Kaela Thomas, a senior at the University of Oregon, is an active student in the CGO and a tutor at the University of Oregon Teaching and Learning Center (TLC).
Kaela writes:
Participating in CGO has doubtlessly been one of the most transformative and important aspects of my undergraduate career. From meeting the other members of the pilot-year program, to each and every class since then, to the incorporation of new members, to finally, today, I have not only watched the program transform and improve, but seen those transformations and improvements in myself, too.
The satisfaction of seeing what was once a small and underdeveloped Freshman Interest Group to what is now a thriving, growing and successful program in which members opt to press themselves academically and learn about ethics in the context of speakers as well as conversations and projects with their peers is tantamount to what I feel will be our legacy at the University: an ever-improving, ever-expanding organization that will continue to grant members all that I have appreciated as a member during their undergraduate careers.
As an undergraduate, one is largely permitted to shape one’s own experience. For some, it is an opportunity to develop one’s social life; for others, a time for a focus on academics. While I certainly did not know it at the time I signed up for CGO, this program has challenged me intellectually, given me access to wonderful opportunities, created lifelong friendships and important professional relationships, and given me the tools and desire to seek challenges.
I can never know what my four years at the University of Oregon would have looked like had I not joined the CGO, though I do not hesitate to say that I am happy that I did.
For more information on Kaela Thomas, see:
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/kaela-thomas/89/318/20a
As I consider where I see myself next year, I’m more oriented toward positions where I’ll be able to invest directly in my community. And, of course, once a Carnegie, always a Carnegie! Despite being described as a convocation-to-commencement program, I’m grateful to say it is far from over at graduation.
Maureen
For someone like me, who has spent his entire life living in a single community, leaving home for college can be extraordinarily daunting—even if that college is only a two-hour drive away. Even more ominous is the prospect of setting those feelings aside and engaging in an academic setting that is as demanding and competitive as the University of Oregon’s Robert D. Clark Honors College, without the support of living with one’s family.
During Winter Quarter 2015, Dr. Jason Younker, Assistant Vice President and Advisor to the President on Sovereignty and Government to Government Relations, spoke with the CGO and shared a meal in the Carson Dining Hall. Dr. Younker is a member the Coquille Nation, the president of the Association of Indigenous Anthropologists, has a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Oregon, and came previously from the department of sociology and anthropology at Rochester Institute of Technology where he served as a tenured associate professor and chair of the department.
Chloe B., a CGO student, wrote after Dr. Younker’s visit: “I enjoyed the change up and was happy our guest had many interesting things to share. Sometimes it is important for our group to just listen and take in the experiences of different communities that surround us. In order to grow our own ethical code, we need to be educated, and I think our guest did a great job on giving us a general background on the Coquille tribe. I was very interested in learning more about the Coquille tribe.”
Dr. Younker stressed that he would like to see ALL CGO members and students from the University of Oregon at the annual University of Oregon Mother’s Day Powwow at the Many Nations Longhouse.