Professor Interview

I interviewed my CIS 110 teacher Dr. Jessalyn Vallade. I first asked her where she attended colle and what she got her degree, or multiple degrees, in. She told me that she has a bachelors and masters in speech communication. She received it from Miamai university in Ohio. She also has a Ph.D. In communication studies and she got that from West Virginia. For my second question I asked her what her favorite part of being a teacher was. She said that she enjoyed interacting with students and discussing things with them, pretty much just the whole teaching aspect. I then asked her what the funniest or craziest thing was that had happened to her during her teaching career. She couldn't really think of anything other than the stories she had told us in class. She says public speaking really brings out some crazy stuff in people, so one time a girl got so nervous that she threw up in her hands while speaking. Also there was a guy who was giving his speech and just took of pieces of clothing ( his jacket, button down shirt, etc) while he was speaking and then just walked out of the class. She never saw him again. I then asked her what made her decide to become a teacher. She said that she always wanted to be a teacher but what she wanted to teach just changed over time. She just loves to learn and wanted to be “in a classroom for forever.” After that, I asked her what obstacles she had encountered during her journey to get to her degrees. She told me that while getting her masters, the school just quit funding the program. They said that her class could finish and get their degrees, but the school didn't really provide much help. So she had to do a lot of things on her own, as well as find things to supplement her learning. She did different internships and things like that in order to finish her education. As my final question I asked her what tips she had for college freshman, whether it be about college or life in general. She had a lot of tips, and said she could “go on all day” about it, but she only gave me a few. She said to take responsibility for yourself. She said that college students like to blame everyone and anything else other than themselves when it comes to something going wrong, whether it be forgotten homework or a bad test grade. She also said to work hard your freshman year because it’s harder to come back from a bad GPA than it is to maintain a good one. She also says you should stay on top of your work and make good impressions with your professors because you never know when you might need them.

Looking back at my interview, it was really helpful and interesting. It was nice to know that your professors are still just like everyone else. They went through the same thing we’re going through now and then some with college,  and so they have the ability to give us some really good advice, just like Dr. Vallade did for me. Also I was really surprised by how nice she was. I’ve always thought that she was very approachable and very nice but the interview really showed me that she was really down to earth and was really willing to help me when I needed it, even if it is just for a little interview for a UK 101 class. I really enjoy her as a teacher and as a person