Penn State DuBois was 30 minutes from home and I was interested in commuting to save money. While visiting campus for the first time, two people stood out to me who were incredibly kind, helpful, and welcoming. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I would end up working with both of them in various capacities as a student and professional. I was in awe of how much the campus had to offer students. After this day, I felt confident Penn State DuBois was the right place for me.
I have been working for PASSAGES, Inc., a sexual violence advocacy agency, since I graduated college. I am currently the Prevention Education Coordinator, so I oversee, coordinate, and help facilitate the prevention education programs and trainings that our agency provides in Clearfield, Jefferson, and Clarion counties.
Through a grant, I co-created an anti-bullying curriculum called Respect Diversity that aims to decrease bullying behaviors and increase positive bystander intervention for junior-senior high school students. My role at PASSAGES, Inc. wears many hats, as I also provide medical advocacy, attend community awareness events, assist in the training of our wonderful volunteers, and much more.
The best thing I ever did as a student was sign up for the Alternative Spring Break trips. From The Navajo Nation, to West Virginia, to Washington D.C., I will always cherish the relationships I made and lessons I learned while on these service trips.
I always knew that I wanted to help people, but did not know how I wanted to pursue this interest. After doing a college visit back in 2017 as a high school senior to Penn State DuBois, I was almost certain that I was sold and that Penn State DuBois is where I wanted to be. The convenience also of being able to commute only 30 minutes to campus every day was a big factor in why I loved the campus so much as I did not want to leave home.
Once deciding that Penn State DuBois was the right fit for me I went ahead and applied and was accepted fairly quickly. After being enrolled for 3 semesters, I realized that the degree I was studying was not my calling, I started researching other options for me at Penn State DuBois. I soon stumbled upon Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) and realized it was more geared towards what I wanted in a career as I could help so many people within this field in so many different aspects. After realizing this I quickly changed my major from to earn a bachelor's in HDFS.
Heading into my last semester I had no idea what kind of job I wanted following graduation so I went out on a whim and did a internship in workforce development where I helped individuals with substance use disorder take the right steps to finding employment and absolutely loved it. From this point I knew that I wanted to pursue something further in workforce so I applied for a youth talent development position working out of the Clearfield County PA CareerLink office and got the call to come in for an interview the same week and 2 days later was offered the job.
In my role I get to work with youth between the ages of 14-24 and help them to take the right steps in finding and obtaining employment. I also work with them on career readiness skills such as teaching them how to create a resume, how to apply for a job and how to be successful. My job is just as rewarding as I thought it would be and I wake up every day excited to go to work.
My favorite memory at Penn State DuBois would be any time that I got hang out with staff and friends in the library. Not only is college about the work but it is also about the friends you make while there.
If you are unsure about where you want to go to college, check Penn State DuBois out it cant hurt.
I had a rough start to college. I was in a new town and away from my family without them being in the same building as me for the first time. It was scary. I was studying a major that I thought I wanted to do but I was unhappy, stressed and homesick. At the end of the year, I failed out and came back home.
I felt so much better, but I knew that I had to go back to school. Penn State DuBois was the closest college to me that offered the major that I wanted to study, Occupational Therapy Assistant. I tried tried again and realized it wasn't for me. I knew that I wanted to help people, but I wasn't sure how.
I had a friend ask me what I was doing and I didn't have an answer for him. He pointed me to the Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) family and I fell in love. I felt at home, the professors, the students, we were like a little family throughout all the classes. What really drew me to Penn State DuBois is the campus's ability to make you feel as if you belong and you're doing the right thing for you. The support within the campus is wonderful, the professors know you by name, and are willing to be by your side through your college years.
Not only are the faculty wonderful, there were always events to attend during common hour (a time daily where there are no classes) that were my favorite part about the campus.
I graduated in December of 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in HDFS with a certificate in Chemical Dependency. I started with CenClear in January of 2023 as a school based Behavioral Health Technician. The school that I work at was able to obtain a grant that allowed behavioral health therapists to work with kids in their classroom to help students who struggle with behaviors, social, and communication skills. We also do home sessions to support the parents in skills in the home setting as well as support within the community setting.