Let\nme introduce you to one of our new students: Hannah Dechant from Goodland. Her\nmom, Koren, recently messaged me to express gratitude: \u201cHannah\u2019s experience has\nbeen amazing thus far, even in this crazy COVID world!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\nis Hannah\u2019s story: She shared that as long as she can remember, she has wanted\nto become a teacher with special education credentials. When she was 3 years\nold, her parents learned that she was legally blind in her left eye from a disorder\ncalled Amblyopia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn\nelementary school, my parents were my biggest advocates,\u201d Hannah said. \u201cIn\njunior high and high school \u2013 and now in college \u2013 everything became much\nharder. I had to become my biggest advocate. Although I never needed special\neducation services, I did access a few accommodations. This has meant I have to\nwork that much harder to meet my goals. I believe my experiences, including\nconstantly having to battle for myself, will be a big advantage as I pursue my\ndream.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\nsaid that when it was time for her to start looking for a university, she knew\nthat FHSU was the right fit for her, \u201cnot just because it was close to home or\nbecause of the reasonable tuition, but because of the atmosphere. I came to the\nFHSU Leadership shadow day, took part in a class, and that is when I really\nknew FHSU was for me,\u201d Hannah said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One\nof Hannah\u2019s favorite experiences so far is being a part of a Learning Community\nand being able to have friends and other classmates who have the same passion\nand drive that she does. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A\nLearning Community is a group of first-year students who share common\ninterests, take classes together, live on the same floor, and participate in\nactivities together throughout the year. It is a place for students to connect\nwith one another, become engaged in all that Fort Hays State University has to\noffer, and belong to a supporting community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\nreally enjoy being in my Learning Community. We take classes together, study,\nand hang out while having fun \u2013 all while learning about becoming the best\neducator I can be,\u201d Hannah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hannah\nis a member of the Opportunity through Education Learning Community, designed\nespecially for students interested in early childhood, elementary, or secondary\nteacher education. Learning Community students tend to have higher average GPAs\nthan students who do not participate in a learning community. Additionally,\nstudents in Learning Communities also state that they feel greater satisfaction\nwith student-faculty interaction and a greater sense of campus support. So, in\nmy opinion, one of Hannah\u2019s early college decisions was strategic and smart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each\nLearning Community is led by a faculty mentor. The faculty mentor for\nOpportunity through Education is Dr. Elodie Jones. Dr. Jones has been working\nwith Learning Communities for several years now and is a strong proponent of\nthe program. In fact, her daughter, Avery, a freshman at FHSU, is also enjoying\na Learning Community experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr.\nJones is a thoughtful educator. This semester, she is facilitating courses in\nboth online and face-to-face settings, striving to truly make genuine and\nimpactful connections with her students. She is a lifelong educator who said\nshe realizes the most important factor regarding student learning and \u201cmaking\nit stick\u201d begins with building solid and meaningful relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When\nI asked how her fall semester is going, she said she has been fortunate enough\nto teach a hybrid undergraduate course that has allowed her to fully connect\nwith her freshman Learning Community. She redesigned her face-to-face course by\nsplitting the class in half and then holding two 40-minute sessions versus one\nlarge session. When students are not in a class, they are reading articles,\nwatching videos, engaging in discussions, or developing projects surrounding\nthe course content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr.\nJones believes that face-to-face contact is the most powerful aspect of\nteaching to solidify students\u2019 experience as incoming freshmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe\nin-person sessions give me time to build relationships and make human\nconnections in a time when I think students are seeking a physical presence,\u201d\nshe said. \u201cI have found that my learning community students are eager because\nthey just want to be at FHSU, be a part of something incredible, plus establish\na bit of normality. They are seeking the true college experience regardless of\nhow different it might be from what we consider \u2018traditional.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr.\nJones shared that her undergraduate students are very resilient and empathic\nyoung adults who have lived through unprecedented experiences over the last\nseveral months. From a missed ending to their senior year in high school,\nrescheduled summer graduations, and a transition into a new residence hall\nlife, she believes these students are a force to be reckoned with. They will do\nastounding things with such deep understanding for challenging constructs such\nas change, opposition, being flexible, and living in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis\ngeneration is filled with open and honest students who are not afraid to\nexpress themselves,\u201d she noted. \u201cI could not be more excited to work with such\na bright, kind, and compassionate group of students.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\ncouldn\u2019t agree more. These Tigers are embracing education with great enthusiasm.\nThey are demonstrating their resilience and determination. Indeed, this is what\nmakes them Tigers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At\nFHSU, our resolve to outlast and achieve is as firm and steady as our\ncentury-old limestone buildings. Nowhere else will you find a staff and faculty\nas dedicated and willing to give 150 percent effort to the FHSU mission and\nreinvest assets in what matters most: our students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inevitably there are changes and challenges, but we continue to press on and grow in spite of them. In fact, we\u2019re stronger than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tisa Mason is president of Fort Hays State University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let me introduce you to one of our new students: Hannah Dechant from Goodland. Her mom, Koren, recently messaged me to express gratitude: \u201cHannah\u2019s experience… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12323,55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-life","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Mason-Tisa-040A6662.jpg?fit=750%2C1050&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56517,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56516\/revisions\/56517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}