Crimson and Gold Connection; Angela Markley

Welcome to Crimson and Gold Connection, keeping you connected to the people and current events at Pittsburgh State University. This is Trent Johnson. Thanks for joining us for Crimson and Gold Connection. Today our guest is 2015 Outstanding Alumni from Pittsburgh State University, Angela Markley. Thanks so much for joining us today Angela. What was your area of study at Pittsburgh State University and what year did you graduate? I studied communication with the emphasis in news editorial journalism and I graduated in 2003. Who or what influenced you to attend Pittsburgh State University? It's kind of an interesting story. I applied to Pittsburgh State but I actually interviewed for a scholarship that kind of a closer to Ivy League school and I came home sort of devastated because I didn't get the scholarship that I wanted to that school and that same week Dr. Christine Fugley also called me and said I have a full scholarship here at Pittsburgh State and it was a Thursday and she said the catches I need to know by Monday whether you want it or not. So I hadn't been on

campus and my dad popped me in the car and we came down on a Saturday and it was raining most of the students were gone probably doing something fun in Japan or Kansas City and I thought gosh I don't know you know it's kind of a sad looking campus when it's raining and there's no students there and I thought I don't know if I'm making the right decision but I called her back on Monday and I said yeah I'm gonna do it I'm gonna come down there and great decision I've never regretted it and I'm glad that I took the plunge and that I came down that Saturday and decided to take the scholarship. When you were attending Pittsburgh State University what was your favorite part about your time on campus or maybe some memories that you hold close to you? I was in the newspaper the entire time I was on campus and so some of my best memories are in the newspaper the student publication office or for the Kansas and the newspaper both and Wednesday nights we would do publication and sometimes we'd be there really late. All is good times though and incredible people and I still keep in touch with a few of them and just glad to have met all of them and spent so much time together. I also lived in the dorms all three years that I was on campus and I have great memories of the dorms as well I lived in Tanner

Annex and just always fun to go out into the hallway and find people there there's always somebody to talk to and somebody ready to hear about your day and share your sorrows if you had them so I always recommend that people stay in the dorms and they go to college because it was a good experience for me. You are being recognized as one of the 2015 outstanding alumni from Pittsburgh State University what does that mean to you? Obviously it's very humbling and maybe a way that only a type of personality understands as a scholarship recipient I always felt a little additional pressure because I thought here Pitt State has made this investment in me and I wanted to make sure I was a model student and that I did the right things so that they didn't feel like they had misplaced that investment so I think it has additional meaning for me because I feel like Pitt State sort of come full circle and said you did do what you're supposed to do and we're glad we made that initial investment and to me that's very fulfilling and just humbling to know that I'm still on the radar. You will be returning to campus in the coming weeks for the reception what are you most

looking forward to on your return? I'm just looking forward to seeing how much the campus has changed and to begin to the students while I'm there just looking forward to the whole experience and also looking forward to hopefully a stop at the Mall deli and some of the other places in town where I spend time as a student. What are you currently doing professionally and where are you located? I'm an attorney and I work in house for BRR architecture which is headquartered in Merriam, Kansas in the Kansas City metropolitan area. I also hold an elected position on the Unified Government Commissioner and Wyne County and in my second four-year term as a commissioner so I spend a lot of my time at City Hall as well. You said your degree from Pittsburgh State University was in communication as that is what they call an umbrella degree because it involves so many different areas of study under communication. How do you think that that degree has helped you with what you're doing today? During law school it was very important that I have incredible writing and communication skills and so when I went off to law school after undergrad it was

just one of the most important factors in that decision to go to law school was my ability to write and communicate well and so I thought I could be successful there and luckily was but I think anybody who's considering going into the law should be able to write and communicate very well in my studies at Pittsburgh State contributed to my ability to do that. Then as far as my political world obviously I get to speak to a lot of people sometimes more formally and sometimes informally so having that communication background and having been through a lot of interviews on both sides that was really helpful to me as I went to get elected and I have to make speeches and things like that today. Is there any single class that you took at Pittsburgh State University and you just kind of looked back on that class and say wow that class made such an impact on my life even when you look at it today? I don't know about a single class but just all of my writing classes both I had an English minor so both in the English department and in the communication department my reporting type classes where we worked on writing the structure and on word choice and all of

those different things. I just can't express how impactful those classes were as I moved on into law school were really those are the critical skills that allowed me to do well as a law school student. I also just loved writing and still do so those are classes I both enjoyed and that were really important to my future. Talking a little bit more about your time after Pittsburgh State University just explain going through law school and how much different it is than being an undergraduate. Oh my it is a very different experience I don't know if any you know if anybody's ever seen legally blonde in part that movie is very true they use what they call us the credit teaching method in law school which means the teacher just calls on people randomly to answer questions and to basically make their case regarding whatever you're studying that day so it can be a little stressful could be in the classroom because you never know when the teacher is going to expect you to not just answer a question but to basically make legal arguments it's also graded on a bell curve which means only a certain number of students in each class are allowed to get an aid basically so it's very very

competitive and you walk into each classroom wondering you know which three people might be smarter than you that are going to take your grade away so it's a different environment a much less friendly environment because you're so competitive with your fellow students. Is there anything else that you would like to add or say about being named an outstanding alumni or your return to campus? I'm just super excited you know I couldn't believe it when I got the call that I was going to receive this award I didn't even know I'd been nominated so it's very exciting and you know as a newspaper worker back in my student days I used to see these biographies come across my desk about these outstanding alumni and it really didn't dream that I would ever view one of those biographies so it's just a great honor and a huge surprise and I can't come to campus and see everybody and get to meet some people. Well again Angela thanks so much for your time and thanks for joining us. All right thank you. Again today our guest has been Angela Markley who was recently named one of the 2015 outstanding alumni from Pittsburgh State University. For KRPS and

Crimson and Gold Connection this is Trent Johnson. Join us for Crimson and Gold Connection Wednesdays at 8.50 and Fridays at 350.