filmand stuff is YouTube, and so I
usually just do Google searches,and sometimes that takes a long
(31:21):
time To find the right one.
Yeah, absolutely so.
I just started using ChatGPT,actually, and I would just type
in the question and type in someof the specifics about the
situation, because everyproject's a little different,
and it was able to calculate,like, the amount of hours that
doing this or that would add tomy workflow as an editor, and on
(31:41):
the shooting times that we had,and that helped me make a
really informed decision aboutwhat kind of format we were
going to shoot in.
So that's really my onlyexperience with AI that was
recent, that was like this week.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Well, I was going to tell you that all of us in
higher education are fascinatedby, and a little worried about,
what it's going to do, not justto higher education, but to
really of everything.
We recently had a speaker whoexplained to us that in recent
studies of using AI fordiagnosis of medical conditions,
it found 20% more cancers,early cancers.
(32:15):
Lawyers can use AI to analyzecontracts in a few moments.
That would take legal mindshours or at least an hour, and
would cost money.
And there are all sorts of waysthat you know I, for example, I
can use AI to set up a rubricfor a particular kind of paper.
The trick with AI is going tobe well, first of all, you
(32:39):
always have to watch it, becauseAI doesn't always.
It makes stuff up.
You know these large languagemodels.
They're always learning newthings, and if it can't find an
answer that you ask it, it willkind of create it out of the
language out there.
That sounds like it might be agood answer.
That isn't one.
It can't think, but it can sort.
For example, I was doing anexercise the other day with my
(33:01):
students on meter how topronounce certain words, and I
found a bunch of words in thesepoems and I thought, well, it'd
be really good to alphabetizethem, and so I just plopped the
list back into ChatGPT and said,said, alphabetize these out.
It came.
That's fairly mindless work,having alphabetized so I think
we're going to find it's goingto be a great tool in a lot of
ways.
There's several differentprograms we've been
(33:22):
experimenting with.
It will create very good andbeautiful presentations.
There's something called paperpal that I'm sure a lot of
students are going to be wantingto use, which can edit papers.
And of course, there's going tobe always the chance that
students are going to want touse an AI to do their work for
them and of course that's a bigwaste of their time and their
(33:45):
money if they're going tocollege.
But we're going to be watchingfor that and watching how we can
use it responsibly andethically.
And I think one of the things Ijust used it for because one of
the novels I teach is old andout of copyright I was able to,
you know, go to Google Books andcopy the whole book and throw
(34:05):
it into one of these programsand then instruct it to allow my
students to converse with thecharacters in the book.
For example, one of thecharacters is Reverend Hale and
he leaves the Church of Englandand it's an interesting decision
(34:26):
that motivates all the rest ofthe action, because the whole
family has to move and mystudents could say well,
reverend Hale, did you thinkabout what effect your leaving
the church is going to have onall your whole family?
And he could answer andsometimes answers are pretty
interesting, but it givesstudents a chance to play around
with text in new ways.
So I don't think anybody shouldbe afraid of AI and I think
working in the field that you'rein you'll discover like you
said, it already helped youfigure out how to streamline
(34:47):
your editing process andbuilding your film.
So, to come on back around, I'mjust thrilled to have you as my
new partner in this project.
My goal has been to try to helpfolks in our area and anybody
really who's interested in goingto college to know how to get
there, how to do it well andreally what a wonderful
experience it is, how it givesyou something that no money can
(35:11):
buy.
We know it costs money, butit's also a set of experiences
that is pretty much priceless.
And also, most importantly, Iwant people to be able to use
their time well, so that whenthey finish they say, yeah, that
was a good thing that I did.
So welcome to the podcast, andI'll be looking forward to
hearing all the things you haveto say in the next couple.
(35:32):
How's that?
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
So well, that was pretty interesting.
I enjoyed that.
I guess that's a wrap, ashley.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Yes, ma'am, this has been the Ask Dr Ross podcast.
Thank you so much for listeningin with us today, and if you
have questions about collegelife or any of the topics that
we were talking about today,please send us your questions to
adrquestions at gmailcom.
(36:04):
We'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (36:05):
In the meanwhile.
We'll see you in the nextepisode.
Thank you very much.
This is Ashley Wertlich signingoff.
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