Everyone at Whitman has a story to tell, how they got here and what happened once they did, and every story is different. This is Our Whitman, My Story.
Hello, my name is Cleopatra Nabyonga. I am from Dallas, Texas and my major is film and media studies with a minor in art. I had never been to Washington before. I had never seen what Washington looked like. I ended up clicking on the school and the mountains just pulled me in. I ended up applying to the school. I was accepted of course, or I wouldn't be here. And I also received a financial aid package that was set for me, so that made it easier for me to accept coming to the school.
I didn't know what the weather would look like, so when I came here, I was expecting maybe some light snow, some rain, and the snow just caught me off guard. But the mountains were so beautiful to look at that it was hard to stay mad at the snow.
Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome. For today we have our first game here in the Whitman Blues. We have our basketball team coming in. Are you ready for them? Here they come. So I would like to be a sports broadcaster in the future. I love watching sports. I enjoy playing them as too. I was a volleyball player as well as a coach for basketball, and I've always been interested in the media aspect of sports. I ended up gravitating to the film and media major because it just offered a lot and it allowed me to expand my horizons.
I currently am taking an Intro to Televisions class as well as a Gen X Studies class. So understanding the people that I'll be working with and what media means to people.
So Jareina Stoverock, who is my general studies professor, she was my professor for the understanding of fairy tales, which I know is a little different from my major, but it allowed me to broaden my horizon in writing. The other super professors that have expanded my experience on Whitman or in Whitman would be Professor Sickles, who is my advisor as well as my professor for Gen X Studies. And we've learned a lot about the impact of media and as well as the impact of generations and what that looks like for generations that come before and generations that come after.
The other professor that has made a big impact for me is Tarek El-Sioui. He is my Intro to Televisions professor, which again, as I've said, I love understanding the aspect of television and what that looks like, as well as mass media too. So he's allowed me to find a deeper understanding in that as well as the deeper connection and what that looks like for me. So those are the three professors that have allowed me to feel at home or to feel welcomed at Whitman.
So the CCEC is a Community and Career Engagement Center. They work on helping students who are graduating, helping students who have just come in as well to find a job that's fit for them or to apply for Whitman's internship grants, as well as understanding what it looks like to receive some of those internships, how to look for those internships. The CCEC provides a lot of resources for students on campus, helping them prepare their resume or as well as work on their cover letter.
My position, which is the Student Employment Intern, works on helping students find jobs on and off campus. I also work with students who need help with their resume or need help with their cover letter or just need a better understanding of what work study means or what it means to find an internship and how Whitman can help you with that. You have your career coaches as well who can help you find a job catered to your major or job catered to your majors, which is just very great. The people in there are very welcoming and it's nice to be there.
What do I do for fun? There's a lot that I like to do for fun. I am a painter, so I enjoy painting. I have a lot of canvases in my room, which I'm pretty sure take up a lot of my space. I like pottery. I have a bucket of clay in my room as well, so I'm usually sculpting something. Reading as well. I love reading. It's one of my biggest hobbies. I grew up reading. I actually have two books in my bag right now that I plan on reading later. I also am currently learning how to play the guitar. I'm not skilled just yet, but I'm getting there.
Another one of my ... I like to go to the gym. I enjoy going to the gym. I love working out. I tell my friends this all the time, but I'm usually running. Wherever it is, I'm usually running. I enjoy just picking my body up and doing something, whether it's movement or dance as well.
Reid Campus Center is the congregating place. That's where a lot of people will meet up, whether it's to grab something from the cafe, whether it's to go upstairs and work with Wendy or Julie or Nico or work with the CCEC as well as the LGBTQIA Office. There's so many things upstairs too, so a lot of assist will come in for that. People are coming in for the cafe, coming to eat, get a coffee, study. There are usually live bands held down there as well. I know Battle of the Bands was a couple of weeks ago, so that was really cool to experience.
We also have the outdoor program, the post office. I know a lot of people who come in for the post office. So Reid Campus is just full of a lot of things and I think it brings a lot of people together.
I would say the opportunity to go outdoors, or at least the funds that are provided for you to go outdoors. I don't know a lot of schools that provide that, or even the food that we're offered too. I think those are the two things that Whitman has that I wouldn't say that you wouldn't find anywhere else, but are very key to the school. A lot of my friends that I talk to in Texas, of course Texas is flatland. They don't really have opportunities where their school where provides them the funds to even go outdoors or the means to go outdoors or even explore and see what that looks like, as well as hiking too.
So that's something that I think is really catered to the school. I love the opportunity that you can go up to the mountains and you don't have to know how to ski or to even snowboard. They provide you with those lessons or even whitewater rafting. I've never heard of that before until I got to Whitman, so that opportunity as well. And to speak on the food that we're offered. A lot of my friends that I talk to aren't necessarily provided with the nutritional options that we are on campus.
A lot of times they can be a lot healthier too than what my friends are offered at their campus. So those are the two things that I think make Whitman stand out
When you come to college. It can be a change from what you're used to. I usually tell people, give yourself grace when you come to college. Allow yourself to explore and expand. You don't know what you're going to get when you apply to college just sometimes, unless you've visited before. But even then, you never know what it's going to be like to be there for a year. And so for me, coming from Dallas, Texas, which is a big city, it was change. It was a big change. I didn't know what to expect from a small town.
I didn't know what that would look like, the people and what that would feel like as well. And so coming here, it was different. It was something that forced me to get out of my comfort zone in the best way possible. So I usually tell people that you may not know what you're going to receive in that moment. It may not feel comfortable, but allow yourself to know what you're feeling and to understand what you're feeling as well as search for something that you feel like is going to allow you to grow.
I'm Cleopatra, and this has been Our Whitman, My Story. There are more episodes of Our Whitman, My Story available right now, wherever you get your podcasts. Music for this podcast provided by Big Joe, a band made up of Our Whitman students. For more information, go to whitman.edu/stories.