Join us for this episode of Campus Conversations! Guest Host Maggie Walcott interviews Tyrell Austin, Emily May, and Collin Pratt as they reminisce about their experiences throughout their time at Ferris and the experiences they had!
Tyrell Austin
Tyrell Austin is an admissions recruiter in Ferris State’s admissions office. Maggie starts by asking Tyrell about his background; Tyrell is a first-generation student from East Tawas, Michigan, who graduated from Ferris with his master’s degree. Tyrell was drawn to Ferris because of how Ferris made him feel so welcome on his visit, and it is was made him want to come back to Ferris to work in the admissions office, working to recruit students the same way that Ferris recruited him. Tyrell highlights that one of the things he emphasizes to potential students is the level of intimacy that students get with professors here and how accessible the professors are to students.
Maggie asks Tyrell about some of the challenges he faced at Ferris and how he got past them. Tyrell talks about how he gained skills that he uses now that he developed through the resources that Ferris provides. Tyrell was also the founder of the Sigma Lambda Beta chapter at Ferris, which is the first Latino, multicultural Greek organization on campus. He talks about how he got involved with lots of different organizations and programs on campus and how important it is to get involved with things so that you can set yourself apart from others after you graduate. In response to the question of what students should do on campus to make the most of your experience, Tyrell already talked a lot about getting involved in as many things as you can. He talks about how you should say hi to everyone, especially if you don’t really know anyone on campus; you never know if you could make a great friend from a simple greeting.
Emily May
Emily May, a freshman with a marketing major and student-athlete volleyball player, she played volleyball in high school so is no stranger to combining sports with her schoolwork. Emily Visited Ferris in her junior year of high school and once she visited, she “fell in love.” She saw Ferris as a very welcoming place for her, and the place for her. Emily, like many students, switched majors with her original interest being dental hygiene.
Emily at the beginning of her college career knows that Ferris is where she wants to be due to the care that Ferris puts in for their students and student-athletes as well as the professors being kind and caring for their students. After she graduates her dream job will be running social media for a sports team working alongside the players. The 3 years for Emily at Ferris will be her making connections and doing internships, she plans to get as much education as she can and do more than just a bachelor’s. She has a great support system through her professors and academic counselors helping her to better schedule and juggle schoolwork with volleyball. To hear more from Emily take a moment to watch Campus Conversations, and we hope Emily has a wonderful time here at Ferris.
Collin Pratt
Collin Pratt is a fourth-year student in the welding engineering program here at Ferris. Colin talks about his journey from California to Ferris. Colin talks about first receiving his associate degree in welding engineering from a community college in California, and from there, would begin working at a steel stop in Washington as a welding fitter. Wanting to expand his horizon, Colin chose to further his education at Ferris for a hands-on experience, and the fact that Ferris is one of only two schools to have an ABET accredited welding engineering program.
Colin talks about what keeps him here at Ferris and goes into detail about there being a certain level of care that is hard to find at other places, and how faculty are focused on making sure that students know what they are doing and can succeed. He mentions how faculty give the students a good foundation to be able to help determine what they want to do. In addition, he says that about 60% of the graduating class in welding engineering will have full-time employment by the time the spring semester rolls around, highlighting the idea mentioned earlier on how faculty are focused on helping students.
Lastly, Colin says that the biggest thing he learned is that going to college is equal to putting an investment in yourself and that the work you put into yourself and the classes you take, whether required or not, will always be beneficial and you will always come out of it learning new skills and abilities you may have not had before.
Come back next week for more great content!