The Student Perspective: Panel 1

Audio Transcript

00:07–00:30Andrew ColettiHello and welcome to this episode of The T in Teaching. This episode is a part of a series of podcasts focused on the student’s perspective in education. It is no secret that higher education is undergoing drastic changes, so we feel it makes sense to hear from the students actually paying for and experiencing it. This episode will be the first of two panels of Temple students sharing their experiences and thoughts on college. 

00:30–00:59Andrew ColettiThen professors from Temple will respond to the students in a separate episode and offer advice and support from both students and faculty alike. Thank you for listening and please enjoy. Hello and welcome back to this episode of The T in Teaching. In this episode, I interview three students from Temple and discuss their expectations and experience in college. With me, I have. 

00:59–01:06Jaiman KondisettyI am Jaiman. I'm a sophomore, undeclared major and Fox considering majors in risk management or accounting. 

01:06–01:09Esther KimHi, I'm Esther. I'm a senior legal studies major in Fox. 

01:10–01:13Nosa IyamuHi, I'm Nosa. I'm a senior management information system major. 

01:13–01:26Andrew ColettiAll right, great. Thank you guys all for being here. And I really want to just jump in, talk about when you came to college, what were your expectations and how did Temple actually meet or change those expectations? So what did you come in with and how have they kind of changed? 

01:26–01:46Nosa IyamuWell, when I came in, I think my perspective was different because COVID had just hit and it kinda changed the way college would be viewed. At first, I was supposed to be in the J&H dorm halls, but they had to move us because they designated those to be the COVID dorms. So I was at University Village and being at UV like it's apartment building. 

01:46–02:06Nosa IyamuSo most of the people in the apartments were like much older than me, not freshmen. So they weren't really that many people to meet. Like when you go to college, you expect your freshman year to be like in a freshman dorm, meeting people walking by. But that wasn't for me. But I like my experience. We were there for like three weeks until we got booted out because the cases were so high. 

02:06–02:12Andrew ColettiSo things were changing a lot just on the onset, just with COVID. And Esther, you're obviously senior as well. What was that like for you? 

02:12–02:39Esther KimYou know, Nosa basically captured it, but it was different in the sense that I came into Temple expecting much more of a social life. I guess that's what college is depicted as in movies, and that's what people tell you about when they go to college. A lot of that was shut down within, what, the first few weeks. So instead, I think maybe I don't want to speak on behalf of anyone else here, but for me, I got to focus a lot more on like developing professionally because you're kind of stuck in your room with a laptop and can't really go to a party. 

02:39–02:43Esther KimBut you can do an internship and things like that. 

02:43–02:49Andrew ColettiWhat, you're not throwing like zoom parties? Come on. I must be the only one. Okay, Jaiman, your turn. You're a sophomore, obviously, so it's a little different. 

02:49–03:10Jaiman KondisettyI'm a sophomore, so I definitely had more of a traditional college experience going into it compared to. But because of people like a year older me are two years older than me who did not have a traditional college experience, and then I would ask them about it. I would really get a good explanation to what college is like, so I really had no idea what I was getting into. 

03:10–03:26Jaiman KondisettySo I honestly, like I overprepared in a way, like I prepared for it to be like super academically rigorous. I didn't join any extracurriculars until like halfway through my second semester because I just thought it was going to be really difficult. I realized I could handle a couple of clubs, too. 

03:26–03:42Andrew ColettiYeah, well, you guys brought it up after with your point. Talking about developing professionally. These three students are extremely well accredited. I mean, you guys are in a dozen different clubs between all of you. We'll start with Nosa and Esther. Since you guys had your beginning of college kind of truncated by COVID, you guys are in a bunch of different clubs. 

03:43–03:50Andrew ColettiWhat was your process getting into these clubs, especially with that kind of tumultuous social life that you kind of think about when you start college? What's that like? 

03:50–04:09Nosa IyamuFor me since COVID hit. Like I didn't attend Temple like my entire freshman year and then sophomore year, I was really looking to like, meet people just like me, like minded people. So I was walking around Temple Fest and I saw FAABA talk to the members that were tabling, and I really liked what they had to say. So I ended up joining that. 

04:10–04:21Nosa IyamuAnd then another club on part is AIS, which is for my major, and I feel like that's a good club to see, like what I can do with my major and meet different people on the major that you see in my classes. 

04:21–04:23Andrew ColettiYeah, yeah. Esther was that similar for you? 

04:23–04:45Esther KimI got introduced to our (Student Professional Organization) SPOs through our classes, actually, so because all of our classes were on Zoom, a lot of our TAs were students who were, you know, like officers or maybe even like presidents of these of these SPOs. And they're always encouraging us as freshmen, taking these like, you know, entry level courses to really get involved. 

04:45–05:04Esther KimAnd so I would do my research on these SPOs and maybe I actually showed that this. But I remember because all the meetings were on Zoom, I would join multiple SPOs and then have different meetings open at the same time because obviously at the same time, mostly and I wouldn't be listening to anything because there were like three different speakers going on. 

05:04–05:18Esther KimBut I did that and then eventually I narrowed it down to two, the one that was more closely related to my major and that I felt like would benefit me the most like knows is that more close minded people or like minded people that I could network with. 

05:18–05:38Andrew ColettiAnd yeah, well, first of all, that's brilliant to be joining like multiple meetings, pick it all out. That's gaming the system. Credit to you. That's, that's great. But it sounds like both of you kind of got involved mostly through your program. Jamie, it sounds like you're a little bit of a different story. Getting involved a little bit later, but also having that different social life and everything like that that maybe they didn't have when they started college. 

05:38–05:47Andrew ColettiAnd you're specifically part of Temple Smash, so why don't you tell me a little bit about that and how you got involved in something kind of far outside of business or what we typically assume is business? 

05:47–06:07Jaiman KondisettyYeah. So Temple Smash is a variety sketch show that airs on two TV twice per semester, kind of like Saturday Night Live, I say, but we have no money. So I got involved, with a friend of mine from high school, was involved first semester and he told me about it and we had done theater together in high school. 

06:07–06:31Jaiman KondisettySo I decided to audition my second semester and I had a lot of fun in two episodes, my second semester acting and those, And then going into my sophomore year, I decided to submit a writers packet because I just love comedy, sketch comedy for eating, too. So just on a whim I submitted one of those and I got in on the writer’s team, which is really fun. 

06:31–06:37Jaiman KondisettyI'm the only non arts major on the writer’s team, so it's definitely bringing an interesting perspective sometimes. 

06:37–06:54Andrew ColettiYeah, yeah, I'm sure that they value you in the writers room coming from a very different background than everybody else, and that's pretty awesome that you just submitted it and you get accepted in and now you're a part of it and it sounds like all of you were able to, once you got in communication with whatever group it was, it wasn't terribly hard to join the groups or get involved. 

06:54–06:56Andrew ColettiIs that accurate to say? 

06:56–07:06Nosa IyamuYeah, I would say so. I feel like the process for joining SPO is pretty simple. You just go to the intro meeting or like any other meeting they have for spose it's Mondays from 12 to 12:15. 

07:06–07:14Esther KimBut if you go to one of them and if you're in Fox, it's so easy because they don't schedule any classes in those, right? Yeah. They're really pushing you to do that. 

07:14–07:32Andrew ColettiWell, I'm glad that you brought up kind of the idea of classes not even being scheduled specifically for Fox led transition a little bit from the co-curricular side, these groups that you guys are in, let's talk a little bit more curricular. Let's talk about the classes that you talked, professors that you had. How did that kind of shape your experience at Temple? 

07:32–07:36Andrew ColettiWhat worked, what didn't work, and maybe a memorable experience. 

07:36–07:57Esther KimI ended up taking all of my legal studies courses, as is my major, by the end of sophomore year. So just because of the way the curriculum is for that program, you don't really have like prerequisites to move up by your senior year. So I was able to get my capstone out of the way and I spring semester sophomore year. 

07:57–08:17Esther KimAnd since then I've just been taking a lot of business courses, obviously, and I have two minors, I've been taking classes for those. But yeah, there's definitely a difference between every single class. I think it's hard to just wrap it up. I think each professor is very different. They each have like very different teaching styles. Every class is different. 

08:17–08:31Esther KimYeah, I think some of my favorites have been classes that are kind of centered around group projects, which might be a hot take, but I really like Professor Schermer’s class or integrative business application. 

08:31–08:32Andrew ColettiHe's going to love that you said. 

08:33–08:58Esther KimBecause I mean, it was a great class. I think he really had he set expectations much higher than a lot of my other professors had in the past, which I really appreciated. Maybe not in the moment, but looking back, I definitely do. And having one set group throughout an entire class really gives you the opportunity to become friends with people and to network with them on another level rather than just like sitting next to them. 

08:58–09:02Esther KimSure. Especially when they're different majors, because then you get all these different perspectives. 

09:02–09:04Andrew ColettiSure. Great. Nosa, do you want to join in on that? 

09:04–09:27Nosa IyamuYeah. For me, like the way I schedule my schedule, like I'd usually have like three business classes, then I'd have like two other classes outside the business school, which can help balance my schedule and the classes that I enjoy the most are my MIS classes. Just like the people in it, like from sophomore year to senior year, it's like all the same kids you're going to have the classes with when you're in MIS. 

09:27–09:34Nosa IyamuSo you really get to know the kids in the classes. The professors are super helpful and they're always like willing to help you if you go to their office hours. 

09:34–09:55Andrew ColettiSo I just want to thank you both for sharing. And before I let Jaiman kind of answer on his end, I want to point something out. So obviously, again, as you mentioned, covid smack dab in the center of when you guys start college. But then as you take these classes that are all over your program, you're finding people that are in the same major and you're building that social life, even though the most catastrophic thing that's happened in years happen and preventing you from having that. 

09:55–10:04Andrew ColettiSo you're still able to get that social life, right? Yeah. Yeah. Great. Jaiman, how about you? What are your classes like? And kind of what what are your expectations and how are they being met in those classes? 

10:05–10:35Jaiman KondisettyYeah. So as of right now, I've only taken core classes, Fox Core classes, because I'm undeclared. I don't know if I can speak to a particular course, but I can say that like you can definitely tell when a professional professor is passionate and wants to be there. And those are the classes I've enjoyed the most. Yeah, for others who show up, who like are very helpful during office hours, they want you to come in and ask questions or that I've gotten along with the best and the best and. 

10:35–10:56Andrew ColettiYeah, well, obviously anybody who's motivated to teach who's really, you know, energized and everything like that, it's going to carry over to you. So it's good to hear that. And let's talk a little bit about where you guys want to go career wise after college now. Now, Esther, you guys are obviously seniors. That's right on the horizon. Not to make you more anxious than you already are, but let's talk about how your time at Temple has kind of aligned with where you want to go. 

10:57–11:10Andrew ColettiI'm sure maybe it's changed a little bit from when you were a freshman to where you are now. How did you how did you kind of have your career path shaped at Temple? Did it did it change it all and then maybe know, we can talk to Jaiman in a little bit because he's still undeclared. 

11:10–11:16Andrew ColettiMaybe you have some piece of advice on when you found your stride in college. So one of you guys wants to start with that? 

11:17–11:47Nosa IyamuYeah. For me, coming into Temple, I was a business major, but I wasn't declared. And I feel like the first class I took was MIS 2101 which really put me onto the MIS major and I switched into it, so I switched in my class, didn't really know what I wanted to do. And then one of the faculty advisors I met with four or five, Janice Campbell, was telling me about like different opportunities for my majors and she mentioned the Big Four and I looked into it and I really liked what they did over there. 

11:47–11:53Nosa IyamuSo I interned there for two summers and I'm going to be returning there doing tech risk consulting. 

11:53–11:55Andrew ColettiThat's awesome. That's great to hear a story about you. 

11:57–12:20Esther KimI knew that I wanted to enter the field coming into college, actually, so I was very fortunate, I think, because I didn't have that like undeclared, you know, a little bit of my anxiety, sure. But yeah, so I focused on legal studies and just being on the pre-law track for most of college. And I planned to take a gap year before going to law school. 

12:21–12:35Esther KimBut that's not something that I originally planned on doing. And I think Temple really helped me narrow down my options because you say you want to go to law school, you say you want to become a lawyer, but that could mean anything. You could work in a corporation, you could work for, you know, Yeah, an entertainment industry. Yeah. 

12:35–12:47Esther KimYeah. It could literally mean anything. So I think through specific classes, through professors, I've really been able to narrow down what I like, what I don't like, and what I want to do in the future. 

12:47–13:02Andrew ColettiYeah. So even though you guys both seemed like you had a direction that you were leaning, it sounds like one way or the other, somewhere along the line you got some feedback, some adjustments, some testimony from a professor, and really both of you guys seem like you were able to take advantage of whatever they were offering you, whatever feedback it was. 

13:03–13:19Andrew ColettiAnd it seems like it's really had a big impact on you, which is great to hear. Obviously, you're still on the other end. You still haven't decided. I'm not going to make you say, well, you know, answer the world, what are you going to be? But has there anything happen? You at Temple, have you had any experience that's kind of helped you go one way or the other or narrow it down? 

13:19–13:25Andrew ColettiOr is Temple just a place where you feel like you can be undecided and take these classes and move forward? What’s that experience like? 

13:26–13:41Jaiman KondisettyYeah, well, I will say my dad has worked in terrorist consulting for 20 years at a public accounting firm, so that's kind of like I don't say that's where I thought I was going to go when I entered college, but it's the kind of the only field I had any good idea of what it was going into college. 

13:43–14:05Jaiman KondisettySo like accounting and MIS for the things and being able in Fox, you don't really need to declare until the end of your second year. Almost everyone I know has switched to their major, so I think Fox does a really great job of giving you the time to figure out what you want to do. Yeah, and now that I'm getting close to that, I've learned a lot about different subjects. 

14:05–14:10Jaiman KondisettyI had no idea for even existing, and I'm pretty close to making a decision. 

14:10–14:27Andrew ColettiYeah, no, you're right. I had a bunch of friends when I was an undergrad and sophomore year for all the business students is like, they all just, like, change everything. Like, there's people who go from accounting, the econ and MIS to, you know, business administrator. So there's, there's so much that changes and it seems like it's really built for you guys to kind of figure it out. 

14:27–14:44Andrew ColettiA lot of people just come in with business and kind of refine it based on the interest. So it's great to hear that there's some success coming from all that. Let's end talking about your time at college and what professors have done that's really worked well for you personally. Maybe it's your learning style, maybe it's the way that you go about class and you need more expectations. 

14:44–14:53Andrew ColettiLike you mentioned, Esther. But let's talk just a little bit about what professors do well for you. 

14:53–15:15Nosa IyamuI would say when professors are engaged with the class, they really make it seem like they care. Especially, I hate to sound biased, but especially with MIS courses, I think. And I feel like any professor I had so far was like really engaged with the students. I cared about the topics they were teaching and made sure like we were well equipped for like any test or like quiz or like any product we had to do. 

15:16–15:34Nosa IyamuOkay, like that is one of my peak interests. So it's always like easy for me to like, latch on and like, pay attention in those classes. That's awesome. And very general business classes. And again, like when professors are engaged and like what they're teaching and not just reading off a slide show and then when I feel like I can like really like fall in love with the class. 

15:34–16:01Esther KimYeah, yeah, for sure. I, I totally agree. Like those super, like lecture heavy classes can get pretty exhausting at a certain point. And I feel like it. It's okay when there is a professor who is teaching that type. Of course, but is still passionate, still cares and like so keeps it, I don't know, energetic, but you can kind of see it and the way they're teaching as well that they don't like the way that the classes may be going. 

16:01–16:19Esther KimSo yeah, it kind of reflects on us. I think it's the little things that really matter, like, like knowing our names. Right? Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Little things where they know who you are, maybe even know what your major is. It's a small things that I think make me enjoy a professor in their class a lot more. 

16:19–16:21Andrew ColettiSure, that's totally understandable. 

16:21–16:40Jaiman KondisettyYeah. I mean, I'll say I agree with all the things you said, but one other thing that I just have really appreciated about my professors this semester was just being very straightforward. I had two quizzes today and everything on those quizzes was things we talked about the president taking questions about and like we done multiple practice problems on them. 

16:40–16:58Jaiman KondisettySo it was like it was nice from like when I'm taking other class in the past year, even in high school where it's like we never spoke about this in class. There was a homework problem about it, but we never taught it to me. And I just really appreciate a professor goes through everything that they're going to test on. 

16:58–17:01Jaiman KondisettyYeah, which is very nice that all my professors are doing that this semester. 

17:01–17:16Andrew ColettiYeah, that's great. I mean, I think you guys all said different things, but also in the same way, kind of the same thing. You want to be hands on, you want to be involved in the class and you want to be talked to, You want to be taught you want to actually experience what you're learning, and then you want to see it come back on what you're being assessed on. 

17:16–17:31Andrew ColettiAnd I think that's totally reasonable. It's totally fair. Thank you guys all for sharing. Let's end on one thing. What would you say to students coming in to Temple or to to college right now? What would your piece of advice be? And Jason, I know you're going to say, well, I'm undecided, so I don't actually know. Now, you can you obviously done enough. 

17:31–17:37Andrew ColettiSo I want to hear from all of you. What's one thing you would tell new incoming students? 

17:37–17:58Nosa IyamuI would say be open minded, coming in like you may not know what you want to do, but there's always time. Like my sophomore year, like the end of spring semester. Like by then you'll probably, like, get a better understanding of what you want to do. And I'll always join clubs that where you'll meet like some of your friends and yeah. 

17:59–18:20Esther KimGreat. Yeah, I hate to be a cliche, but I really will bounce off of that and say to get involved. I think it's one of those things that you hear so many times that it kind of just goes through one ear, comes out the other, and you're like, Yeah, sure. Like, I'll get involved. Throughout your whole life, you're told that, but especially in college, like you, you have to get involved. 

18:20–18:36Esther KimAnd getting involved is something that takes a lot of energy and takes a lot of work. And it's not just something where you just show up. You have to, you know, put in the effort. And I think if if you just remember to do that and like take it seriously, you can reap so many benefits. I mean, professionally and personally as well. 

18:36–18:37Andrew ColettiGreat. Jaiman. 

18:38–18:56Jaiman KondisettyI mean, you said exactly what I was going to say. I would say just your first semester, you're just trying to in just one club is one club that you commit to two one 2 hours a week and clubs are they really want members, They want you to be there. Everyone there will hopefully be very nice and want you to stay. 

18:57–19:04Jaiman KondisettySo just join one and you'll make at least a couple of friends and then you can kind of expand and find new things as you go along. 

19:04–19:23Andrew ColettiYeah, well, yeah, sure. Be open-minded and get involved are tropes, but that's just because they're true and because everyone who does it then becomes a believer of it and then tells everybody else. So. Well, it's been said before. It's worth saying again, I want to thank you guys all for being on this podcast. Thanks for sharing your expectations and what you guys have experienced at.